Jason Carpetta has returned to coaching after a five-year layoff.

Carpetta is the new wrestling coach at Peters Township High School. He replaces Dale Murdock, who stepped down at the end of last season.

"It's hard to get wrestling out of your blood," said Carpetta, who coached five seasons at Fort Cherry from 1998 to 2003. "I thought about returning to coaching the past couple years and this was the perfect opportunity."

Despite his relatively short stay at Fort Cherry, Carpetta had the most success of any coach in school history. In his five seasons with the Rangers, Carpetta had a 60-26 record, which included a 34-4 mark in section matches. He led the Rangers to four WPIAL Class AA playoff berths and won titles in 2000 and 2002.

The only other coach in Fort Cherry history to win a WPIAL championship was Duane Day, who led the Rangers to the title in 1985.

Carpetta stepped down before the 2003-04 season for personal reasons.

"I've been closely following the wrestling scene since I stepped down," Carpetta said. "I've kept up with the kids and the rule changes."

Carpetta takes over a program that had only four wins in the past two seasons.

"Their record over the past few years is deceiving," Carpetta said. "Dale Murdock and his coaching staff did a great job of rebuilding the feeder program. I'm walking into the perfect situation."

Carpetta heard about the opening when Murdock announced his retirement at the end of the season.

"I had a lot of good conversations with people in the community and they told me it was an up-and-coming program," Carpetta said. "I talked quite a bit with [former Peters Township coach] Phil Mary, who is currently a coach with the midget program. He told me it would be a good opportunity for me to get back into coaching."

Carpetta was hired at the Sept. 15 school board meeting.

"I'm very fortunate to have John Buckley and Dave Davies returning to coach the junior high program," Carpetta said. "The district also hired Andy Shrader [a 1990 Trinity graduate] as my varsity assistant.

"My hope is to meet with the kids [this] week and set up a conditioning program for the kids who are not involved with fall sports. I want to get the ball rolling as soon as possible."

Carpetta, a 1992 graduate of Canon-McMillan High School, was a three-year starter for the Big Macs. He was a two-time WPIAL Class AAA place-winner and two-time PIAA qualifier. He put his wrestling career on hold while earning a communications degree at Thiel College.

"I am currently working as a campus supervisor at The Bradley Center, a residential treatment facility," Carpetta said. "We have people working 24 hours a day, so I normally work the night shift. That will give me the flexibility to coach."

Carpetta has high expectations for his second coaching stint.

"I'm very competitive," Carpetta said. "I want to compete for the WPIAL title in the near future. The ultimate goal is to win a WPIAL title. I'm very excited with this opportunity."

Peters Township lost only five starters to graduation. Carpetta's top returnees are Sean Woodrow and Matt Mauer, who combined for 36 wins while starting as freshmen last season. Woodrow had a 20-14 record at 112 pounds, while Mauer was 16-11 at 125.

Murdock coached 20 years at Peters Township in two different stints. He had a 152-183-6 record.

"I began wrestling when I was 8 years old and now I'm 58," said Murdock, while announcing his retirement in June. "So I've been involved in wrestling for a half century. That's a long time.

"It's time to let somebody else run the show."