InterMat Staff

Alright, so we said last week that the fourth part of our series on the 2006 offseason, the one that changed college wrestling, would be our final installment. We've got one more article for you. Parts one through four detailed the impact that the proverbial coaching carousel had on nine different programs. Well, 15 schools changed head coaches that year. While we're at it, we decided to look at the circumstances of the head coaching positions at the six schools previously omitted. Here are the previous four parts in the series: Part One saw us investigate the first domino that fell: Ohio State. Part Two will feature the most controversial aspect of the offseason: Iowa and Virginia Tech. Plus, Oregon State, too. Part Three will look at the other traditional power involved: Iowa State. Part Four highlights the two coaches everyone overlooked: Pat Popolizio/Binghamton and Chris Ayres/Princeton. Air Force On May 30th, 2006, Joel Sharratt was named head of the Air Force wrestling team. The position was open after Wayne Baughman retired after 27 years on the job. Sharratt, a three-time All-American and 1994 national champion for the University of Iowa, was no stranger to coaching at a military academy. He had spent the previous six years coaching at the Naval Academy as the team's head assistant coach. Navy was coming off a pair of seasons where they sent six wrestlers to the 2005 national tournament and five in 2006. Sharratt led the Falcons from the spring of 2006 until 2013-14. While in Colorado Springs, Sharratt sent 20 wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament and mentored seven champions at the NCAA West Regional. Though none went on to claim All-American honors, five Air Force wrestlers earned top-ten seeds at the national tournament while under Sharratt (Cole Von Ohlen 9/2011; 3/2012; 4/2013 and Josh Martinez 10/2013; 4/2014). In 2008, Sharratt was named the West Region Coach of the Year after leading the Falcons to a runner-up finish in the conference meet. In his eight years with Air Force, Sharratt put together a 67-62 dual record. Following the 2013-14 campaign, Sharratt returned to the Naval Academy to assume head coaching duties. He was succeeded by assistant coach Sam Barber. Under Barber, Air Force has seen a sharp uptick in the school's recruiting production. That was no more evident than during the 2021 season. Freshman 285 lber Wyatt Hendrickson advanced to the NCAA Round of 12 and nearly became the school's first All-American since 2003. Hendrickson also made the Junior World team and wrestled in the bronze medal match. Barber's teams have gone 41-44 during his tenure. In addition to plenty of young talent, Air Force returns Hendrickson and 133 lber Jared Van Vleet, who also has previous NCAA experience. Chattanooga Let's go back to the summer of 2006. Cael Sanderson and Tom Brands had already signed on to become head coaches at Iowa State and Iowa, respectively. After those two, one of the more prominent, young names on the coaching market was Chris Bono. The 1996 national champion, Bono, was brought into Chattanooga as an assistant coach during the 2005-06 season, but was elevated to acting head coach after Joe Seay left the program. In late July, Bono was named full-time head coach. This was the first head coaching role of Bono's career. Jason Bryant of Mat-Talk Online detailed how close Bono's first team at Chattanooga came to a memorable season. 133 lber Matt Keller finished in fourth at the 2007 NCAA Championships. The remainder of the squad had a stunning five others that fell in the bloodround (Javier Maldonado, Michael Keefe, Aaron Martin, Jake Yost, Matt Koz). Those performances led to a 21st place finish nationally. In year number two, Cody Cleveland earned All-American honors by taking eighth at the 141 lb weight class. That made it four straight seasons with at least one AA for the Mocs. Cleveland remains the most recent All-American for Chattanooga. Bono would leave Chattanooga to return to Iowa State as an assistant coach after three years. Chattanooga claimed SoCon titles in all three of his years as the head coach. In those three seasons, 18 wrestlers claimed SoCon titles and the team fought to a 39-17 record. The search for a replacement for Bono yielded Moc-alum Heath Eslinger. Before returning to Chattanooga, Eslinger had spent three years coaching at Bradley Central High School not far from UTC. After a fourth-place finish in 2009-10, Eslinger's Moc reeled off five straight SoCon championships. During that time, 19 Moc wrestlers won SoCon titles and Sean Boyle advanced to the Round of 12 in 2015. Eslinger stepped down to pursue other opportunities outside of college wrestling following the 2017-18 season. He amassed a 101-61 