ROSELLE PARK — I don’t believe that if the borough of Roselle Park was, by some vote, proclamation or amendment, re-named Wagner Park or Roselle Wagner, there would be one single Roselle Park resident that would object.
That’s how much John Wagner, a well-respected Roselle Park native through and through, is revered.
On Tuesday, June 16, the Roselle Park Board of Education voted unanimously to name a stadium section for Coach Wagner.
On Thursday, Sept. 3, before Roselle Park High School’s football home-opener vs. Belvidere High School, there will be a field dedication to name the Roselle Park Complex after Coach Wagner.
It will now be named: John Wagner Stadium at Herm Shaw Field.
On Thursday, Sept 3, at 5:30 p.m., there will be a field dedication, with arrival at the lower gate entrance. At 5:40 p.m., the ceremony honoring John Wagner, Roselle Park High School Class of 1969 and head football coach at Roselle Park from 1981 to 2005, will begin.
Wagner, who will turn 75 on Wednesday, Sept. 9, will also deliver the coin toss five minutes before the game’s 6 p.m. kickoff.
“I want to thank Superintendent Patricia Gois and the Board of Education for approving this dedication,” Wagner said. “I’m so flattered and overcome by the gesture.
“This is an honor I never expected.”
Wagner is Roselle Park’s winningest head football coach with a 25-season record at Roselle Park closing at 150-92-2. Wagner guided the Panthers to 11-0 records and North 2, Group 1 sectional state championships in 1992 and 1993 and also led the 1996 squad to a 9-1 record which included a 9-0 regular season mark.
Wagner passed Herm Shaw as Roselle Park’s winningest head football coach his last season in 2005. Shaw’s 29-season record – he was the head coach from 1926 to 1955, with the exception of 1943, because of military service – was 146-86-23.
Including a seven-season record of 51-26 at Point Pleasant Beach where Wagner guided the Gulls to the playoffs all seven years and the program’s first and only sectional state championship in the playoff era, Wagner’s final coaching record stands at 201-118-2.
To give some insight on the impact Wagner had at PPBeach, the Gulls were 2-8 in 2010 the year before Wagner took over and 0-9 and shut out five times in 2018, the year after he left.
From 2011 to 2017, not only did the Gulls make the playoffs all seven years, but they captured the Central Jersey, Group 1 sectional state championship in 2013 with a 12-7 win against Shore at The College of New Jersey to finish 10-2. Then, in 2017, the Gulls reached the Central Jersey, Group 1 final again, falling to Middlesex 33-21 at Kean University to finish 7-5.
None of Wagner’s seven teams at PPBeach finished less than .500. The 2012 squad went 10-1, falling only to a 10-1 Florence team at home by the score of 17-14 in the Central Jersey, Group 1 semifinals. Florence went on to win the section 11-1.
Roselle Park had the same kind of consistent success with Wagner, who played high school football at Roselle Park for Joe Gardi and who, after graduating from Kean College, was on the staff at Roselle Park with head coach Geoff Hill for five seasons, from 1976 to 1980. Roselle Park went 9-0 and was awarded the 1979 North 2, Group 1 crown when the Panthers were the only team in the section to qualify for the playoffs.
“Roselle Park raised me as a kid,” Wagner said. “I grew up in Colfax Manor, right across the street, playing stickball. There’s a lot of history here for me.”
The similarities in coaching are also there between Wagner and Shaw.
“After they were called the Colfax Avenue Fields, in 1975 they were named after Herm Shaw,” Wagner recalled. “Herm Shaw coached basketball, baseball and also track and field, while I coached basketball, softball and also track and field.
“Shaw was president of the Union County Conference and I was president of the UCIAC (Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference). We were also both athletic directors.”
Some of Wagner’s biggest influences in addition to Gardi and Hill were former Roselle Park Principal Dale Springer, Nick Haupt, Joe Rebino, John Adase and Joe Signorello.
“All were very important to me in my younger days,” Wagner said.
Three coaches who also led Union County football teams to multiple state championships were also high on Wagner’s radar.
