Now he has been named Male Athlete of the Year at California Baptist University.
Pretty impressive for a guy known affectionately in the Lancers wrestling program as "Uncle Joe" who just turned 27.
Joe Fagiano (Photo/Tim Tushla)Here's how Allan Steele of the Press-Enterprise, the local newspaper, described Fagiano's mat career before coming to California Baptist last year:
"Fagiano won an Illinois high school state title 10 years ago [St. Patrick's High School, Chicago], but his collegiate experience had been rocky at best. He wrestled at Indiana University for a year and was an NCAA tournament qualifier. He transferred to Hofstra, and again qualified for the Division I championships, but said the situation wasn't ideal. After a year at Hofstra, Fagiano transferred back to Indiana, but did not compete for two years, sitting out a year due to transfer rules and then not starting the following season. He graduated from IU in 2012 and figured his collegiate career was finished.
"But during a visit last summer with friend and former teammate Andrew Nicola, the two joked about Fagiano having eligibility left," the Press-Enterprise continued. "Nicola, now an assistant coach at CBU, decided to check and found Fagiano was eligible for one season at the Division II level."
Fagiano saw an opportunity to not only earn a graduate degree, but also take care of some unfinished business on the mat, and end his collegiate wrestling career on a high note.
What a high note it was. This past season, Fagiano finished 29-6, and claimed the 2016 NCAA D2 title at 285 by defeating Malcolm Allen of Minnesota State-Mankato in a come-from-behind 6-3 victory in the championship match to not only become Cal Baptist's first national champ ... but also propel the CBU Lancers to a sixth-place finish in the team standings, the program's highest team placement ever at Nationals. If that weren't enough, Fagiano received all the other honors mentioned above ... along with being named the Press-Enterprise Area Male College Athlete of the Year.
"He's one of best technicians on the team," Coach Lennie Zalesky told the Press-Enterprise in a recent interview, adding he had no concerns about Fagiano being rusty after not competing for a couple of years.
"I thought he was primed for this year, actually," Zalesky said. "I liked the circumstance; I liked his mentality coming in."
CBU assistant coach Andrew Nicola had predicted great things for his long-time friend when Fagiola arrived on campus, as he disclosed in a July 2015 interview with California-based wrestling writer Pablo DiMaria:
"I have known Joe for many years; as a friend and now as his coach. I truly believe Fagiano can and will win the NCAA title next season. He has very high expectations for himself. He's already working out with World Team guys in preparation for next season so he can put his stamp on collegiate wrestling."
Fagiano winning an NCAA championship at age 26 is rare ... which makes it all the more special.
While most college wrestlers complete their on-the-mat careers in their early twenties, it's not unprecedented for some to be a bit older. InterMat profiled two past wrestlers who returned to the mat when they learned they had additional eligibility: Justin Decker, 33 at the time the former University of Iowa wrestler returned to the mat a season at Upper Iowa University where he had been a coach, and Rick Chipman, a 44-year-old who wrestled at University of Southern Maine.
What's more, in the decade or so after World War II, a number of wrestlers completed their college athletic careers well into their twenties, even pushing 30. Some wrestler careers were interrupted by WW2; two veterans who became NCAA champs -- Iowa's Joe Scarpello, and Oklahoma State's Dick Hutton -- were well into their late 20s when they stepped off the mat for the last time. Dan Hodge was a 25-year-old married man with an infant son when he won his third title for the Oklahoma Sooners in 1957. Even into the early 1960s, there was three-time NCAA finalist and 1961 champ Phil Kinyon who some called "the ancient Marine" because he was in his late 20s when wrestling at Oklahoma State after he had wrestled a number of years for the Navy after high school.
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