dual record and only dropped five conference duals during his tenure. About a month before Eslinger resigned, he added two-time Wisconsin All-American, Kyle Ruschell, to the Mocs coaching staff. Once Eslinger stepped down, Ruschell was given the Interim Head Coach tag. While holding the interim position, Ruschell claimed a share of the SoCon regular-season title and saw four wrestlers advanced to the national tournament. Later that year, Ruschell was named the head coach on a full-time basis. In three years leading the Mocs, Ruschell has amassed a 22-20 record. Three Chattanooga wrestlers qualified for the 2020 NCAA Championships and four made the tournament in 2021. Clarion Early in the 2006 coaching carousel, the Golden Eagles got their guy in 1998 national champion Teague Moore. Prior to coming to Clarion, Moore was an assistant coach at Harvard, Oklahoma State (his alma mater), Oklahoma, and Pittsburgh. Moore inherited a team that did not send a single wrestler to the 2006 national tournament. After a few years of building, Moore's 2011 squad featured two wrestlers that would go on to finish in the top-five at the NCAA Championships (James Fleming - 5th, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov - 3rd). Abdurakhmonov has enjoyed a remarkable international career with two World bronze medals and, most recently, an Olympic bronze. Moore wasn't able to oversee his two pupils making the national podium as he left following the 2010-11 season to take the American job. Replacing Moore was Matt Dernlan, who served as the Director of Operations for Penn State, and was a part of their first national championship team of this modern dynasty. Dernlan's 2011-12 team, led by a pair of All-Americans, finished 18th in the nation, the best national showing by a Clarion team in 15 years. After only one year, Dernlan left Clarion to pursue the Binghamton head coaching position. Replacing Dernlan on a temporary-then full-time basis was Lehigh national champion, Troy Letters. In each of Letters' two seasons, Clarion sent a pair of wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Year one saw James Fleming earn All-American honors for a second time (8th). Letters would step down in September of 2014 with a 14-25 dual record. In searching for a replacement for Letters, the Clarion brass turned to Keith Ferraro, who was an assistant at the time. In December of 2014, Ferraro was given the interim tag was removed from Ferraro. The initial team that Ferraro inherited went 1-16 in duals and did not yield a national qualifier. Since that time, the program has been on an upward trajectory. The 2018 team fielded four NCAA qualifiers, which was the best mark for the team in 14 years. Although the 2020 national tournament was canceled, two Golden Eagles were named NWCA 2nd Team All-Americans (Brock Zacherl and Greg Bulsak). After the slow start in the transition year, Ferraro's teams have fought to a 43-47 dual record. Eastern Michigan This series has celebrated a tradition that we have grown to love; the offseason coaching carousel. Another less-fun almost annual occurrence, at this time, was athletic departments axing wrestling. That happened in 2006 when Slippery Rock eliminated their wrestling program. Alum and head coach Derek DelPorto then needed to look for a job and Eastern Michigan came calling. In year one, DelPorto guided EMU to their first winning season since 1990-91, when they went 8-7. Just a year later, the team registered their best record in school history, 15-8-1. The 2011-12 season saw the Eagles send four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, which was the program's best mark since 1995-96. After placing four wrestlers in the 2014 national tournament, DelPorto stepped down as head coach. Replacing DelPorto was his Associate head coach, David Bolyard. A 2004 All-American for Central Michigan, Bolyard finished his collegiate career ranked in the top ten for career wins at CMU. He had spent the previous seven years on EMU's staff. Under Bolyard, Eastern Michigan was at the beginning of emerging as a potential contender in the MAC. During the 2018 season, the Eagles finished third at the conference meet, which was a program-best, and crowned their first MAC champion (Kayne MacCallum) since 2009. Five EMU wrestlers qualified for the national tournament in Cleveland, which tied a program-high, established in 1989 and accomplished more recently in 1996. At the 2018 NCAA Championships, Eastern Michigan 141 lber Sa'Derian Perry got onto the podium and became the team's first All-American since DelPorto did so in 1999. Unfortunately, three days after Perry was crowned an All-American, the Eastern Michigan athletic administration announced they were cutting wrestling and