Anatomy of a Coach: Mike Rogers

What makes a great coaching tandem? Is it discipline? The ability to relate and connect with athletes? Possessing the aptitude to fully understand and comprehend the X’s and O’s of a sport? What about fundraising for a program or recruiting? Or, like a special recipe, is it some complex combination of all of the above, plus a little something extra?

Being the perfect coach at any level of competition is hard enough. What makes it even more difficult is finding that perfect complement—the assistant coach. The next two articles will take a look at head coach Mike Rogers and assistant coach Matt Greenberg to see what makes them click. In this two part series, the goal is to uncover what makes them so good at what they do and to discover why they work so well together. The following is part one in the series.

Currently ranked seventh in the nation, American University has built quite a reputation for itself. With the top-ranked heavyweight in Ryan Flores and a host of other talented, experienced wrestlers, American would be any wrestling coach’s dream job. Established success, resources, and talented wrestlers. Is there much else a coach could want?

Head coach Mike Rogers used to be a part of that. As an assistant coach at American University only a few years ago, Rogers was an important member of program that was rebuilding and establishing itself as a national power in the collegiate wrestling world.

But, despite its recent success, American was not always the place to be. In 2003, just eight short years ago, American closed the doors on its wrestling program for almost six months. With little funding and general support from the school, the program was floundering, succumbing to the pressures and demands of being a division one program while trying to survive on a limited resource pool.

There was not a whole lot to celebrate and there was even less hope on American’s campus.

“[Ex-American head coach] Mark Cody was very helpful for me because he had a very similar experience with American University eight years ago,” Rogers said. “When he came in, they had one or two scholarships and they dropped the program before he even got there. He left Oklahoma State as a top assistant to take a very low paying job in an expensive area of DC and he was able to build that program up to the point where it was finishing with the top teams in the NCAA and winning division one coach of the year.”

“When I talked to him, looking at the two situations, you have more to start with than I did,” Rogers continued. “So that gave me a lot of comfort.”

What Rogers is referring to is what helped convince him to show up in Lancaster in 2010. When F&M first called Rogers, it featured a floundering program that can’t give out scholarships, doesn’t sport world class wrestling facilities, and didn’t have a reputation as a premier wrestling institution. For as many struggles as F&M had when Rogers first set up shop in Lancaster, Cody, now the head coach at Oklahoma, clearly believed Rogers would have an opportunity to succeed as the head coach of the Diplomats.

Neither Cody nor Rogers ever believed the rebuilding project Rogers was going to have to undertake when he arrived at F&M was going to be easy. Trying to convince top of the line wrestlers to attend a small, expensive school that doesn’t give scholarships is a difficult task. However, that doesn’t mean Rogers is shying away from the challenge.

“When he walked in it was like the slow-motion entrance from She’s All That,” assistant coach Matt Greenberg said. “Jennifer Love Hewitt walks into a party and everything slows down. When he walked in, I knew he was the guy. I knew that was the guy I wanted to work with and learn under. He came from a great program. His strengths and his ability to lay out a plan to show you what he’s expecting from you have made me a better person and a better coach.”

Thanks to many of Rogers’ gifts as a coach, F&M has a bright wrestling future. Those close to Rogers and those who know him well don’t have too many doubts regarding his ability and are confident he will turn F&M into a contender. Rogers and F&M wrestling will be successful in the future, and that’s important to him. But to say that’s all that matters would be to ignore much of what Rogers is about as a person.

Going back to when Rogers was considering whether or not accept the position of head coach at F&M, he placed a great deal of emphasis on how coaching at F&M would fit in to his family life. Luckily for the wrestling program, it fit in quite nicely.

“I think the thing that really sealed the deal for me was that my wife was able to find a job locally,” Rogers said. “I was able to get my family back together. I was driving from Lock Haven down to D.C. twice a week. It was taking a strain on the family, particularly with two young kids.”

“So I think that the opportunity to coach a division one program, that was appealing,” Rogers continued. “But I liked the location and talked with some people and there’s a lot of help, there’s a lot of people here for support. I knew it was going to be a lot of work, which doesn’t scare me at all, but I wanted to know there was support for the program. And the deal sealer was my wife was able to find a job.”

Now that he’s here, F&M and the surrounding community has left its mark on Rogers and, at least so far, the job has turned out to be everything he could have asked for. However, as his time here continues, he is hoping to have an equally significant impact on the school itself. What Rogers brings to the wrestling room is a realization that a school doesn’t need to have all the nicest equipment and dozens of scholarships to make it to the top. He should know; for almost his entire wrestling career, Rogers has been a little bit behind everyone else.

Although he was born in Iowa in the heart of wrestling country, he spent the majority of his childhood growing up in Florida where wrestling is a low priority on the sports totem pole. Football is king down south, and like most other kids growing up in The Sunshine State, Rogers began his athletic career on the gridiron. Ironically, it was an experience he had with football that made him turn to the sport that would stick with him for the rest of his life.

As he stepped onto the football field as a freshman in high school, the head coach looked at him and told him to head back to the locker room. In this particular Florida town, only upperclassmen got a shot at the varsity squad. If Rogers wanted to play football his freshman year, it was going to have to be for the JV team.

Not having the shot to at least go out for the varsity squad irked Rogers, and it drove him away from the sport for good.

“My freshman year, I remember going out for the football team and they told me I had to start on JV,” Rogers said. “I kind of had a discussion with the coach and said, ‘Well, I want to go out for varsity.’ He said freshman play for JV, and I said, ‘Well I don’t want to try out for JV.’ Granted, I was probably only 110 pounds soaking wet at this point, but it really bothered me that I didn’t have the opportunity to try out or compete on the varsity team.”

