Paulsboro's Morina is a father and coach

Ask any high school coach in any sport about the trickiest aspect of the profession in 2015 and most of them will answer with one word: "Parents."

And when the coach and parent are the same person, things can get even trickier.

Gloucester Catholic's Lisa Gedaka fretted for years about coaching her daughter Mary in basketball, although that seems to be working out pretty well.

Middle Township boys' basketball coach Tom Feraco talked earlier this season about the natural tendency to watch his son Mike "out of the corner of your eye" even as he focuses on the game and the rest of the team.

Paulsboro wrestling coach Paul Morina hasn't been immune from the complications and conflicts inherent in handling both roles as his sons Mike and Sam have suited up for the Red Raiders for the last four seasons.

If anything, Morina has dealt with an even more challenging situation, since he has two children in the same class who are different in personality and level of accomplishment - all while competing in a pressure-packed sport for one of the most fabled and fanatically followed programs in the state.

Morina is among the most demanding and successful coaches in South Jersey history, in any sport.

But one of his most remarkable feats has been his ability to maintain the standards of the legendary Paulsboro program while integrating his sons into the lineup, getting the best from both boys, and turning the task of coaching his own children into a teaching tool for himself.

Morina on Wednesday became South Jersey's all-time leader in career coaching victories. Paulsboro's 47-14 triumph over Haddonfield in a Colonial Conference clash marked his 606th win in 30 seasons.

Morina through Thursday had a 606-40-4 record. He had lost three Colonial Conference matches in his career. He was 110-4-1 in the state tournament.

But it has been only over the last four seasons that Morina's workload has been not doubled but squared - two roles times two sons.

"I've learned so much from my own kids as far as how to handle kids," Morina said on a special night in Paulsboro's famous old gymnasium. "I'll give you an example. When Sam was a freshman he lost a close match right here in this gym.

"He probably should have beaten the wrestler, but he lost and it kind of burned me up inside. But I didn't say anything and he came off and about 15 minutes later he came over and sat down next to me and said, 'I messed up, didn't I?'

"I said, 'Yeah, but don't worry about it. You're going to lose a lot more matches and you've got to learn from them.'

"At that moment, I learned that's how I was going to handle these kids. I was going to wait until the emotions were out of it and I was going to let them bring things up to me.

"It worked. It worked every time. That has been the secret of me being able to keep my kids involved in this sport."

Morina was Paulsboro's coach for 12 years before Mike, his oldest son, was born. The boys and their younger brother, Anthony, an eighth grader, grew up in the wrestling room, went on road trips with the team, attended nearly every home match.

But Morina said he tried hard not to impose the sport on his sons.

"I worried because I didn't want to force it on them," Morina said. "The best thing we did with our kids, we let them play other sports. They played baseball all the way until freshmen year. They played football, Mike runs cross-country. We let them do other things.

"That was the key for us. I didn't want them to think they had to wrestle. But I made sure they were always doing something physical like lifting weights or trying to go run, things of that nature.

"I felt like I've never really pressured my kids with going crazy with wrestling all through the year. Let them dictate how they wanted to approach the sport."

Every parent knows every child is different. In Morina's case, he had to learn to deal with the fact that Sam is a little more accomplished than Mike in wrestling.

Paul Morina said it was a similar situation to his relationship with his older brother Carmel, the Gloucester County sheriff and a Paulsboro assistant coach. Carmel Morina was a state champion wrestler for Paulsboro in 1975, while Paul Morina finished second in the state in 1977.

"Mike's a different kid," Paul Morina said. "He's very different in the way he thinks, the way he does things. He's laid back. He works hard - he just doesn't have as much talent as Sam has.

"He works hard for everything he gets. The funny thing is, I was like that when I was in school. Carmel was like Sam, real talented. So it's kind of the same thing."

For Morina, it was fitting that his sons won the two bouts on Wednesday night that secured the coach's record-setting victory.

Mike Morina's decision at 126 pounds pushed the Red Raiders to the brink of a team victory and Sam Morina's pin at 132 pounds sealed the deal.

"You don't even know," Paul Morina said of his feelings about his sons' prominent roles in his historic victory.

Both of Morina's sons were thrilled to play such an important part of one of the most memorable nights of their father's illustrious career.

"It's all about my dad," Mike Morina said. "I'm just proud of him."

Sam Morina knows how much Paulsboro's success in the sport means to his father.

"This is his life," Sam Morina said of his father. "I don't think a program has ever meant as much to anybody as this one does to him."

Mike and Sam Morina are key members of Paulsboro's undefeated team, which is ranked No. 1 in South Jersey. But their father said he was more proud of their development as young men.

"They give great effort," Paul Morina said. "They are hard workers. They keep their noses clean. They try really hard in school.

"I'm really proud of my boys. It means a lot to me."