three other sports. The athletic department, led by Scott Wetherbee, endured years of lawsuits due to Title IX issues that arose from dropping some of these teams. Though the 2018 team featured five seniors, a total of five former EMU wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Tournament the following year for various schools. Utah Valley Ben Kjar and Greg Williams after the 2011 NCAA Quarterfinals (Photos/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) You may not remember, but Utah Valley's first head coach was Cody Sanderson, who led the program for its first four years of existence. Once his younger brother, Cael, took over at Iowa State, Cody headed back to assist at his alma mater. That's when Utah Valley turned to Greg Williams. A longtime club and national team coach in the state, Williams was an All-American for Utah State in the mid-'80s and had strong ties in the area. This hire turned out to be a good move as Williams is one of only two coaches on this list that has lasted the entire 15 years with his school. Williams jumped into the fray at Utah Valley while the school was transitioning into a full-scale DI athletic department. The 2009-10 season was the first year that they were a full-time member and the wrestling squad celebrated by sending its first three wrestlers to the national tournament. Just a year later, Williams saw his first pupil earn All-American honors. Unseeded 125 lber Ben Kjar knocked off the #4 (James Nicholson - Old Dominion) and #5 (Zach Sanders - Minnesota) seeds to make the national semifinals, opposite Anthony Robles (Arizona State). Although Kjar lost, he was the only wrestler to keep Robles within six points in Philadelphia. He would bounce back to grab fourth, picking up a win over #7 Ryan Mango (Stanford), along the way. In 2015-16, after the West Region (or WWC) went away, Utah Valley moved into the Big 12. That first season saw, the Wolverine second All-American make the podium in Jade Rauser (8th) at 133 lbs. Fast forward to 2018-19, Utah Valley sent a program-high six wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament and saw Demetrius Romero become the school's first Big 12 champion. More records were set in 2021 as the school had two All-Americans for the first time in the same year, with Taylor LaMont (5th at 125) and Romero (6th at 174) both getting onto the podium. Those two led the way for a Wolverine team that racked up 21.5 points, good enough for a 21st place finish, the best in school history. During his tenure at Utah Valley, Williams has a dual record of 93-116 Virginia The other remaining member of this group is Steve Garland, who was named head coach of his alma mater in late April at just 28 years old. Garland had spent the previous six years serving as an assistant on the Cornell staff and developed a reputation as a very strong recruiter. His efforts helped lay the foundation for a Cornell program that was developing into a national power. UVA's head coaching position was open after Lenny Bernstein stepped down after 13 years in early April. His final team did not have any NCAA qualifiers. It took three years for Garland to produce his first All-American, Chris Henrich. Just a few years later, Henrich would go down as the program's first three-time All-American. In 2010, Virginia won an ACC team title for the first time since 1977 and Garland was rightfully named the league's Coach of the Year. At the NCAA Championships that year, Virginia finished in 15th place, which was the highest mark in school history. The 2017 team would replicate the feat. As a competitor, Garland was only the second NCAA finalist for the Cavaliers. Under his leadership, two more Virginia wrestlers (George DiCamillo and Jack Mueller) have wrestled on the raised mat on Saturday night. Virginia has become remarkably consistent during Garland's time in Charlottesville. Since Henrich broke through in 2009, there have been only three seasons where a UVA wrestler has went without earning All-American honors. In his 15 years at UVA, Garland has established himself as the school's all-time wins leader (169-96) and the team has captured a pair of ACC titles. 19 wrestlers have won conference titles and 14 have stepped on the NCAA podium. The 2021-22 Cavalier squad is expected to consist of eight past national qualifiers, so expect for Garland's numbers to continue growing.