“So I kind of walked off the field,” Rogers continued. “As I was walking off, the assistant coach saw me and asked where I was going. Now, he had happened to take over the wrestling program recently and said, ‘If you’d like to go out for wrestling then you can wrestle. If you win the spot, you can wrestle for varsity.’ I thought that was very fair. So I went out, won the spot, and got to start.”

Rogers’ career as a wrestler did not start off with a bang. He admitted that, as a freshman starting for the varsity team, he didn’t exactly dominate on the mat.

“I struggled my first year, I got beat up,” Rogers said of his first year as a wrestler. “I only won three or four matches, but I spent the summer really getting better and won more and then eventually won the state title.”

The one constant that has been present throughout Rogers’ career both as a wrestler and as a coach has been his dedication and hard work. He was just the second person from his family to graduate from high school and the first to go to college, and he lived a very blue-collar lifestyle growing up with his father and helping out with the family business.

This work ethic helped mold Rogers into the person he is today and, at the time, it helped turn him into a successful wrestler who loved the sport.

“I grew up working construction and putting up fences,” Rogers said. “My dad owned a fence company and I would wake up in the morning, put up a fence, go to school, go to practice, go work in the shop, and that was my day.”

As the first person to go to college in his family, Rogers didn’t have much to go on during his college search, but he ended up in Pennsylvania at Lock Haven. The opportunity to attend a school that appreciated wrestling was to big draws for Rogers when he had the chance to visit the campus.

“What I really liked, and why I ended up in Pennsylvania, again going back to how the sport’s not very, there not a lot of appreciation for the sport in Florida, so I really wanted to go somewhere that embraced wrestling and really knew what goes into wrestling,” Rogers said. “Wrestling was really important to the whole school and the whole community.”

It was at Lock Haven where Rogers, from a wrestling standpoint, really learned that, in order to be successful at the sport, a team doesn’t need state of the art equipment, a bunch of high school All-Americans, or a brand new wrestling specific facility. A bunch of really good guys and a place to practice is all Rogers and his team at Lock Haven needed to leave its mark on the wrestling world.

“We achieved things with minimal resources, equipment, and all this stuff people claimed you needed to be successful. We didn’t have it,” Rogers said. “Bringing that experience [to F&M], I’ve realized you don’t need the best wrestling room, you don’t need all the coaches in the world, and a budget where you can fly everywhere. All that stuff helps, it makes life easier, but I still think it can be done.”

“You just need a bunch of good guys, a wrestling room, and a good schedule. And that’s what we have [at F&M].”

Throughout his entire experience as a wrestler and his time spent as an assistant coach at American, Rogers has picked up countless lessons that have helped guide him to the point he is at now. What his job is now is to make an impact on F&M using all these lessons and insights he’s gathered over the years.

While Rogers wants F&M wrestling to be successful and he wants the team to have All-Americans, he realizes that achieving success on the mat is not the sole purpose of his job.

“Everyone wants have All-Americans and national champions,” Rogers said. “That’s obviously important. But even more importantly, we need to develop young men to be strong leaders. We need to bring in kids with the right character and then we mold them and shape them into responsible leaders who are going to go out and do great things. I think if you do that, the All-Americans and the champions will come.”

“I think if we go out and try and find the best athlete regardless of what kind of person he is or what kind of student he is, I think he can become an All-American, but he washes out of school,” Rogers added. “Our goal is to have All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, and national champions on the mat, but within the perspective of the overall experience here.”

“If we have guys graduating here and getting good jobs out there in the world and becoming leaders, then I’d say I’ve left my mark.”

Even though Rogers has not yet been the head coach at F&M for two years, one can feel the culture of the program changing. The wrestlers have bought in to what Rogers is selling, and it shows. They’re all equally invested in what they’re doing on the mat as well as in the classroom and outside of F&M’s walls.

Rogers spoke a lot about how wrestling makes one accountable to himself, how it demands the best out of someone and how a wrestler has no one to blame but himself when things go wrong. His wrestlers seem to have embodied that in every facet of their lives, owning up to their athletic, academic, and professional performances.

When Rogers first set foot on F&M’s campus, he inherited a program unsure of its future and one that lacked the necessary hope to get itself turned around. Now that he’s here, that’s all changed. It’s hard not be excited about what’s going on in the wrestling room in the basement of the Mayser Center or on the mat in the gymnasium on match nights.

From the outside, F&M’s turnaround may be somewhat surprising. However, if you poke your head into the office at the top of the stairs of the offices in the Mayser Center, you’ll likely see a coach hard at work. And if you get a chance to speak with him, then anything surprising about F&M’s turnaround melts away.

Hitting the Road with F&M Wrestling

I knew nothing of wrestling when I first arrived at F&M. My small high school of just over 300 kids didn’t have enough interest to support a wrestling program. It had been disbanded in the 1980s when the team couldn’t field one wrestler in every weight class. When the “thirds” soccer team fields three times as many players as the varsity wrestling squad, that’s when it is clear the time has come.

Because of this rather unfortunate state of affairs, I was eager to learn more about this sport. As far as I knew, the sport was more or less what my best friend and I did on “play dates” when we were six and seven years old. Any strategy, planning, or training that went into the preparation for a wrestling match was lost on me. It was a sport I would oftentimes hear about, but could never see.

