Legends struggle to get why Billman was fired
Barry Snyder struggled to find the words to express his feelings about the Easton Area School District and the wrestling coaching situation.
The longtime, multi-sport coach could only offer up fragments periodically during a recent interview: Bizarre. Puzzling. Disheartening.
Snyder had no such problem, however, discussing former head coach and fellow Easton alum JaMarr Billman.
“I think JaMarr could be a great coach,” Snyder said. “The kids love him. It’s not just wrestling with him. He’s teaching them values they’ll use later in life.”
Billman won’t get the chance to continue to do that at Easton. His position was opened last month after he received a bad review and is expected to be filled as early as Tuesday at the next school board meeting.
Three candidates had second interviews this week, according to sources: former Liberty coach Jody Karam, 2013 Easton graduate and junior high coach Robbie Rizzolino and 2005 Northampton Steve Mytych.
Billman’s four-year tenure as the followup to legendary Pennsylvania chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame member Steve Powell was marred by some struggles on the mat and numerous problems away from competition.
Powell elevated Easton’s wrestling program to national status in his 32 years in charge after replacing another legend (Dave Crowell, now at Nazareth).
The firing of Billman has left many searching for answers. Here’s a timeline of relevant events from the moment Powell stepped down through Billman’s filing of a federal lawsuit earlier this month.
May 6, 2016: Powell announces his resignation after 40 years with the Red Rovers, the first eight as an assistant. The retired teacher had health issues, including a shingles battle in his last season and a hip problem that eventually led to replacement surgery last year. But the health issues were not the only reason Powell resigned.
“Steve was ready to go,” Snyder said, “but he had some issues, outside influences, parents.”
Powell won 534 matches, which was first in District 11 when he retired (since passed by Crowell). He won 13 league titles, 10 District 11 Duals championships and was 27-5 against rival Phillipsburg.
“You get discouraged,” the 66-year-old Powell said. “You do [coaching] 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Once they cut assistant coaches [one varsity, one junior high] … If the state has 800 wrestling programs, 790 have two [varsity] assistants. Now all of a sudden, Easton has one?
“That meant we had to pick up another major fundraiser. [The booster club] was already raising $30,000 to $40,000. Now you’re adding another varsity coach’s salary and another junior high coach’s salary.
“I was like, ‘All right. You got the best of me.‘” June 21, 2016: Billman is hired as Easton’s head wrestling coach.
March 10, 2018: An Easton wrestler does not make weight for the final day of the PIAA Wrestling Championships. The wrestler’s fa
ther and grandfather verbally and physically assault Billman on Giant Center property (charges are later brought against the grandparent).
March 14, 2018: Easton fires Billman and his staff.
March 16, 2018: Billman is reinstated after a meeting with then-Easton Area Superintendent John Reinhart and two others.
August 2018: Billman is verbally assaulted at a District 11 meeting by a parent whose son transferred from Easton, but was denied eligibility for the 2018-19 season.
Dec. 28, 2018: The Morning Call reports that EASD spent about $100,000 on legal fees and a consultant for work related to the investigation into the PIAA Wrestling incident.
Feb. 11, 2019: The Morning Call reports that 60% of EASD employees feared retaliation if they spoke up.
February 2019: Billman is verbally assaulted by a parent, according to a federal lawsuit he filed in June 2020. The lawsuit also alleges assistant superintendent Alyssa Emili sat and laughed with the parent, according to each member of the wrestling coaching staff.
Sept. 2019: Interim superintendent Frank D’Angelo appoints assistant athletic director Elaine Arnts as BiIlman’s direct supervisor. She attends many practices and almost all matches during the 2019-20 season.
Jan. 23, 2020: Easton loses for the second year in a row to Phillipsburg 42-22.
Jan. 30, 2020: Easton loses for the first time ever to Emmaus 30-25 in the first round of the District 11 Class 3A team duals. The setbacks to Phillipsburg and Emmaus end a 7-7 dual-meet season.
Feb. 29, 2020: For the second individual postseason weekend in a row, Easton finishes fourth in the team standings behind state powers Nazareth, Bethlehem Catholic and Northampton at the 3A Northeast Regional.
March 7, 2020: For the second year in a row, Easton has three state medalists (Braxton Appello, Dom Falcone and Isaiah Reinert) and is 19th in the team standings.
April 12, 2020: Arnts submits her notes for use in Billman’s review.
April 17, 2020: In a Zoom meeting with Emili and Pokrivsak, Arnts says she was told her information was “totally inaccurate” by Emili, according to the lawsuit filed by Billman.
April 18, 2020: Pokrivsak tells Arnts in an email to rewrite her notes, according to the lawsuit.
April 29, 2020: Arnts re-submits her notes — none of which she says was used in Billman’s review. Arnts says she was later given a less-thanfavorable review.
May 6, 2020: Billman is given a 56 out of 96 on his review, one point below a ‘passing’ grade, according to the lawsuit. This comes one year after Billman said he received a 93. He received an 80 in 2017 and was not given a review in 2018. He also claims in the lawsuit that he has never been given a job description.
Billman challenges all points made by Pokrivsak in this year’s review except one. He accepted responsibility for not notifying Pokrivsak about a joint workout with Stroudsburg during the postseason.
Billman strongly objected to Pokrivsak claiming Bethlehem Catholic coach Jeff Karam and athletic director Chris Domyan filed a complaint alleging Billman attempted to recruit a wrestler back to Easton and that he used a slur in a conversation with Karam during the 2020 Northeast Regional tournament.
District 11 chairman Bob Hartman confirmed in an email to Billman that he received nothing in writing concerning any violations by Billman.
Billman added that his personnel file at Easton does not have any reported write-ups regarding violations of any kind.
Billman’s position was opened following his review. He was free to re-apply but did not.
June 9, 2020: Superintendent Dave Piperato addresses the Billman situation with a statement during a school board meeting.
“This year the evaluation of the boys wrestling program revealed numerous problems including rules compliance, overall management of the program and general leadership,” Piperato said. “Concerns remain regarding promising athletes defecting to other programs and the overall number of athletes participating in our wrestling program.”
Piperato refuses to take questions following his statement and did not return a phone call last week.
June 10, 2020: Billman files the federal lawsuit alleging that he was subjected to a hostile work environment “rife with racist actions, racist discrimination and retaliation” by administrators and the school board.
Powell said whoever gets the head coaching position will walk into a wrestling room with plenty of talent — including the three returning state medalists.
“The program has never been more solid with the four programs [from youth to varsity],” he said.
But Powell also cannot understand the reasoning for what was done to Billman, a two-time PIAA champion and three-time NCAA all-American.
“There are a whole lot of intelligent people involved,” Powell said. “Somebody has to have a plan. I keep thinking that I’m going to see it. Somebody is going to show me.
“But I’ve had no indication.”
Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com.