Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin has hired two important winter sports coaches to complete its boys varsity roster for next school year.
Eric Lakia becomes the next boys wrestling coach after the past four years coaching rival Lake Catholic, and Tim Schmotzer is the next boys basketball coach.
Lakia, who will also teach physical education at Notre Dame Elementary School, understands that moving between rival schools is an interesting move.
“I get that it’s a rivalry,” he said. “And I’ve developed so many relationships (at Lake Catholic). But I love what’s in place already here.”
Lakia said the teaching job is a dream come true and something he has wanted since graduating Ashland University 10 years ago.
“We were presented with an opportunity to have an accomplished and proven coach in Eric Lakia,” said NDCL Athletic Director Jim Clark. “We are excited to have someone with such a strong work ethic, experience and passion for wrestling join NDCL athletics.”
Lakia coached 23 state qualifiers while at Lake Catholic, including three-time state champion Kevon Freemon.
NDCL has not had that kind of championship tradition in its wrestling program, and Lakia hopes to get things turned around quickly.
“We’ll have realistic expectations, but I’ve always been one to set sights high,” he said. “It may be a long way away, but I’m coming here to win state championships, win conference titles, win district titles.”
He said the youth program has been in good hands with its coaches, so being in the elementary school will only help that.
As a wrestler, Lakia earned NCAA Division II All-America honors at Ashland University when he finished fourth at 165 pounds in 2007.
The team MVP in 2007, he was a three-time NCAA qualifier for the Eagles. In addition, as a prep grappler, Lakia was a four-time OHSAA Division I state qualifier at Riverside High School and finished fifth at 130 in the 2002 OHSAA state tournament.
Meanwhile, on the basketball court, Schmotzer brings over 25 years of experience as a head coach and nearly 300 career wins. Most recently, he served as the head coach of Normandy High School.
Schmotzer replaces Chris Poulos, who led the Lions as head coach for six seasons before stepping down to become an assistant principal at the school.
“I am so excited to be a part of the Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin community,” Schmotzer said. “I can’t wait to get started. We will work hard to become the type of program everyone will be proud of.”
Said Jim Clark, NDCL interim athletic director, “Coach Schmotzer has a wealth of head coaching experience in both public and private schools. He has a proven ability to build successful programs and develop student-athletes. His teams are always tough, hard-working and competitive, and we look forward to Coach Schmotzer instilling that culture into our basketball program.”
In his tenure at Normandy, Schmotzer led the Invaders to the first conference championship in school history in 2015, and then their first appearance in a district semi-final game since 1984.
A native of Cleveland and graduate of St. Edward, Schmotzer holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Physical Education from St. Edward University in Austin, Texas, and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Ashland University.