Area readies for top college wrestling

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. » For the past 15 years Frank Popolizio has been the Pied Piper of bringing college wrestling to the Capital District. Thanks to his years of experience as a promoter of the sport, he has found a way to bring the best of both worlds for spectators and wrestlers to two-sites this weekend.

Popolizio and Journeymen Wrestling will host its annual Northeast Duals at Shenendehowa High School where 14 collegiate programs will face off in traditional dual (team-vs.-team) match-ups in the High School East gym Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m.

On Sunday Journeymen will host the Collegiate Classic at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy beginning at 9 a.m. where wrestlers are matched-up by weight and skill level in an open tournament format.

“I learned that people enjoy duals, they can understand it better, this team versus that team and you’re winner is... It’s easy to follow, it’s easy to digest and it’s easy to root for,” Popolizio said. “However, some teams thoroughly enjoy what’s best for their wrestlers and we created a format that is in essence like a pee wee tour-

nament on steroids, grouping by talent level, A, B and C. You’re As and Bs wrestle each other, your Bs and Cs wrestle each other, but you’re As and Cs don’t wrestle each other.”

Every change that Popolizio has made to his annual fall collegiate classics has come from experience as a wrestler, a coach and a promoter.

“I try to always create a something different, add a different component, maybe not every year, but every couple years and take it to a level that makes it special,” Popolizio said.

Legendary wrestling programs and their coaches will be in the same gym on Saturday that will see Shenendehowa, Saratoga, Burnt Hills, Columbia and Averill Park’s programs compete in beginning in December. Competing teams include Oklahoma State University, Virginia, Oklahoma, Hofstra and Pat Popolizio coached North Carolina State University.

Popolizio also made a point for DIII Long Island University, Ithaca College and DIII Castleton University with its host of Section II talent will square off against each other Saturday.

Ithaca will bring back Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake alum Jake Ashcraft along with Queensbury’s Franky Nassivera with Castleton returning Section II stars Averill Park’s Max Tempel, Columbia’s David Wingate, Cohoes’ Nick Scott, Albany Academy’s Cameron Milliken along with South Glens Falls’ Matt Saville and Stillwater’s Frank Darwak to compete Saturday.

Saturday will also add a new wrinkle with high

school all-star exhibition matches of New York State top talent versus top-ranked wrestlers from across the nation.

Saturday morning kicks off with Northwestern Mutual’s Youth Scrap and Scramble Duals with eight youth teams also competing in a dual format in the Shenendehowa auxiliary gym.

There is also an opportunity to learn from the best at Duanesburg native, twotime NCAA National Champion and world bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski will offer two clinics on Saturday.

Sunday gives way to the Collegiate Classic and a host of individuals from the invited schools face off.

“Army, American University and Lock Haven they are looking for their good guys to get good matches and then they have guys who maybe aren’t developed,” Popolizio said. “Maybe they aren’t in the same scholarship situation and fully-funded so it’s hard for some of these mid-major programs to be competitive in a dual environment unless they are wrestling other programs with similar landscapes. This provides that opportunity.”

Admission to Saturday’s Northeast Duals at Shenendehowa is $25, Sunday’s admission to the Collegiate Classic at HVCC is $20. For more information, visit www.journeymenwrestling.com