Signorelli, 25, was a three-time New York Section 9 champion at Highland High School who later went on to be a four-year letter-winning wrestler and team captain at SUNY Cortland. During the 2013-14 season, Signorelli served as an assistant coach at Highland, and as a volunteer assistant the past two seasons.
In addition to Signorelli, SUNY Ulster's wrestling coaching staff will include Phil Brown, a former head coach at Kingston High, and Rich Parete, a three-time Section 9 champ in the mid-1980s at Rondout Valley, as assistant coaches.
"They have both been coaching for 25-plus years," Signorelli told Sal Interdanato of the Times Herald-Record . "Coach Brown has international experience (wrestling for the Army). They both have a tremendous amount of connections in the community and wrestling. What I lack in maybe experience, they will be able to pick up the slack there."
Late last week, SUNY Ulster Athletic Director Matt Brennie revealed in a press statement that men's wrestling would be returning to campus this winter after the program folded after the 1976-77 season, the Daily Freeman reported.
The idea of wrestling returning to SUNY Ulster sprang from a suggestion made by Brennie last fall during a planning meeting for the Section 9 Division II championships that the school hosted last month. Brennie watched the Section 9 tournament and was impressed with the sport's following.
"It was a really intense environment and it was really supportive," Brennie told the Times Herald-Record. "There were people passionate about the sport of wrestling. When we were looking to expand our athletic department and offer new and exciting ideas to potential student-athletes, this was one of the sports that resonated. Its popularity in the Hudson Valley made it a no-brainer."
As for the decision to hire Signorelli, Brennie -- a former athlete himself at Wake Forest University in North Carolina -- saw some of himself in the future SUNY Ulster mat coach.
"The one thing I like about Justin is that he's hungry to be a head coach," Brennie said. "He wants the opportunity to show what he's learned as a wrestler and take that and translate that into teaching college athletes what it's like to be a college wrestler.
"I saw a lot of me in Justin. I saw a young guy that wants to make a name for himself in college athletics."
While some two-year colleges in the Hudson Valley have struggled to maintain wrestling programs, SUNY Ulster and Signorelli appear to be up for the challenge.
"It's tough to forecast at this point, but I don't see why we can't have 20-25 guys and be a competitive junior college team even though it's going to be our first year," Signorelli said.
SUNY Ulster -- also known as Ulster County Community College -- is a public two-year college supported by Ulster County, New York, and the State University of New York, with a main campus located in Ulster, N.Y. The school has a total enrollment of approximately 3,800 students.
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