To make a long story short, when I saw my first wrestling match as a sophomore at F&M, I was hooked. Unfortunately, I had chosen the final home match that year to be my first, so I had to wait quite awhile before I had the opportunity to watch another one. I went to every home match junior year, and it did nothing but increase the my interest in the sport. I started writing articles for The College Reporter, F&M’s student newspaper, and that eventually landed me this gig with the wrestling team at the start of my senior year. I had never seen a wrestling match two and a half years ago. Now I can’t get enough of it.

Still, something was missing. Because of F&M’s size, it cannot host any tournaments. There just is not enough space in the Mayser Gymnasium. When I agreed to write articles for the wrestling team throughout the 2011-2012 season, there was one article I really wanted to write. I wanted to chronicle the wrestling experience of being on the road and going to a tournament. Yes, I figured this would be an interesting article, but at the same time, I really wanted to hit the road and experience a wrestling tournament for the first time.

Below is a running diary. A blow-by-blow account of what happened on my first ever trip to a wrestling tournament when I tagged along with the wrestling program on their trip to the Navy Classic. I learned a lot about the sport and I hope that is reflected in my notes below.

Friday, 6:30 p.m.: I arrive at the Mayser Center, having sprinted from the library after printing out 75 pages of reading for the paper I have due Monday. I make it down the wrestling room and then move on out to the vans with the rest of the team. I hop on the second van in line, driven by Coach Greennberg. Matt Latessa, Matt Fullowan, Austin Glessner, Alex Henry, and Eric Norgard were in the van as well.

7:00 p.m.: We’re off! In two hours, we’ll be in Annapolis, Maryland for the Navy Classic. Having never seen the campus or the city of Annapolis, having the opportunity to see both was an added bonus for me. Prior to the trip, everyone kept telling me how beautiful both were, which only served to heighten my anticipation a little more.

9:00 p.m.: The team arrives at the O’Callaghan hotel. This being the first overnight trip I have ever taken with a sports team at F&M, I was a little unsure about what the accommodations would be like. I was definitely pleasantly surprised. Very nice hotel right in the center of the city. Couldn’t ask for much more.

Side note: Latessa made the interesting observation that, in general, the nicer the hotel, the worse the TV. Not that I was really watching any TV on this trip, but he’s right. Thinking back to my hotel experiences, the only time I have ever had a plasma screen TV in my room was when I stayed in a La Quinta in Andover, Massachusetts. Latessa is on to something here.

9:30 p.m.: I realize I have forgotten my phone charger. Surprisingly, this will end up being noteworthy.

10:30 p.m.: Lights out. With a 6 a.m. wake up call just around the corner, I wanted to hit the sack early. The only people in college I know who can wake up this early and not complain about it are the wrestlers. They work out this early almost every day. Thankfully, my 5:45 a.m. wake up calls for my summer job prepared me for this.

Saturday, 1:15 a.m.: Wake up call number one. Glessner, my roommate, instinctively wakes up and starts getting dressed. He is utterly shocked when I tell him that it’s only 1:15, and that he should probably go back to sleep.

3:30 a.m.: Wake up call number two. I answer the phone, and no one responds. Glessner never woke up for this one, and it’s a good thing I looked at the clock before waking him up. Back to sleep.

6:45 a.m.: After receiving no wake up call when we actually were supposed to, Glessner and I fly out of bed and race downstairs only to realize we have missed the team bus. Normally, I don’t trust wake up calls, so I always set my phone alarm just to be safe. I would have done so this time around, however, since I forgot my phone charger, my phone did not have enough battery to last through the night. If I learned one thing on this trip, it’s that all my skepticism when it comes to wake up calls is true.

7:15 a.m.: Glessner and I realize we’ll have to wait for the shuttle bus to get us to Navy. The first one is at 9:30, which will get us there just in time for the start of the tournament.

9:30 a.m.: No shuttle.

9:40 a.m.: Still no shuttle.

9:50 a.m.: No shuttle, but by now we have hailed a cab and are on our way down to the tournament.

10:10 a.m.: We arrive just after the national anthem. After finding the F&M wrestling crew, I finally have an opportunity to take in my surroundings. The Naval Academy truly is an awesome campus. The athletic center where the tournament is located has a glass wall overlooking the river and the colorful trees on the other side. Walking to the athletic center, I notice the beautiful stone buildings and the well-manicured grounds. It met the expectations I had set prior to the trip, based solely on the reviews of the wrestlers who had been there before. I’m just disappointed I didn’t get to see more of it. It really was the only disappointing thing for me the entire trip. I’d love to go back and take a tour of the campus, just so I can see everything.

Inside the building, a constant buzz is present. Four mats are set up next to one another, and there are four matches going on simultaneously. This is more or less how the entire afternoon went. Matches were going off in rapid-fire succession, with little time being wasted between them. Along with F&M, Navy, West Virginia, Bucknell, Gardner-Webb, George Mason, and The Citadel were all represented. I find a place to drop my stuff, and begin walking up and down the mats, taking everything in.

10:45 p.m.: I’m watching a match between the 125-pounders. One is from Navy and the other is from West Virginia. At school, when I am at wrestling matches, I am almost always with friends. While not a bad thing, most of them are there for friends and not for the match itself. As a result, when their friend isn’t actually on the mat, they spend more time talking than watching, which makes it a little tough to focus on the wrestling.

With nobody around to distract me, I notice for the first time just how much thought goes into each move. Disregarding the preparation that goes into every match before a wrestler even steps foot on the mat, I was impressed with how calculated each move was. It truly is a thinking man’s sport. Regardless of whether or not I was watching an F&M wrestler, I was enthralled by what I was taking in.