After the 2006 offseason, the landscape of college wrestling would never be the same again. That statement sounds like hyperbole, but it's true. During the spring and summer of 2006, 15 head coaching positions at the DI level were opened and were filled. At the time, that accounted for almost 20% of the DI schools in the nation. And they weren't just any vacancies; they were at some of the most prestigious wrestling schools in the country. In fact, the head coaches that have accounted for EVERY NCAA team title since 2008 changed jobs during that offseason. Some programs regained their status as national powers. Others started their ascend towards new heights, while some faded towards obscurity. After 15 years, it's time for the most comprehensive look at the biggest game of musical chairs that college wrestling has ever seen. Each of the schools below hired a new head coach in 2006. Air Force, Binghamton, Chattanooga, Clarion, Eastern Michigan, Hofstra, Iowa, Iowa State, Ohio State, Oregon State, Princeton, UNC-Greensboro, Utah Valley, Virginia, Virginia Tech Since this is such a lengthy list, one article will not suffice. The tale of the coaching carousel in 2006 is one of nuance and a tricky game of dominoes. One opening led to another or multiple openings in some cases. Part One saw us investigate the first domino that fell: Ohio State. Part Two featured the most controversial aspect of the offseason: Iowa and Virginia Tech. Plus, Oregon State, too. Part Three looked at the other traditional power involved: Iowa State. Part Four will highlight the two coaches everyone overlooked: Pat Popolizio/Binghamton and Chris Ayres/Princeton. Part Five will explore "The Other Six Teams." The first three parts in our look at how the "2006 Offseason Changed College Wrestling" focused on some of the marquee programs (Iowa, Iowa State, Ohio State) that hired new coaches. Each of these three teams added new head coaches that were slam-dunk hires from day one. No-brainers. That trio, along with the saga at Virginia Tech, are what most people remember about the 2006 coaching carousel. There's good reason to focus on these seemingly top-tier hires; however, since 15 head coaching jobs came open and were filled, there are many other ones we've probably forgotten. As I scanned the list of the remaining schools that signed new leaders in 2006, there were two that stood out. Binghamton and Princeton. 2006 was the year that Pat Popolizio and Chris Ayres became head coaches for the first time. Whether you realize it or not, there are plenty of similarities between Popolizio and Ayres and how their coaching careers got started. At the time, neither had the name-brand recognition of Olympic gold medalists like Cael Sanderson and Tom Brands, two coaches that started this game of dominos. Ayres was a one-time All-American for Lehigh, while Popolizio made the NCAA Round of 12 during his senior year at Oklahoma State. But, both had wrestled for tradition-heavy collegiate programs and for legendary head coaches (John Smith and Greg Strobel). Each hailed from the northeast with and ended up taking jobs in their respective home states. Both inherited programs that were generally regarded as afterthoughts at the DI level and were relatively young at the time. Ayres' collegiate career wrapped up in 1999, while Popolizio finished three years later, in 2002. Interestingly enough, in speaking to Ayres, he acknowledged that Popolizio's early years at Binghamton "motivated him. I wasn't looking at the big schools, you look for similar models and that was Binghamton and Pat Pop." Popolizio was "a little ahead of him" in terms of the speed of their rebuild, though. It's funny that both Ayres and Popolizio used a similar adjective to describe themselves, in the spring of 2006, as they were preparing to embark on their first head coaching job. They both said they were "a bit naive" at the time. Neither necessarily was 100% aware of just how far they would need to grow to be competitive in their conference, much less at the national level. The Binghamton position became vacant after head coach Tony Robie left the school to follow Kevin Dresser to Virginia Tech and become his top assistant. Robie had only been at Binghamton for the 2005-06 season, which was its revival year. Following the 2003-04 school year, Binghamton discontinued its wrestling program due to budgetary concerns. A groundswell from alumni and prominent donors brought the program back a year later. As one may expect, the next head coach was walking into a difficult situation as wrestlers from the 2003-04 team likely transferred out and there was limited time to recruit during Robie's only year. It's kind of ironic now, with Robie leading the Virginia Tech team and Popolizio at heated rival, NC State, that Robie was the one who recommended that Popolizio should even apply for the Binghamton position. Robie gave Popolizio the head's up that he was leaving and thought the job was "something he should consider." The South Washington Street Bridge in Binghamton, NY in June 2006 (Photo/Michael Head; National Weather Service) After heeding