New NA Coaches Appointed
As First-Year AD Stays Busy

LIVINGSTON- Author Thomas Wolfe’s novel, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again,’ has been defied by many through the years and the latest to challenge that literary assertion is Newark Academy Athletic Director Dave Pasquale who has returned after two decades to where he began his coaching career.

And, while he is back on familiar turf and enjoying being back with some familiar faces at NA, he is keeping very busy reshaping the school’s coaching staff where need be, including adding new head coaches in girls and boys tennis, wrestling, fencing and softball.

"It's great to be back at Newark Academy,” said the 55-year-old former NA boys basketball and baseball coach who spent the past 20 years in two different administrative roles at Gill St. Bernard’s, while also coaching the Knights’ successful baseball program. “The community support for Athletics is clear, and it's our job to attract high-level student-athletes who want to be challenged academically and athletically.

"I am very fortunate to have a talented and dedicated group of folks in the Athletic Department who have welcomed me onto their team. I'm optimistic that collectively we will be able to move our programs forward."

Coming aboard at NA in the midst of the 2025-2026 school year are four new head coaches with impressive backgrounds in their respective sports in Tom Battaglia, who is a veteran tennis teacher at a number of different levels, former Livingston High School District and Region wrestling champion John Kane, former Columbia University national championship fencer LeeAnn Choy, and ex-Cranford High School standout and former NA assistant softball coach Tessa Ferentinos.  

Pasquale is thrilled to be bringing such an impressive quartet of coaches aboard to guide the Minutemen.

“We feel Tom, who will be our director of Tennis at Newark Academy,  will bring some stability to our boys and girls tennis teams, John is like a ‘Pied Piper’ of Livingston wrestling with all the work he has done in that sport in town, LeeAnn is a rock star in fencing who was also a 3-time fencer of the year at Ridge High School before her amazing college career at Columbia, and Tessa is a fine softball coach who teaches in our middle school and we feel is very well connected to the sport along with being a fine coach.”

Pasquale, who is a member of the NJSCA Coaches Hall of Fame, has the type of extensive experience as both a coach and administrator which appears to make him a perfect fit as he continues with his first full year back at NA where it all began for him as the head boys basketball coach from 1993-2005, plus the head baseball coach for the Minutemen from 1995 to 2005.

He was then the athletic director at Gill from 2005-2015 and the Dean of Student Life there from 2015 to this past spring while competing the 2024-2025 school year at the Gladstone-Peapack-based private school.

He was also Gill’s head baseball coach from 2012 to 2025.
Pasquale’s wife Caren, a retired, longtime public-school teacher in Mountain Lakes, has also come aboard at NA as a math teacher. The couple, who have three college-age children, reside in Montville.

In essence the move back to NA appears to have been a very smooth transition for a man who during his previous tourn of duty at the Livingston-based private school was as highly regarded a basketball and baseball coach as there was in Essex County.

“Everyone here at Newark Academy is interested in moving all our athletic programs in a positive direction,” said Pasquale. “It’s an exciting time for all of our boys and girls teams as we look to a bright future for all involved with our Minutemen sports!”

A Closer Look At NA Coaches Coming Aboard:
 
Battaglia has over a decade of coaching experience at the collegiate level, most recently as the Head Men’s and Women’s Coach at Division One Rider University, where he led the men’s team to its first-ever Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoff appearance, and earned 2024 Coach-of-the-Year recognition. Prior to his tenure at Rider, Battaglia led the Fairleigh Dickinson program to 90+ wins over four years, was named 2019 MAC Conference Coach-of-the-Year, and was nominated for USPTA College Coach-of-the-Year in 2021. Battaglia currently owns the Crestmont Indoor Tennis Facility in West Orange and is also the Director of Tennis at the Maplewood Club. He is extremely active at the national level, serving as Vice Chair of the USTA Eastern Competition Committee and the USPTA Middle States New Jersey Regional President.

Kane was a four-year varsity wrestling standout at Livingston High School (Class of 2006), where he was a District and Region Champion his senior year. After college, he was an assistant coach at Newark Academy, before taking over the youth program in Livingston. His leadership grew the Livingston program considerably, more than doubling enrollment from 30 wrestlers to over 60.

“I am also thrilled to announce that former NA Head Coach Jay Gerish has agreed to help out as an assistant, with primary focus on the development of the girls' program,” said Pasquale. “Coach Gerish has a storied history with NA Wrestling that includes team conference championships, individual district/region/county titles, and multiple coach-of-the-year honors.”

Choy has accepted the role of Co-Head Coach of NA’s varsity fencing program, joining returning Co-Head Coach Ed Lisovicz and returning Assistant Coach DJ Schuck to form an outstanding staff.

Choy was a four-year epee standout at Columbia University, graduating in 2021 with a BA in Economics. She had a career collegiate record of 83-42, was a member of three Ivy League Championship teams, and helped Columbia earn the 2019 NCAA National Title. Individually, she earned All-Northeast Regional recognition, with top-20 finishes in 2019 and 2020. Prior to attending Columbia, she was a three-time NJ State girls Epee Champion while competing for Ridge High School and she was a 3-time NJ.com Fencer-of-the-Year. 

Ferentinos has a decorated softball resume from her time as a high-level player at Cranford High School, through a 4-year run at Centenary University, where she started every game of her college career. She continues to play competitively on the national level with the USSSA Program, traveling to tournaments throughout the country. She began her softball coaching career at NA in 2023-24 as an assistant coach, and she also has extensive experience coaching at a wide variety of camps and clinics.