“Gary Kehler at Westfield, Frank Bottone at New Providence and Lou Rettino at Union, we tried to make a Roselle Park version of their success here,” Wagner said.
There are many others who assisted Wagner to make Roselle Park the constant winner it was for a long time.
“There was a lot of stability for 25 seasons because of the support I received from assistant coaches Sam Appello, Joe McGinnis, Frank Antonelli, Pat Spagnoletti Sr., Jim Ragucci, Dennis McCaffery, Fran Maggio, Jamie Shriner, John Ranieri, James Foy, Don Zsak and Dom Petinelli,” Wagner said.
“Also, Joe Guglielmo coached me in high school and was a longtime assistant. He was very special and has a place in my heart.”
How the dedication came about
A committee was formed consisting of former Superintendent of Schools Ernie Finizio, Roselle Park High School Class of 1987 graduate Dennis McCaffery, who played for Wagner, and Sue Carlstrom.
“It started with the fact that John Wagner is the winningest football coach at Roselle Park,” Finizio said. “We honored him at last year’s Thanksgiving Day game as the winningest coach.
“Then we went into his high school records and decided as a committee to have a celebration and make his name a permanent fixture.”
Finizio, born and raised in Roselle Park, taught Wagner in middle school and for the one year he was the varsity baseball head coach in 1969, Wagner’s senior season, Wagner played for Finizio.
“John was my No. 1 starting pitcher,” Finizio said. “John the man, the teacher, the coach, the administrator; he touched so many lives in all the positions he held in his 36 years at Roselle Park. He was a legend as a coach in the state of New Jersey.
“John was a man of many talents who was widely respected. He exhibited discipline, honor, courtesy and sportsmanship in the classroom and on the field. He was always consulting with the guidance department on the education of his student-athletes.”
John Wagner’s Top 4 football wins at Roselle Park
No. 1 – Roselle Park 35, New Providence 33 – 2001 regular season game at New Providence High School
“We were down 33-7 in the third quarter,” Wagner said. “Frank Bottone (New Providence head coach) said it was his worst loss ever.”
Roselle Park did not defeat New Providence again until 2012, snapping a 10-game losing streak against the Pioneers.
No. 2 – Roselle Park 30, Cedar Grove 29 – 1992 North 2, Group 1 semifinal at Cedar Grove High School
“We were down by 14 points twice,” Wagner said.
No. 3 – Roselle Park 27, Butler 6 – 1992 North 2, Group 1 final at Butler High School
“This game was played in the snow,” Wagner said. “We did not attempt a pass in the first half and then our first pass attempt in the second half from John Schinestuhl to Marc Leonardis went for 70 yards.”
Roselle Park won North 2, Group 1 in 1992 as the fourth seed, winning at top-seeded Cedar Grove High School, 30-29, in the semifinals and then at second-seeded Butler, 27-6, in the final.
No. 4 – Roselle Park 10, New Providence 7 (OT) – 1993 North 2, Group 1 final at Roselle Park High School
“We went for the game-winning field goal on third down, so if we messed up the snap, we would have another down to attempt it again,” Wagner said. “People were yelling that I didn’t know what down it was. We knew.”
Senior quarterback-placekicker John Schinestuhl successfully kicked the field goal on third down to make Roselle Park repeat as North 2, Group 1 champs with a second straight 11-0 record. The Panthers won the 1993 North 2, Group 1 title as the top seed with home playoff wins against fourth-seeded Mountain Lakes High School, 43-6, and second-seeded New Providence, 10-7, in a single overtime.
Week One football for Union County schools
Linden, Roselle, Cranford, Arthur L. Johnson and New Providence play their season-openers:
Thursday, Sept. 3 = four games
Belvidere (0-1) at Roselle Park (0-1), 6 p.m. – Both teams are coming off season-opening defeats where they scored just one touchdown, Belvidere at Hackettstown, 27-8, and Roselle Park at Wood-Ridge, 41-6.