Robie's advice, Popolizio applied to Binghamton and was granted an interview in late June. The night before his interview, the assistant athletic director called Popolizio and warned him that there was heavy flooding in the area and they'd understand if he wanted to reschedule. There's the old expression about "hell or high water" not stopping someone. Well, it didn't prevent Popolizio from making the trek from Washington DC (where he was coaching at American University) to Binghamton. "I don't care, I'll be there," was the response from Popolizio to his future employers. Once Popolizio got into the general vicinity of campus, it took an extra hour and six route changes, due to the flooding. He knew most would have gladly rescheduled and wanted to get a face-to-face meeting with the administration as soon as possible. Looking back, Popolizio didn't fully understand what it would take to win with the resources he would work with. "I just went in with blind faith. I didn't care what they were paying, what the scholarship number was; I just wanted to be a head coach." Though the Ohio State job was one that Ayres knew wouldn't be a fit with someone of his experience, at the time, the dominos that fell with Russ Hellickson's departure in Columbus caused reverberations that ended up impacting Ayres. He didn't apply for Ohio State, but once the Buckeyes hired Tom Ryan, he interviewed for his previous job at Hofstra. Ayres was in the mix at the University of Virginia, as well. Being an EIWA guy, having competed at Lehigh and later coaching at the school, Ayres noticed that if he were recruiting against Ivy League schools, they would lose unless they were giving good scholarship money. At the time, Penn and Cornell were at the top of the heap in the Ivy League and the EIWA, too. Also, seeing recent national champions like Jesse Jantzen (Harvard' 04) and Matt Valenti (Penn' 06) confirmed his suspicions that you could produce national champions at an Ivy League institution. After some digging into the academic rankings and at the urging of his wife, Lori, Ayres applied to Princeton. At the time, Princeton was ranked number one in the nation academically, which was significantly higher than some of their wrestling rivals. He knew that he could sell this to recruits that were interested in competing at the highest levels academically, as well as athletically. While Ayres knew he wasn't walking into a ready-to-win situation like Lehigh and he'd most likely get his first head coaching job at a "fixer-upper," he didn't realize just how long it would take to win. Another selling point for Ayres was the athletic administration and their alumni support. During his interview, "at the most Princeton-room you could imagine," one with a long table in an old room, with ten people participating, each fired off questions at Ayres regarding his plans for the team. His philosophy on how wrestling positively impacts your academic life and how wrestling was bigger than "just winning matches" really seemed to resonate with the interviewers. While not as dramatic as Popolizio's interview story, Ayres has an interesting one of his own. He was out on Long Island interviewing at Hofstra, while he had already done the same with Princeton. On his way back home, he stopped in New York City at the very first "Beat the Streets" gathering. Of the only 50 or so people at this event, 15 seemed to have Princeton roots. Ayres got to spend time with Tiger wrestling alums Mike Novagratz, Johnny Orr, Rich Tavoso, and Dave Crisanti. Orr was heavily involved with recruiting Ayres. As he met more and more alums, Ayres found that each seemed to be "crazier and crazier about Princeton," in a good way. During the interview process, Ayres wisely played to the competitive natures of the administrators regarding their Ivy League brethren. He went through roster numbers of the Princeton wrestling team compared to those at Cornell and Penn. They were at a distinct disadvantage on that front. Ayres then broke down the roster numbers of six successful sports at Princeton compared to other schools in the conference and they were generally equal across the board. The message was clear; if he received the proper support, the wrestling team could win. To his credit, then-athletic director, Gary Walters, pledged to give Ayres the resources he needed. One hundred eighty-four miles northwest, in Binghamton, Popolizio had the opposite impression. He took over a team with an "athletic director that dropped the program and was politically strong-armed into being reinstated and couldn't stand the program being around." Joel Thirer was the AD at the time. Thirer served in this role from 1989 to 2009 and stepped down amidst a scandal in the basketball program. Popolizio