11:30 p.m.: Perhaps in part because I am naturally attracted to anything competitive, by this point in the morning I was enthralled by just about every match I saw. However, this wrestling thing is without a doubt leaving its impression on me. I have always been a football and basketball kind of guy, rarely missing any New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, or Duke Blue Devils basketball game. This is something I could definitely see myself following for the rest of my life.

12 p.m.: Admittedly, I am not sure if this is the exact time this event occurred, but it’s close enough. As I am wandering back and forth between mats, I always tried to keep an eye out for when an F&M wrestler is about to start wrestling. I noticed David Pucci is about a minute into his match. I squeeze myself in between two Bucknell parents, making the experience of watching Pucci wrestle Bucknell’s Doug Kellermeyer somewhat interesting.

Now, I am not one to feel embarrassed about who I am rooting for. After all, I have worn Red Sox jerseys in Yankee Stadium, Duke shirts at North Carolina Chapel Hill, and went to a Philadelphia 76ers-Oklahoma City Thunder game completely decked out in Celtics gear. I plan on wearing a Patriots jersey to the New England-Philadelphia game next week. With all this in mind, I had little trouble showing some excitement when Pucci won his first career match, despite standing amidst a throng of Bucknell fans.

Not only was it a good match, but also the look on Pucci’s face was priceless. Not in the really funny way, but in the that’s what is awesome about sports kind of way. It was raw emotion. I remember when Adam Vinatieri kicked the game winning field goal to beat the Rams in the Super Bowl in 2001 and I remember when Keith Foulke and the 2004 Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino. Seeing Pucci’s face was like that. For the people who know him, have talked with him, and understand what he is all about, this was a truly special moment.

1:30 p.m.: Break time. This was about the only ten or 15 minutes where the wrestling action stopped all afternoon. I’m sure everyone needed a bit of a breather, but I was personally itching to see some more wrestling.

2:45 p.m.: Colin Ely really is exciting to watch. He did lose in this particular match, but even when he was down with 30 seconds remaining in his match, I was convinced he was going to pull some magical move out from his arsenal and pin his opponent. I have seen him do it before, and although it didn’t happen this time around, he does it enough that you have to at least think it’s possible every time he steps on the mat. While the coaching staff may wish he was a bit more conservative at times, Ely is a fan favorite. Watching Ely wrestle is like watching Justin Verlander pitch or Aaron Rodgers play quarterback. At any give moment, something memorable might happen.

3:15 p.m.: Standing along the guardrail separating the fans from the mats, I realize I am suddenly surrounded by heavyweights. George Mason’s heavyweight is about five feet away, F&M’s Henry is standing right behind me, and Bucknell’s heavyweight is talking to his coach right next to me. At six feet two inches and over two hundred pounds, I generally consider myself to be a big guy. I’m not.

4:00 p.m.: Talking to Pucci about the tournament, he tells me he has wrestled three times within two hours. For starters, there has been so much going on all at once that I barely noticed he wrestled two other times. But, more importantly, I am very impressed with how well conditioned these athletes are. It’s one thing to wrestle once a night during a dual match. But to wrestle at least three times in one afternoon? I’ve run multiple marathons in my life and even I cannot think about how well conditioned one has to be to have sustained success in a tournament like this.

4:15 p.m.: F&M has four wrestlers in the fifth/sixth place finals matches, and they’re all on the same mat. How convenient.

5:30 p.m.: Although every wrestler in the finals had some memorable moments, watching Latessa was particularly thrilling for me. I noticed he likes to pick people up and throw them to the mat. George Mason’s Coriston Smith looked like the green bean bag chair in my room. To make it comfortable, I always pick it up and throw it to the ground, and then I just jump on it, usually ending up on my stomach. If it ever gets uncomfortable, I just repeat the process. Latessa’s match went something like that.

Later on, Henry pinned Hunter Manspile of George Mason to come in fifth. I was down on the floor to watch his match, and when the combined weight of Henry and Manspile hit the floor, I could’ve sworn a small earthquake hit Annapolis.

6:00 p.m.: We’re off. I had an awesome experience, and the tournament was everything I thought it was going to be. Even a little more, in some respects. I’m already eager to hit the road again, and I can’t wait until F&M starts wrestling at home so I can start going to matches on a regular basis again.

6:30 p.m.: For what seems like the umpteenth time since the trip started, Fullowan pulls out the, “You’re a wizard, Harry” line. I’m not sure how this fits in with everything, but he said it a lot, so it must.

7:00 p.m.: Most expensive Burger King trip ever.

9:00 p.m.: Back on campus. It’s been quite a trip. I loved every minute of it, and I cannot wait to go back. I’m already going over my schedule to find another road trip that works.

I may have never seen a wrestling match before I arrived at F&M, but I now feel like I’ve seen almost everything there is to see. I love what I see and, while I loved every moment of my high school experience, I can’t help but wish that I went to there back in the 80s. Then I wouldn’t have had to wait so long.

Working on an Island

“Sometimes, we’re on an island.”

Both head wrestling coach Mike Rogers and assistant coach Matt Greenberg face something of a unique challenge when they go to work every day. While the F&M wrestling program may be on the rise and may be gaining attention from others around the EIWA, the bottom line is, F&M isn’t like all those other schools.

As a primarily division three school, F&M’s wrestling program can sometimes be on an island when it comes to the unique challenges and requirements that come with competing at the division one level. There are advantages and disadvantages to being in such a situation, but the bottom line is F&M wrestling operates a little differently from not only the other athletic programs at F&M, but other division one programs as well.