Voorhees (0-1) at New Providence (0-0), 6:30 p.m. – Voorhees lost 36-0 at home to Warren Hills on Friday, Aug. 28, while this will be the first game for new New Providence head coach Anthony Conzentino.
Linden (0-0) at Scotch Plains–Fanwood (0-1), 7 p.m. – These teams will be clashing for the first time since 2021 when Scotch Plains–Fanwood won 17-10 at Scotch Plains. In last weekend’s season-opener at Westfield, Scotch Plains–Fanwood lost, 33-28.
Bound Brook (0-1) at Jonathan Dayton (0-1), 7 p.m. – Bound Brook lost at North Warren, 32-0, on Friday, Aug. 28, while Jonathan Dayton scored four touchdowns, but fell at Governor Livingston, 40-27, on the same day.
Friday, Sept. 4 = eight games
Union (1-0) at Watchung Hills (1-0), 6 p.m. – Both teams opened with shutout wins on the road on Friday, Aug. 28, Union winning at Edison, 35-0, and Watchung Hills at South Brunswick, 14-0. Union is 1-0 for the first time since 2020.
Elizabeth (1-0) at Plainfield (0-1), 6 p.m. – Elizabeth was dominant in a 53-6 win at Carteret on Friday, Aug. 28, while on the same day, Plainfield lost a close game at Sayreville, 23-19.
Westfield (1-0) at St. Thomas Aquinas (0-0), 6 p.m. – Westfield opened with a 33-28 home win against neighborhood rival Scotch Plains–Fanwood.
Summit (1-0) at Rahway (1-0), 6 p.m. – This will be a battle of undefeated Union County teams at Rahway River Park as Summit held on to edge Colonia 23-21 at home on Friday, Aug. 28, after Rahway also won by two points at Willingboro, 30-28, on Thursday, Aug. 27.
Arthur L. Johnson (0-0) at Delaware Valley (1-0), 6 p.m. – Arthur L. Johnson is now guided by first-year head coach Mike Ryan. Delaware Valley opened with a 17-0 home win against North Hunterdon on Friday, Aug. 28.
Governor Livingston (1-0) at Monroe (0-1), 6 p.m. – Governor Livingston is 1-0 for the first time since 2021, after beating visiting Jonathan Dayton, 40-27, on Friday, Aug. 28. Monroe opened with a 33-28 loss at Perth Amboy the same day.
Manville (0-0) at David Brearley (1-0), 6 p.m. – David Brearley is 1-0 for the first time since 2022 and is seeking to go 2-0 for the first time since that same season. The Bears won at Wallington, 33-0, on Thursday, Aug. 27.
Cranford (0-0) at Bernards (0-1), 7 p.m. – Cranford, seeking to go 1-0 for the first time since 2023, lost at Bernards, 27-15, in last year’s season-opener. Bernards was defeated, 26-20, at Rutherford on Friday, Aug. 28, snapping a 34-game regular season winning streak.
Saturday, Sept. 5 = one game
Abraham Clark (0-0) at Hillside (1-0), 1 p.m. – Hillside opened with a 41-0 win at Columbia on Friday, Aug. 28, for its first shutout victory since winning at Carteret, 7-0, in 2024. Abraham Clark is now guided by first-year head coach James Roach.
Union County football schedule for Week One
Thursday, Sept. 3 = four games
Belvidere at Roselle Park, 6 p.m.
Voorhees at New Providence, 6:30 p.m.
Linden at Scotch Plains–Fanwood, 7 p.m.
Bound Brook at Jonathan Dayton, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 4 = eight games
Union at Watchung Hills, 6 p.m.
Elizabeth at Plainfield, 6 p.m.
Westfield at St. Thomas Aquinas, 6 p.m.
Summit at Rahway, 6 p.m.
Arthur L. Johnson at Delaware Valley, 6 p.m.
Governor Livingston at Monroe, 6 p.m.
Manville at David Brearley, 6 p.m.
Cranford at Bernards, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 5 = one game
Abraham Clark at Hillside, 1 p.m.
Off: None.
Photo by JR Parachini
