By River Mitchell
@rivermitchell27
Getting inducted into a hall of fame for any type of sport can be one of the highest honors that anyone could receive. For Springfield College wrestling Head Coach Jason Holder and Springfield alumnus Devin Biscaha ‘14, the pair was recently inducted to the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Hall of Fame.
But to understand how Biscaha and Holder got here in the first place, the story begins when Holder was a kid.
Holder’s father was into wrestling when he was in college, eventually passing it down to a young Holder. He wrestled throughout middle school and high school, and when Timberlane Regional High School in New Hampshire went on to win the state championship during Holder’s seventh and eighth grade years, he hoped to be on the team when he was older.
In this part of the state, being on the wrestling team was a big deal. Mostly known for hockey and wrestling, a large population of students aspired to be on the wrestling team. In his tenure at Timberlane, Holder was not only fortunate enough to make the team, but became a star. In his four years at the school, he won three New Hampshire State Championships, two New England Champions and was a National All-American. With his impressive resume, Holder received offers from several colleges to compete at the next level.
Although committing to Boston University to wrestle, it was during this period that Holder was introduced to Springfield College. Springfield was also in the mix to land his talents, but for a different program: the football team, as Holder had played on the gridiron at Timberlane.
Picking up where he left off in high school, Holder was a four-year starter, four-year captain and a three time All-Conference athlete at BU. He graduated from BU with a degree in Psychology in 2003, and his master’s in Education, Health, PE and Coaching in 2004. Holder quickly transitioned to the sidelines, coaching at Plymouth State University as an assistant, before later taking over as the head coach for two years in a part time role.
But once he realized that Plymouth State wasn’t going to be a permanent position due to not being able to work full time, Holder decided to follow up with the same school that recruited him years prior – Springfield – to get his doctorate.
Looking to become a teacher afterwards, Holder was a graduate assistant for three years with the wrestling team before becoming a volunteer for a year. Head coach at the time, Daryl Arroyo, was looking to move on from Springfield and become an athletic director, setting up Holder to be successor.
During his year as a volunteer, while also being an adjunct professor at Springfield, Holder secured one of his (literal) biggest recruits: Biscaha.
Getting heavily recruited by another assistant, Holder remembers his very first interactions with him.
“I’ll never forget him coming up on a visit,” Holder said. “I watched a video on Devin. He doesn’t look like your stereotypical short, stocky jacked [wrestler]. He’s tall, lengthy [and] he was very good.”
While recognizing his talent, Holder noticed there were several things that Biscaha needed to work on, including his feet. While great on top, his play in the neutral position needed to get better. Throughout his freshman year, Holder noticed the improvement in Biscaha.
“He came in his freshman year and he had some fun,” Holder said. “He was learning. You could
tell he was getting better.”
But another thing that stood out to Holder was his personality.
“He was also goofy,” Holder said. “He was the fun guy in the room. He had this confidence about himself. He knew he could [be good] and it was interesting to see how things went.”
While not starting in either his freshman or sophomore year, Biscaha finally got a starting role in his junior year during the 2012-13 campaign.
Once he became a starter, Holder remembers when his transformation first came about. Derrick Longo, another wrestler on the team, started wrestling with Biscaha.
“It wasn’t like he was dominating everybody,” Holder said. “I noticed him wrestling with Longo a lot and Longo was just taking it to him on his feet. Devin started to get better and better because he was learning how to deal with Longo. Longo was one of those guys who worked out like crazy [and] had a relentless attack on his feet.”
The work Biscaha put in at Springfield’s Doug Parker Wrestling Room clearly paid off. In 2013, wrestling at 157 pounds, Biscaha became Springfield College’s first-ever Division III National Champion.
Following his senior season, Biscaha followed in Holder’s footsteps transitioning to a coaching career that started in Christiansburg, Virginia. After a four year stint at Jackson Liberty High School in New Jersey, Biscaha now coaches at First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
While it was an accomplishment for Holder to receive the NEWA recognition, he humbly credits it to Biscaha and the other athletes he’s gotten to coach.
“I wouldn’t ever say it’s because of me,” Holder said. “Where I’m at today is not because of one person or two people. I’ve had a number of people be supportive to help me get where I’m at.”