recalls one of his first events at Binghamton was a Hall of Fame gathering which included many prominent wrestling alums. At the event, he was pulled aside by Thirer and cursed out for trying to talk with the ex-Bearcat wrestlers. When Popolizio started at Binghamton, he was forced to work with a set amount of scholarship dollars, which was equivalent to 4.5. At the time, Popolizio didn't realize the importance of having the full allotment of 9.9 scholarships. He acknowledges that once Thirer left, "things started opening up for us." Even as both coaches took over at schools that most considered the bottom of the barrel, at the time, in DI wrestling, the pair was very confident in their ability to plant the seeds of success and focus on "the big picture." For Popolizio, the first order of business was changing the culture of the program. "Culture" is a word that Popolizio often uses to describe what he built at Binghamton and later at NC State. Pat Popolizio at Binghamton (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) A once proud DIII program, Popolizio says the team culture started to shift after Binghamton moved to DI status. "It was a big reason they ended up dropping." Losses were mounting and "kids were becoming destructive. It's a small town and news travels fast. So any negative news surrounding the program was a big deal." Popolizio found the one thing that he could control in this challenging circumstance was the time his team worked out. Five or six workouts a week at 6 AM "weeded some kids out very fast. We made sure guys were too tired from wrestling and school to get into anything else." Fresh off his coaching stint at Lehigh, one that included a third-place finish at nationals in 2004, Ayres "knew what a top-five team looked like." He, along with NCAA champion Troy Letters and two-time All-American Derek Zinck (both from Lehigh), felt like they could, "walk in, teach these guys some moves and we'd be good to go." He realized quickly that wouldn't be the case. After a year, Ayres brought in Andy Lausier, who had previous experience as head coach at the DIII level with Stevens Tech. Ayres found that he didn't "need someone to teach wrestling moves. We needed to build organizationally, like a company. Having Andy was like having two head coaches." Foundation is the word that Ayres frequently uses. He and his staff built a solid foundation in those early years, though the outside world wouldn't take notice for quite some time. During his first two years with Princeton, Ayres' team went 0-35 in dual meet competition. It wasn't until 2010 that Princeton produced their first national qualifier under Ayres. In those lean years, Ayres recalls dual meets where he'd "count 12 people in the stands." Despite the rocky start and amongst an athletic department that was routinely featured prominently in the Director's Cup standings, Ayres' always had the support of Walters. "He'd call me after every single event we had. Not in a negative way, but he'd say things like, "you guys won two of ten matches, that's better." Ayres calls Walters "his biggest supporter" and never felt any heat even with a less-than-favorable start to his tenure. Though the losses mounted in the early years, Ayres remained an optimist. "I have the ability to withstand a lot of pain for a long time," says Ayres, semi-jokingly. "Maybe moronically, but I have the perseverance to stick to things. In my own career, I never was a state placewinner." A considerable chunk of success in collegiate athletics can be attributed to recruiting. Wrestling is no different. Pat Popolizio won his first big recruiting battle quickly in his tenure. We should say "battles." Everyone on the Bearcat team was given their release, so the new Binghamton coaches had to re-recruit the entire roster. Some notables among that group include the Patterson brothers, Nate and Mike. Plus, the pair had a younger brother, Josh, who was an NHSCA Senior National Champion in 2006 and had already signed with the school. Popolizio recalls doing a camp in Cazenovia, NY, which was less than two hours from the Patterson boys hometown, Ontario, NY. He invited the youngest Patterson up for the camp and the two got a workout in. Popolizio found Patterson was strong in upperbody situations and even fell victim to a bodylock to his back, which made him "happy and mad." Shortly thereafter, Patterson confirmed his prior commitment to Binghamton and "it gave us a lot of momentum." He knew that between a recruit of Patterson's caliber and his connections within the state, that he'd be able to pull in some more decent recruits. One of Popolizio's assistants from the early Binghamton days was Hofstra alum Dennis Papadatos. Popolizio described Papadatos as "having the right mentality for the program, a strong work ethic, and good connections within the state." Papadatos and Patterson worked together frequently and Popolizio told his assistant coach to do what he had to, to get Patterson on the podium. He knew that for an emerging school like Binghamton, that one All-American could make the difference. Patterson was the team's only national qualifier in 2007 and the first AA during the Popolizio years in 2009. Princeton's first big recruiting win came when the school added two-time Ohio state champion Daniel Kolodzik in the Class of 2008. Kolodzik took his lumps for a few years at Princeton, but bumped up in weight and finished in the NCAA Round of 12 in 2012. Inking Kolodzik helped Ayres and crew continually improve their recruiting profile. Eventually, they landed Daniel's younger brother, Matthew, considered a top-ten recruit in the Class of 2015. Getting Matthew "proved we knew what we were doing at Princeton," says Ayres. Chris Ayres with Matthew Kolodzik (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Ayres likes to call those first five years in Princeton, "the best time, I never want to have again. I never want to go through that again, but the lessons learned were so impactful. How do you get a team that hasn't won in years to buy in? It's easy (relatively) to motivate the team where we're at now, but you had to get super-creative back then.' Popolizio says he "wouldn't want it any other way. Starting at a smaller school that is basically at rock bottom. You really had to claw your way out of a hole and do every task. That's really helpful when you're looking for other jobs. When you're at a smaller school, you really understand how a program's supposed to be run. Then at a bigger school, you understand everyone's role and appreciate all of the resources." The Aftermath Binghamton Pat Popolizio (left) and Dennis Papadatos as Justin Lister pins Jesse Dong 2010 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The Bearcats really garnered national attention at the 2010 NCAA Championships when unseeded 157 lber, Justin Lister, pinned third-seeded Jesse Dong (Virginia Tech) to make the national semifinals. That year, they also won the CAA Championships. Two years later, Popolizio's team put a pair of wrestlers on the podium, Donnie Vinson (3rd) and Nick Gwiazdowski (8th), and finished 14th in the nation. After transforming Binghamton into a top-15 team, the big boys came calling, literally. Popolizio's star was rising for a few years, which led him to explore plenty of head coaching opportunities. The new administration was helping as much as they could, but Popolizio was looking for a bigger landing spot. He threw his name in the hat for a number of positions, most notably, Northern Iowa, where he was a finalist. Doug Schwab ended up getting the gig, a guy that Popolizio says "was the right fit." Popolizio received a bit of advice regarding coaching searches from a seemingly unlikely source, Terry Brands. The two were working an Iowa-Style camp together in New York and Popolizio told Brands about some of the openings he applied to. Brands responded, "you're wasting your time. When a school wants you, they'll pick up the phone and call you. They'll come get you." Sure enough, in 2012, Popolizio's phone rang and Sherard Clinkscales, then the Associate AD at NC State, was on the other line. Clinkscales asked why Popolizio hadn't applied for the vacancy at his school. Popolizio replied, "You guys probably know who you're gonna hire anyways.". To which Clinkscale countered, "How about you apply and you'll figure out who we're going to hire." Shortly thereafter, NC State brought on Pat Popolizio as their new head coach. Popolizio brought Nick Gwiazdowski along with him and after a redshirt year, Gwiazdowski won the first of his two national titles in a Wolfpack singlet. Pat Popolizio at NC State (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) In Raleigh, Popolizio has finished in the top-20 in each of the last six NCAA Tournaments, highlighted by a fourth-place tie in 2018. That marked the first time NC State ever earned an NCAA Team Trophy. Popolizio's teams have earned three ACC Championship and Regular Season titles. After Popolizio left Binghamton, Matt Dernlan took over. Dernlan was fresh off of guiding Clarion to an 18th place finish at the NCAA Championships. As things in the wrestling community are typically intertwined, Ayres remembers Dernlan (along with Jim Heffernan), being serious candidates for the Princeton job in 2006. Dernlan led Binghamton from 2012 through 2017. He actually stepped down in the middle of the 2017-18 season. During Dernlan's initial season in Binghamton, the team finished second in the CAA. Following