"Over the last 28 years, Tim Cysewski has worked tirelessly to develop Northwestern student-athletes into outstanding wrestlers and people," Phillips said. "We could not be more thankful for his dedication to the Wildcat wrestling program and we are thrilled to have him remain a fixture at Northwestern. Drew Pariano's passion for coaching mirrors that of Tim's and we look forward to watching Drew coach his alma mater and continue the program's momentum, both in winning championships on the mat and in recruiting top-level student-athletes."
Pariano will take over for the program's all-time winningest coach in Cysewski, who spent eight seasons as an assistant at NU before being elevated to head coach. In 1990, his first season in charge at Northwestern, he coached Jack Griffin to the school's first individual title since 1973. Griffin's title helped the Wildcats place a program-best fourth at the 1990 NCAA Championships, a feat that Cysewski's squad duplicated in 2007 when it qualified six wrestlers and placed four All-Americans including national champion Jake Herbert. Over the last five seasons, NU has enjoyed an incredible run of five consecutive top-15 national finishes with 12 All-Americans and three individual national champions. In all, Cysewski qualified 88 wrestlers for the national tournament and placed 27 All-Americans during his time as head coach.
Cysewski, an All-American and five-time Midlands champion as a competitor at Iowa, was named the 2008 FILA Junior/University Person of the Year and has been a mainstay on the United States' international team coaching staffs throughout his career. Additionally, Cysewski's teams at NU have consistently led the Big Ten and been at or near the top nationally in graduation rate and team GPA. Last year, the Wildcats ranked seventh among all Division I wrestling programs and tops in the Big Ten with a team GPA of 3.161.
"I feel extremely confident about the direction in which I have led the program but in recent years have been trying to evaluate what might be the appropriate time for me to take a less active role," Cysewski said. "There's no doubt that I'm handing the program off to one of the hardest working coaches in the sport in Drew Pariano and I know he is ready for this challenge. Northwestern has been a special place for my family and me for 28 years and we've enjoyed devoting our time to the Wildcat wrestling family. I'm excited to continue contributing to the team's success and working with our student-athletes on a daily basis."
Pariano, the 2008 NWCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year, has played a key role in Northwestern wrestling's resurgence on the national stage during the past five years. Alongside Cysewski, he worked closely with Wildcat wrestlers as they brought home a total of six individual Big Ten championships as well as an individual national championship in each of the last three seasons. Pariano continued to mentor Herbert, a 2009 silver medalist at the Freestyle World Championships, during his Hodge Trophy-winning senior season in 2008-09.
"I am honored that the University, Dr. Phillips and Tim Cysewski are entrusting me with the opportunity to be the head coach at a school where I spent so much of my career," said Pariano, a 2000 NU alum who is in his fifth season as a member of the Wildcat coaching staff. "Tim's been instrumental in my development as a coach as far back as my time as a student-athlete wrestling for him at Northwestern, he bleeds Northwestern purple and he will remain a huge part of this program's success. It is because of him and the support of the athletic department that I am 100 percent confident in our ability to consistently train Big Ten and NCAA champions at Northwestern."
Off the mat, Pariano has established himself as one of the nation's premier recruiters at each stop in his career. Last month, Pariano helped the NU staff assemble the No. 2-ranked 2010 recruiting class in the country, a group that includes six wrestlers ranked among the top-10 nationally in their respective high school weight classes by InterMat. Pariano's recruiting coups also include two-time Illinois state champ Brandon Precin (2006) from nearby Orland Park as well as Jason Welch (2007), the winner of the Junior Dan Hodge Trophy as the top high school wrestler in the country.
"Tim is the perfect mentor for me and I will continue to learn from him each and every day," Pariano said. "We have always been close and Tim's emphasis on working together for a common goal is what has helped make NU a national power."
A three-time NCAA qualifier and Midlands place-winner as a student-athlete at NU, Pariano returned to Evanston in 2005 and began making an immediate impact on all facets of the program. Pariano's coaching ventures also extended beyond the Northwestern campus, as he served as the director of the University and FILA Cadet National Championships and the coach of an Ohio Junior National dual meet team that placed third nationally.
Pariano's arrival on staff at Northwestern was preceded by a two-year stint as the head coach at Cornell College in Iowa, where his recruiting and mentorship sparked the Rams' turnaround into a perennial contender in Division III.
Pariano began his coaching career as an assistant at John Carroll University in his native Cleveland. He helped the Blue Streaks win two Ohio Athletic Conference titles and place in the top 25 of the NCAA Division III Championships three times.
As a standout high school wrestler, Pariano was a three-time state champion and a two-time Most Outstanding Wrestler honoree at the Ohio state championship meet. He currently resides in Evanston.
Northwestern's accomplished coaching staff of Cysewski, Pariano and first-year assistant coach Matt Storniolo will be continuing the 2009-10 campaign on Thursday, Dec. 17, when the Wildcats travel to face Cleveland State.
What They're Saying About Drew Pariano ...
Kerry Volkmann, Hall of Fame coach at John Carroll University and mentor to Drew Pariano:
"John Carroll was the benefactor to be associated with one of the great wrestling families in Ohio and the United States. Drew and (his brother) Anthony were part of John Carroll's wrestling process for six consecutive seasons. Anthony did an outstanding job as a graduate assistant and we were fortunate to have Drew to follow in his footsteps. Drew's enthusiasm for wrestling and recruiting helped maintain our tradition of excellence in wrestling, and helped elevate him into his first collegiate head coaching experience at Cornell College in Iowa. I am excited about his elevation to the head job at Northwestern. I am sure he will continue to be a blessing to your program as he was to ours."
Bill Scherr, Vice President of Goldman Sachs, former NCAA champion, USA Wrestling coach and Northwestern assistant coach:
"I have always had all the respect in the world for Coach Cysewski and for the way he built Northwestern into a national power. Drew is one of the best and brightest young coaches in the country and Northwestern is lucky to have him."
Jake Herbert, two-time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner at Northwestern as well as a 2009 World Freestyle silver medalist:
"To Drew there is no offseason or end of the day because he is constantly coaching and working to improve the program at Northwestern. He knows that to be a successful wrestler you need to live the lifestyle on and off the mat. Drew embodies that idea and he will not rest until NU is the best wrestling program for years to come. I can speak for all my teammates when I say that we were always proud to go out and wrestle not only for NU but for Tim Cysewski because he was and always will be one of the top coaches in the country."
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