“The benefits are, recruiting wise, we can offer the best of both worlds,” Rogers said. “We can offer a small school atmosphere and we can offer top of the line competition.”

“The downsides are, sometimes we’re on an island in terms of the issues we face,” he continued. “We have fewer resources, in all aspects. Sometimes we have justify why we’re division one. Sometimes we have to answer those questions.”

The wrestling programs at Cornell, Princeton, Navy, or Maryland never have to justify their status as a division one program. Being the lone division one program at a college is a one of a kind challenge that few coaches have to face, primarily because their programs lines up with the other programs at the school in terms of what division they’re in.

Unlike bigger schools, which can raise millions of dollars, build state of the art wrestling specific facilities, and hire an entire staff of full-time coaches, F&M doesn’t have that luxury. Perhaps it was for this reason, when Greenberg first arrived, he noticed the program needed a lot of work to catch up with the other wrestling programs around the EIWA.

“When I first got here, the whole [program] needed to be overhauled,” Greenberg said. “In the last two years, we have caught up or gotten back on track with the other schools. To do as well as F&M has with all of its sports is impressive.”

One of the biggest challenges facing Rogers and Greenberg was taking F&M wrestling and turning it into a year-round sport. Before they arrived, F&M wrestling was more of a part-time commitment, which made it difficult to keep up with the other bigger schools in the conference.

“We had to take [the program] from a six-month program and turn it into a 12-month program,” Greenberg said. “They can’t take the summers off.”

In order to keep tabs on what some of the bigger schools are doing, Greenberg said both he and Rogers ask recruits what they like about the other schools in the conference and what they’re attracted to at other institutions.

When it comes time to sell F&M to recruits who may be looking at bigger schools, Rogers says he almost always comes back to F&M.

“What we sell is the school,” Rogers said. “The advantages of a small school such as the academics. What I can’t do is sell them a big time experience. But some kids don’t want that, so we try and sell them on F&M being a smaller school with a smaller campus.”

Unlike some of the other major division one programs around the country, Rogers doesn’t have the same staff or economic support they do. While some division one schools have their own compliance officers and academic support staff, Rogers and Greenberg have to be versatile in the sense that, at F&M, all of those jobs fall into their laps.

“We have to look at what resources we do have,” Rogers said. “Coaches who are at schools like ours have to wear many different hats. Coaches at schools like F&M tend to be hard workers. Coaches who go from a situation with tons of resources to a school like F&M sometimes struggle. It’s a challenge [to make the switch].”

What is both unique and exciting about division one wrestling is, unlike other sports, there is no major professional league wrestlers can go to once their college careers are over. With the exception of Olympic wrestlers, division one wrestling is as high as the vast majority of wrestlers can hope to reach.

“Division one wrestling is basically the pros,” Greenberg said. “For 99 percent of wrestlers, this is their pros.”

Ever since Rogers arrived, the F&M wrestling program has been on the upswing. What has helped is that, in Greenberg’s eyes, Rogers could coach at any major division one program in the nation.

“I love working for Mike,” Greenberg said. “He’s a division one coach. When he came on board, it made me believe [we could turn the program around].”

Although there are certainly some unique challenges coaching at a primarily division three school, Rogers has focused more on the opportunity F&M has given him to mold what was once a struggling program into a winner.

“What’s unique here is that Matt and I can start fresh,” Rogers said. “We can look back and say we [turned the program around]. I look at Matt as a co-head coach. We complement each other well. We stay here because it’s our stamp. We believe it’s going to be something special.”

Beyond the Mat - Dave Pucci

I sat down with senior Dave Pucci on Veterans Day and, in light of our conversation, I probably could not have picked a better day to do it. While he has aspirations to work in Washington D.C. for the government, Pucci is currently studying for the Pilot Test to get into the United States Marine Corps.

“I don’t really want to sit in an office as a 22-year old,” Pucci said. “I want to develop my leadership skills. I want to do something that separates me from the norm. I can work in an office and make money later.”

Seeing as most kids from F&M do not include the military in their prospective careers list, my conversation with Pucci was one of the most interesting I have had in quite awhile. Students from colleges and universities cast in the mold of F&M rarely consider the military as a viable option for after college. However, because of his physical and mental makeup, it seems right that Pucci would want to separate himself from the norm.

“He’s tough,” assistant coach Matt Greenberg said. “He never complains. Sometimes guys lay it on him pretty good [on the mat], but he’s always looking to get better. If I need someone to be with me in a dark alley, it’s him. He’s a good friend. He does the right thing when nobody is watching or listening.”

Unlike the other three seniors on the wrestling squad, Pucci is not a captain. While many people would struggle and complain if they were in his position, Pucci has elected to respect it and contribute to the program in any way he can.

“I think I have a leadership role,” Pucci said. “I think my role is to be a leader. I’ve seen a lot of guys quit. I show up to everything and never complain. I’m always on time. I just try to lead by example and leave the vocal stuff to [the captains].”

Although Pucci is not listed as a captain on the roster, he is treated like one by both his coaches and his peers.

“He’s one of the people I go to when I need to get a read on the team,” Greenberg said. “Even more so than some of the captains. I still look at him as a captain. From my perspective, he is one.”

Pucci has never been the flashiest or most successful wrestler on the squad. He joined the team as a walk-on, and he rarely starts a meet. Despite this, when he does get a chance to wrestle, those in the stands will be hard pressed to find a wrestler on either team that works and wrestles harder than Pucci does.

