Popolizio leading wrestling revival in upstate New York

Under the leadership of Frank Popolizio, Journeymen Wrestling has transformed upstate New York from wrestling-afterthought into one of the nation's premier locations for amateur wrestling.

Upstate New York is best known for political scandals and horse racing, but increasingly amateur wrestling is finding its way into the homes of denizens. Two decades after losing the collegiate wrestling programs at Albany and Syracuse, Frank Popolizio and his Journeymen Wrestling Club are leading a wrestling revival in upstate New York that features the best upcoming collegiate, Olympic and even MMA talent.

Originally from Schenectady, 39-year-old Popolizio wrestled at Niskayuna High School before setting off for college at Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC), where he started their NJCAA program and was elected student body president. Though the program was eventually dropped, Frank had moved onto Springfield College in Massachusetts, where he began his career as a coach, helping with his little brother and cousins. He opened the Journeymen Wrestling Cub in 1999. Though his brother Pat, the head wrestling coach at Binghamton, was a more successful collegiate grappler, it's Journeymen that has been getting kudos and hands-on attention from coaches around the country. The motivation for Journeymen came from watching his brother compete for the Cowboys.

"I saw what they were doing with wrestling in the Midwest and knew that the Capital Region, upstate, could do the same," said Popolizio. "Not only that, but we needed to do something because we didn't have any college programs left in the area to help us create the interest."

Frank Popolizio with Frankie Edgar

Popolizio transformed his devotion to wrestling and leveraged it with his charm and connections to sell the Journeymen brand through clubs, clinics, camps, and competitions. His list of friends and associates from New York reads like a who's who in college wrestling, each loyal to a man who shows his devotion to the promotion of amateur wrestling. According to Virginia coach Steve Garland, who knows Popolizio from his high school wrestling days in Middletown (Section 9), the secret to Popolizio's success is his energy and ability to sell a wrestling competition as a must-see event.

"What Frank's been able to do is generate interest and excitement in the sport and people are coming to watch," said Garland. "I grew up there, trust me, it's not like all these people in New York were waking up and saying, 'Let's go watch wrestling today,' Frank's made it relevant and people are trying to make it interesting. It's awesome to see it taking off right now.

One of Popolizio's gifts has been his ability to understand what motivates participation in youth wrestling.

"Like it or not, one of the biggest influences among high school kids is mixed martial arts," Popolizio said.

According to a recent survey in Esquire, MMA ranked as the second most popular American sport among 20-year-old men, second only to American football. Understanding that the growth of MMA can mean higher participation at the youth and high school level, Popolizio has sought out the top former wrestlers in MMA to host clinics upstate. Former UFC light heavyweight champion and Michigan State wrestler Rashad Evans was scheduled to put on a clinic today, but informed Ppolozio on Thursday that he will not be coming.

Evans, an upstate New Yorker who wrestled at Niagara Wheatfield High School in Sanborn, is exactly what Popolizio wants his young wrestlers to emulate: motivated, highly-successful role models who, at their root, simply love for wrestling. "We bring in Faber, or Rashad and the kids get it that, 'Hey, I give everything I have to wrestling and maybe in a few years I can be fighter,' but we have others who have coaches like [Jeff] Blatnick and think, 'Hey, I want to be an Olympian.' Point is: they're wrestling."

Whether it's finding fighters to be role models, hiring Olympic coaches or creating megawatt tournaments, Popolizio has been in front of the resurgence of wrestling in upstate New York, selling himself and the sport to the community he loves.

"Frankie Pop is hitting it one hundred percent of the time, from sunrise to sunset," said Garland. "He loves wrestling, which is why I love going to his tournaments and recruiting his wrestlers. He's got the best thing going."

Featured Dual Meets at the 2010 Journeymen/ASICS Northeast Duals

Round 1: Pittsburgh vs. Penn
The cross-state rivals are both heading into this season with high expectations. The Panthers, under long serving coach Rande Stottlemyer, are defending EWL Conference champions and ranked 20th by InterMat. The team is led a trio of skilled upperweights Ryan Tomei at heavyweight, Zac Thomusseit at 197 pounds, and Ethan Headlee at 174 pounds. Penn is led by fifth-year senior Rollie Peterkin at 133 pounds, returning All-American Scott Giffin at 174 pounds, and Zach Kemmerer at 141 pounds. The matchup of the dual meet will no doubt be Giffin vs. Headlee.

Round 2: Virginia vs. Lehigh
Virginia coach Steve Garland is once again facing Pat Santoro, former coach at Maryland. The two have a lot of respect for each other, but when they meet in the day's second dual meet, expect there to be fireworks. Chris Henrich, the No. 2 wrestler at 174 pounds, will be facing off against Popolizio-trained Austin Meys, who is off to a solid start this season. The Mountain Hawks have a talented roster. The Cavaliers, coming off last season's first conference title in 33 years and top 15 placing at the NCAAs, have a lot of confidence and some new faces at the lower weights. The two teams are evenly matched. Don't be surprised if the winner is decided by who can amass more bonus points.

Round 3: Stanford vs. Binghamton
Binghamton is the model for program resurgence. Jason Borelli, coach of the Stanford Cardinal, would love if his team could mimic the Bearcats success. The best way to get there? Beat the Bearcats. That might be a tall order considering Pat Popolizio's team is essentially wrestling a home dual meet. The best individual performers for Stanford are 174-pounder Nick Armusteguchi, ranked fourth nationally, and Justin Lister for the Bearcats, who is the eighth-ranked grappler at 157 pounds

Round 4: Missouri vs. Maryland
After several years of top ten finishes at the NCAA tournament, Missouri coach Brian Smith is in what some have called a rebuilding year. However, with second-ranked heavyweight Dom Bradley and 14th-ranked 165-pound freshman Zach Toal on the roster, it would be difficult to see this Tiger team being anything but powerful. The Tigers lost a close dual meet to Illinois at the start of the month but nearly swept the Central Oklahoma Open the following week. Kerry McCoy (upstate New York) will hope to keep his talented lineup healthy throughout the day so that they can challenge the Tigers from start to finish, with top wrestlers Josh Asper (165) and Mike Letts (174).

United States vs. Russia
The USA Wrestling freestyle team will also be competing against the Russians in a dual meet held at intermission. The Ruskies, fresh off another dominating performance at the World Championships, have sent over a young squad of grapplers, most of who have either won Junior Worlds or placed in significant international tournaments. The Americans, fielding one of their best teams, are led by former World Team members Les Sigman and Jake Varner.

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