John Longton, The Hudsonian’s sports editor, had an article (see below) published in The Schenectady Gazette on Sept. 16.
Longton currently is interning at The Gazette in the sports department and enrolled in the Journalism Internship course at Hudson Valley Community College, according to Rachel Borrn, associate professor of English and faculty advisor to the Hudsonian.
Wrestling: Northeast Duals tourney is all grown up
By John Longton
TROY — There’s not a collegiate wrestling program within 65 miles of the Capital Region, but for one weekend, it became the Mecca of the sport.
On Sunday, Hudson Valley Community College played host to 20 Division I wrestling programs for the 13th annual Journeymen Northeast Duals tournament. Headlining the event was two-time NCAA heavyweight champion Nick Gwiazdowski, a graduate of Duanesburg High School who wrestles for North Carolina State.
Fans traveled for miles and packed the McDonough sports complex to get a glimpse of premier college wrestling.
“College wrestling is basically the professional level of our sport, besides the Olympics. So this is like the Boston Celtics playing several games in your area,” said Michael Verge, the wrestling coach of St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont. Verge traveled three hours to be at the event, and said, “It was well worth the drive.”
Every year, Frank Popolizio, Journeymen Wrestling founder and director, attracts more and more major wrestling programs to his tournament, and has built the Northeast Duels into a top-five tournament in the nation.
“It’s come a long way,” said Popolizo. “Originally, when we did it back 13 years ago, there were four teams and they were mid-majors and they weren’t what we call the mainstay teams of college wrestling you saw today.”
Seven out of the top 25 teams made Troy their home this past weekend and about 2,000 fans turned out for the event. The match that most people wanted to see was the No. 1-ranked Gwiazdowski taking on No. 7-ranked Michael Kroells of Minnesota.
The match was the last of the day for both teams and was symbolic for the tournament and for Gwiazdowski. Without Gwiazdowski’s knowledge, Frank Popolizio brought in a Duanesburg wrestling mat and scheduled all three Wolfpack duels on it. The mat had past Duanesburg wrestler’s names, including Gwiazdowski’s, printed on it.
“I’ll wrestle on the street. It doesn’t matter,” said
Gwiazdowski after defeating Kroells 9-3. “That’s kind of cool, [to wrestle] on my home mat with my name on it.”
In the match, the Delanson native was in control, wrestling in front of friends and family.
“All my family and friends who I don’t see very often came out. So that was a big motivator,” said Gwiazdowski.
Frank Popolizio’s brother, Pat, coaches the Wolfpack and has had the luxury of being involved with Gwiazdowski during his collegiate career. When Gwiazdowski was a freshman at Bingamton, Popolizio was his coach. After that season, Popolizio took the job at NC State and Gwiazdowski went with him.
“I think we complement each other pretty well in our personalities,” said
Gwiazdowski about his coach. “He helps me think with things not just on the mat. Motivating and mindset wise and stuff like that.”
“He’s a special kid and obviously going for his third title,” said Pat Popolizio about his heavyweight wrestler, who has a 58-match winning streak. “He’s up for the challenge, and is doing everything he can to get better.”
Published: Tue, 17 Nov 2015 12:58:51 +0000 by d.gardner