He respects the sport. When asked about what wrestling had taught him over the course of his life, it was obvious Pucci possesses a deep affinity and respect for it. It has taught him how to conduct himself in life, and he knows how to make each and every chance he receives count.

“There’s a tremendous value in getting the crap beat out of you and having to come back the next day,” Pucci said. “There’s a lot of focus on details. Details, the small details are what allow the big things to come out. They aren’t hard, but you have to do them. They all need to be performed in order to succeed. I can relate that to everything I do. If you put in the details, you’ll generally do pretty well.”

“While he may not get the results athletically, we still hold him up as a guy who will be successful in life,” Greenberg said. “I would bet on him any day of the week. It’s important to us that it’s not just what you do on the mat [that counts].”

By appreciating the details and the finer rewards that come with the sport, Pucci has developed an ability to simply love wrestling for what it is, and not the awards and praise that comes with winning matches.

“Wrestling has been a really interesting experience for me because I haven’t had tons of success on the mat,” Pucci said. “That hasn’t happened for me for one reason or another. I’m beyond trying to be a national champion or All-American now, and I’m truly just trying to enjoy it. I have taken so much from wrestling and none of it has to do with the wins and losses.”

Even though he doesn’t start and doesn’t receive the accolades and attention some of his teammates do, Pucci is genuinely happy and excited about the role he has with the team and is doing everything he can to help propel F&M wrestling to the next level. He does not seem to care whether or not he gets credit for helping turn the team around, and he approaches his role and duty with the team with a sense of urgency and dedication unmatched by just about everyone.

By working so hard to boost the profile of the program, Pucci has improved himself more than many people thought he would.

“When I got here, he was one of the guys who put the most time in and made the most gains to where he is today,” Greenberg said. “He has been one of the people who has grown the most. He wanted to be competitive in our room and go out and compete whenever he could.”

Pucci is not just unique on the mat, but he is distinctive off it as well. Over the summer, he traveled down to Ecuador, where he spent his break working for a start up company.

“I was working for a start up and they make different types of green teas,” Pucci said. “I was doing economic research and looking into the cost benefits of mass producing the product. The company is also a social entrepreneurship, so they want to avoid exploiting the people.”

Working in Ecuador for the summer only further supports Pucci’s desire and aspiration to separate himself from the rest of the pack. Simply sitting still and letting time and opportunities pass by are not in his DNA. He is always striving to be different while also meeting his own high standards and seeking to be the best he can.

As a senior, Pucci’s remaining time at F&M is short. During his three years at the school thus far, he has left a distinctive mark on the program as he seeks to improve both it and himself. He approaches everything he does with a sense of urgency and a drive to always complete his task to the best of his ability.

Through all the trials he has endured during his collegiate wrestling career, it would have been easy for him to just quit and move on. Few would have blamed him. But Pucci gets the sense he is a part of something special, and he can’t stand the thought of turning his back on his teammates and coaches. His experiences in wrestling to this point have given him an appreciation for whatever opportunities he receives now.

“I blew my knee out on [head coach Mike] Rogers’ third day on the job,” Pucci said. “Last year, I sat out and had the pleasure of watching the initial transition period. I’m just happy to be back and to help the new guys along. I’m excited to help us improve.”

There’s something special about Pucci. His dedication and love for the team and the sport itself shine through in every word he says. In all likelihood, you won’t see his name in any kind of record book when his career is over. However, he will have left his mark. Just like Pucci himself, that mark will be distinctive and profound, and it will resonate throughout the F&M wrestling community.

Beyond the Mat - Colin Ely

He has a complexion and an appearance that is both appealing and inviting. When you speak with him, everything is important and worthwhile. If it’s important to you, it will be important to him. If you leave your conversation with him and you are not happier than you were when you began, he feels like he’s failed you in some way.

Senior Colin Ely is one of the few people who are genuinely interested in whatever you have to say. By extension, that makes him one of the most interesting people you will ever meet. Awkward silences don’t exist in his world, because he can always find something to keep the conversation flowing in a seemingly effortless and natural way. Despite his talent on the mat, perhaps his greatest gift is his ability to entertain, listen, and make you feel like you’re the most important thing going on in his life at that moment.

“Off the mat, I’m a positive person,” Ely said. “I try to be nice to everyone and I try to meet as many people as I can.”

Not surprisingly, his caring nature and his natural inclination leads him to treat every wrestler on the team as his best friend. Ely is rewarded with the respect and admiration of all those who look up to him.

“He has a very big heart,” head coach Mike Rogers said of Ely. “He is passionate about all the guys on the team, even the new guys. He gains respect by giving [respect]. That’s a hard thing to replace.”

What will likely be the most difficult thing to replace when Ely graduates in about five months is not his intensity, creativity, or performance on the mat. It will be the comforting and respectful presence he brings to the locker room every day. What Ely does for the F&M wrestling program cannot be measured in statistics, and those characteristics typically are the most challenging ones to find.

Dual Personalities

If Ely is calm, respectful, and good-natured off the mat, he is unrelenting, intense, and creative on it. Generally the most exciting wrestler on the mat every week, Ely has a habit of getting himself in trouble, and then getting himself out of it. While it provides excitement and suspense for those watching him, the coaching staff tends to hold its breath when Ely begins to experiment with different techniques and strategies in the middle of a match.

“He doesn’t mind taking risks, I just wish they were a little more calculated,” Rogers said. “His matches are always wide open. He can sometimes get lost in the match. As a coach, it’s a good problem to have. It’s better to have to bring a guy back than to have to push him on. As a coach, you don’t want to restrict creativity. He’s exciting to watch. It’s not going to be slow and methodical.”