that year, the team transitioned to the EIWA. In 2015, Tyler Deuel captured the school's first EIWA title, while his team was sixth that year. The Bearcats would finish eighth in the conference during Dernlan's last full season. After Dernlan stepped down in December of 2017, Kyle Borshoff was elevated to the role of acting head coach. Following that season, the "acting" tag was removed from Borshoff's title. Since that time, Borshoff has overseen Binghamton sending four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships on two different occasions (a feat that had not been accomplished since 2013). Additionally, Louie DePrez was named an NWCA All-American in 2020, then finished eighth in the nation in 2021. The last time Binghamton put wrestlers on the NCAA podium was in 2012 under Popolizio. Borshoff's 2021 team went 3-1 in dual action (with wins over Army and Rider) and finished seventh at the EIWA Championships. Princeton The Princeton team after defeating Rutgers during the 2019-20 season (Photo/Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) Following Dan Kolodzik's loss in the 2012 NCAA Round of 12, Princeton continued to make steady improvements, solidifying Ayres' foundational growth. In 2015, Jordan Laster made the bloodround, as well as Abe Ayala earning the seventh seed at nationals. A year later, the big breakthrough came. After winning the first EIWA title by a Princeton wrestler since 2003, Brett Harner pinned Oklahoma State's Preston Weigel in the Round of 12 to earn All-American honors. It was the first for Ayres' tenure and also the first AA for the program since 2003. Ayres "lost my mind a little bit" after the fall was called. "A lot of years' worth of work went into that moment. I also knew the impact it would have on our program." A breakthrough was so crucial to Ayres because he knew the impact it had on his own career. Never a state placer, he didn't have placewinners to work with in high school. Once he went to Blair Academy and took a post-graduate year at the prep powerhouse, he was surrounded by nationally-ranked wrestlers. Though he didn't have the same track record as them, he thrived. For college, he enrolled at Lehigh, another school with pictures of past All-American and national champions lined throughout the wrestling room. Ayres knew that once he could provide his Tiger team with examples of "what you're supposed to do," their success would multiply. That proved to be an accurate assessment as blue-chip recruit Matthew Kolodzik arrived on campus just a few months later. At the 2017 NCAA Championships, Kolodzik would be the program's first freshman All-American. Fast forward to 2019, Kolodzik led a team that finished 15th in the nation and featured two additional All-Americans, Pat Glory and Patrick Brucki. That became the first time in program history that the Tigers crowned three AA's in the same year. Before Harner's breakthrough in 2016, Princeton only had eight All-Americans in the school's entire history. Since then, four separate wrestlers have AA'ed. While some may discount the 2019-20 season, because of the cancelation of the NCAA Championships, it marked one of the most notable accomplishments of Ayres' tenure with the program. On February 9th, 2020, Princeton logged a 19-13 win over Cornell to end the Big Red's 92-match, 18 year Ivy League winning streak. The win gave Princeton its first Ivy League title in wrestling since 1986. Though athletic director Gary Walters stepped down from his post in 2014, he was at this historic moment sitting in a VIP section. A photo showing an embrace between Ayres and Walters remains one of the coach's most treasured keepsakes from his career. Chris Ayres celebrates after defeating Cornell to win the 2020 Ivy League Title (Photo/Josh Conklin; JoshConklinPhotos.com) Princeton had come full circle from a program that went almost four full years under Ayres before winning their first Ivy League dual (February 6th, 2010). Ayres distinctly remembers that road trip through New England, with wins over Harvard then Brown, as a turning point in his program's trajectory. As usual, he received a congratulatory phone call from Walters after the wins. Now, almost ten years to the day, Ayres and Walters were celebrating an Ivy League title that Ayres promised back in 2006. Princeton has only competed four times since that historic win over Cornell. The Tigers had six wrestlers qualify for the ill-fated 2020 NCAA Tournament in Minneapolis. Following its cancelation, four Princeton wrestlers were named NWCA First-Team All-Americans (Glory, Kolodzik, Quincy Monday, Brucki). The Ivy League did not allow winter sports to take place in 2020-21, so Princeton and their rivals were not allowed to compete last season.