“With Colin, he’s that example of a guy who is always one move away from winning,” assistant coach Matt Greenberg added. “He’s also one move away from getting into trouble.”

Ely admits he can sometimes be a little too adventurous on the mat. However, to ask him to restrict that creativity would be to place a limit on his ability. He thrives on the freedom he has on the mat, and it all goes towards making his opponent uneasy and guessing as to what Ely might do next.

“When I’m on the mat I’m a totally different person,” Ely said. “The energy I bring is all about trying to pressure [my opponent]. Sometimes I get carried away. I wrestle, it’s funky a little bit and I do some stuff people have never seen. I do try to go back the coach’s gameplan though.”

Expecting Ely to comply completely with any specific routine is unrealistic. He leaves his own unique mark on every match, and you cannot expect him to wrestle the same way every time. In fact, it’s safe to say that you will see a slightly different wrestling style every time you watch him.

But that’s what makes him special. His emotion and creativity are what make him so, and, while the coaching staff may wish he would be a bit more conservative at times, they are the reasons why fans are drawn to him when he steps onto the mat.

“The Emotional Leader”

Not surprisingly, as someone who thrives on creativity and the ability to express himself, Ely is considered by his coaches to be the emotional leader in the locker room. Where other seniors rely on the standard they set through their actions, according to the coaching staff, Ely is more likely to be the vocal presence.

“He’s the emotional leader of the team,” Greenberg said. “Everything he does, people take notice. If he sees you losing focus, he’ll grab you and tell you. It took him two years to grow into that. Our biggest loss [when he graduates] is that emotion he brings every day to the program.”

Ely recognizes the pivotal role is has on the team. Not everybody can be an emotional leader; it’s something a person grows into. Even those who want to be the vocal presence in a locker don’t always work out, as many struggle to be heard in a way that does not sound like they’re talking down to those around him. For Ely, his vocal nature comes from sacrificing so much and putting so much into the program, and, when he does get vocal, it stems from his sacrifices rather than his superiority, which resonates with those around him.

“Being an emotional leader comes from being so into the team,” Ely said. “Everything means more. Losses hurt more and wins mean a thousand times more than they would otherwise.”

“As a senior and as a captain, I view all the guys as my friends,” he added. “From my perspective, we’re all together. I don’t have a conscious realization of my impact on the [team]. But I realize they look up to the seniors.”

Ely believes every wrestler has an impact on how the team performs over the course of the season. It’s cliché, but the team is only as strong as its weakest link, and, because of that, Ely sees value in every wrestler and in everything his teammates brings to the team dynamic. For this reason, his vocal nature is perceived as caring rather than condescending.

Connected to his ability to make every conversation he has important, he has the capability to make every teammate feel like he has a place on the roster. There are certain qualities that make a man a true leader, and one of them is the ability to make every person he runs into feel needed. Ely possesses that gift, and it shines through in everything he does.

Branching Out

As an outgoing, charismatic individual, Ely is not afraid to experience something new. It’s what makes him so interesting: while wrestling is a major part of his life, it by no means defines him exclusively.

Over the summer, in between his job at F&M and training for his senior season, Ely carved out two weeks to travel north to Williamsport, PA to work with Professor Levine on an archaeological dig in a cornfield. Despite the rural nature of his surroundings, Ely found a way to reach out and connect with those around him.

“We were excavating a Native American site from the 18^th century,” Ely said. “We were in a cornfield for most of it. We had a good time and we learned a lot. I got to hang out with all my friends and make a bunch of new ones too.”

As a tribute to his goofy and outgoing nature, Ely found a way to connect with the people around him.

“We looked up things to do in Williamsport online when we got there,” Ely said. “Number 24 was going to Dunkin’ Donuts. It made Lancaster look like New York City. We were always going to Rita’s when we were up there, and brought that up with two girls working there. They actually said they were planning on going to Dunkin’ Donuts later that day. We shared a pretty good laugh together.”

At F&M, Ely has had the opportunity to branch out and explore countless opportunities. For this reason, the prospect of not being a student next year is one that he doesn’t choose to think about all that much.

“I’m going to miss pretty much everything,” Ely said. “I’ll miss the competition, the team, and most of all, the people. That’s the biggest thing. Just the general feeling [of F&M].”

When Ely accepts his diploma in five months, the wrestling program will be losing a vocal leader who has carved out a critical role within the program. But, perhaps more importantly, the entire F&M community will be losing one of its most charismatic and outgoing members. It is difficult to replace someone with the uncanny ability to make every person he talks to feel important.

There’s a reason everyone likes being around him. When talking to him, you know you’re with someone who is genuinely interested in what you have to say. While it is always possible that you could leave that conversation in a bad mood, chances are you won’t, and, more likely, you will leave feeling the best you’ve felt all day.

Beyond the Mat - Matt Latessa

Commitment and leadership. Two words most everyone strives for, but few people attain. Oftentimes the weak spot for an athletic program, coaches and athletes alike generally struggle to string together good performances and develop a program built on consistency. That’s why, whenever an athlete comes along who inherits the qualities that make up consistency, a coach oftentimes develops and affinity for him.

“One thing with Matt [Latessa], he’s very consistent,” said head coach Mike Rogers. “He wrestles so hard. He never takes a step backwards. He’s always moving forward. He’s the type of guy you like watching because he’s always the fan favorite. He’s always fighting in his matches, even if he’s behind. He’s always wrestled hard.”

Matt Latessa, now a senior, has not always been the flashiest wrestler on the mat. He has not always been the headliner either. Despite this, it’s easy to consider Latessa to be the most consistent, and he embodies all the traits and attributes that, together, make a person consistent, dependable, and trustworthy.

Tradition

Wrestling is not something new to Latessa. Growing up in Ohio, wrestling has been in his family for a long time. One could say the sport is in his blood.

“It’s generational with Matt,” Rogers said. “Matt has a coach’s son’s type of mentality. He knows what it’s all about. There are no surprises with him. He knows it’s all about the team. He’s always making the sacrifices, and it’s nice having someone like that on the team.”

Talking to Matt, one can tell wrestling is something he lives for. He approaches it like he would approach a final exam or a job interview. He takes everything seriously, and if he doesn’t give everything he has every day, it means, in one way or another, he has let his teammates down. At the same time, Latessa manages to strike a healthy balance, knowing when to take something very seriously and when to let an issue slide.

“I’ve always liked to think of myself as a hard worker,” Latessa said. “Not just in wrestling, but in academics and life, I suppose.  At the same time, you can’t take everything too seriously. Whether it’s sports, classes or anything, you just want to take everything one day at a time, every day’s a good day.”

“I take that attitude to everything I do in life,” Latessa added. “You can wake up a six o’clock in the morning for a workout and think ‘I’m not getting out of bed today.’ But then you have in the back of your mind, ‘Well, I gotta do it to get better.’ There’s a hundred reasons not to wake up but there’s always one good reason to wake up and that’s what you have to do to be successful.”

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Latessa was that, as a senior in college, he has already figured out the key to separating oneself from the pack. What takes most people years of professional experience to fully grasp, Latessa has seemingly mastered before his graduation. He’s always looking for the one good reason to do something, and ignores the countless bad reasons not to follow through with a commitment. It’s what’s special about him. You never have to worry about whether or not he’s going to show up on time.

Commitment

The truly impressive thing about Latessa has been the level of commitment he has shown the team over the course of his four years. His mother, who has dealt with cancer on and off throughout her life, and the rest of his family have been a primary focus for Latessa, as he has shuttled back and forth between F&M and his home in Ohio, tending to the needs of his family, the wrestling program, and any other academic or social commitments he may have without missing a beat. Although it has been tough, the maturity and dedication Latessa possesses is remarkable.

“In the past couple years, of the people in my life I respect the most, my Mom is right up there, she is probably number one,” Latessa said. “She got dealt a pretty rough hand. She’s had cancer four different times in her life. She always keeps a good attitude and is always looking on the bright side. She has been someone I have always looked up to in my life, just because of how brave and tough she has been throughout her entire life.”

“Balancing this with wrestling, there are some times when you just have to be there,” he added. “I’ve been on flights home to see my mom and then the next day be back here wrestling. Which is fine for me. I just have so much support from the guys on the team. They’re always there for me if I need them to be.”

Latessa’s ability to always find a way to come through for both his family and his team has left its mark on those in the program. While it would be easy for him to simply take off and spend his time focused entirely on his family, Latessa has somehow managed to, at the very least, make it seem like his team is of equal importance to him. He has not missed a match, and, despite pleas from his coaching staff and fellow wrestlers, refuses to let his team down.

“When he was going back and forth from Ohio, he never missed a match,” Rogers added. “Even when I said, ‘Don’t, don’t come back,’ he would always say, ‘No, I need to be there for the team.’ That just gave me another example to use. How can you be complaining when you know what this kid is dealing with? Deal with what he is dealing with and then still show up. Even for me personally, when I start feeling sorry for myself, it really puts things in perspective.”

It is an old cliché that is oftentimes misused, but, in this case, it is appropriate. The sun is guaranteed to rise every day. In terms of consistency, there is no better example. But Latessa comes close, and to say he is dedicated to the team would be to sell both him, and his commitment, short.

Leadership

Perhaps the most impressive thing Latessa has going for him is not his wrestling ability, his academic prowess, or the dedication he shows to both his family and his team. Rather, the most impressive thing is how he handles himself. When presented with the compliments and praise he received from his peers, Latessa was appreciative, but, at the same time, humble and understanding of the fact that, in the end, what he is being praised for is simply in the job description.

“For me, I like to think that’s just being dependable,” Latessa said when presented with things his peers said about him. “All those adjectives … that’s just doing your job. Being there at every practice, that’s expected. Being able to answer the phone when Coach calls you or being able to help out with recruits. I think that’s all part of being a team member and I don’t necessarily think that’s atypical of any other guy on the team.”

“At a certain point, you make a commitment to the team and at that point it’s just being there, it’s your duty to be there,” he added. “It’s not anything that’s too special. Not to say that it’s a bad thing, but it’s just expected.”

With those comments, Latessa revealed his true character. Latessa is not about being the flashiest, most popular, or being the wrestler grabbing all the headlines. Rather, Latessa is about being a leader to those around him, remaining committed to those he made a promise to, and upholding what is a proud wrestling tradition, both at F&M and within his own family.

Those three characteristics are what best describe Latessa. With them, he has cultivated success on the mat and received respect and admiration from the people surrounding him. Unfortunately, these traits are becoming uncommon in today’s world, and by seeking to do what he believes should be ordinary, he has made himself extraordinary. Latessa has uncovered the secrets of being truly successful.

In the process, Latessa has molded himself into what just about every coach in America is searching for: a model of consistency. Not every athlete has it, but when one comes around who does, it’s safe to say he will leave his mark and those around him will respect him for it.

Latessa is no exception.