When Pat Popolizio took over head coaching duties for the Binghamton University wrestling team in 2006, he inherited a program in turmoil. The team went 0-12 in dual meets the season before, and the year preceding that Binghamton didn’t even have a wrestling team.
In 2010, the Bearcats are Colonial Athletic Association champions.
Tallying 87.5 points, Binghamton won the CAA tournament for the first time ever this past weekend at Rider University. The Bearcats’ best previous finish was fourth place, which was in last year’s tournament. Old Dominion University came in second place with 73 points, and host Rider rounded out the top three with 58.5 points. Defending champion Hofstra University came in fifth place with 41 points, and saw its streak of consecutive CAA championships end at eight.
“I think it’s an amazing accomplishment,” Popolizio said. “For the athletes associated with this program as well as the rest of the coaching staff. What they accomplished is pretty unbelievable.”
The Bearcats set Division I school records by crowning four individual champions and qualifying five wrestlers for the NCAA tournament. Junior Anwar Goeres (141 pounds), sophomore Justin Lister (157), senior Josh Patterson (174) and redshirt freshman Nate Schiedel (184) won individual titles and received automatic bids to the national tournament. Redshirt freshman Donnie Vinson (149) also received an automatic bid by placing second, as his weight class was allotted multiple automatic bids.
Goeres, the top seed, won the 141-pound title. He defeated Old Dominion’s Craig Wilson in the finals 2-1 in overtime. Goeres is now 35-8 this season.
“[Goeres] wrestled a little conservative,” Popolizio said. “As the match went on, I think in the back of his mind he knew and had the confidence that he was going to win the match. I could see it when it got into overtime; he wrestled a little more aggressive, and that was the difference in qualifying for the NCAA tournament or not, and he manned up and won.”
Lister, ranked No. 17 in the nation and seeded No. 1 in the tournament, won the 157-pound title by defeating Joe Booth of Drexel 6-4 in the finals. He will take a 28-8 record into the NCAA tournament.
Patterson exacted his revenge against George Mason’s Bagna Tovuujav in the 174-pound finals. After being down 4-0 early, Patterson stormed back and won the match 16-6 to capture his second consecutive CAA title. Tovuujav beat Patterson 7-6 when the Bearcats hosted the Patriots last month. Patterson is now 26-6 this season.
“Josh stayed focused,” Popolizio said. “Josh is a winner … he knows how to win. He stepped his game up. He doesn’t like to lose. [Tovuujav] beating him a couple of weeks before the conference tournament was motivation for him. He won at the right time, and he won in dominating fashion.”
Schiedel, also top seeded, won the 184-pound title, besting Ben Clymer of Hofstra 4-3 in the finals. Schiedel won his previous meeting with Clymer in their dual meet matchup. He brought his record to 29-7.
“[Schiedel] is the first freshman to win a conference title for us,” Popolizio said. “He’s been under the radar all year, just like our program has.”
Vinson lost in the finals to Rider’s Mike Kessler 8-5. Vinson previously lost to Kessler 4-3 during the CAA duals in January. He’s now 32-11 this season.
“Donnie set the tone of the match early,” Popolizio said. “He was aggressive, he was winning the match, but it looked to me like he kind of shut his offense down. Any time you do that it leaves opportunities for the other guy to score. He needs to learn from his mistakes. He’s going to be fine. It’s a whole new season going into the NCAA tournament for our whole team. We just need to grow from that.”
Senior Corey Waite placed third at the 285-pound weight class, and sophomore Matt Kaylor placed fourth at the 165-pound weight class. Kaylor has a good chance to get one of the 46 at-large bids that will be announced on Wednesday, according to Popolizio.
“Matt Kaylor has been ranked in the top 30 all year,” he said. “They take 33 guys per weight. It’s out of our hands. It’s going to come down to the coaches’ polls and the committee that selects the at-large bids. I know his name will be put up on the board, and it’s going to come down to whether he beat enough kids that are qualified. He’s a hard-working kid, he deserves to go, but at the same time these guys know they’ve got to take care of business themselves and leave it out of anybody else’s hands.”
Popolizio isn’t sure of Waite’s chances of receiving an at-large bid.
“I don’t know where [Waite] stands,” he said. “I do know that the kid has come a long way since he’s been in this program. He’s almost had more wins in his senior year than he has in the last three years. He’s been a huge part of building this program to where we’re at today. He stuck it out here for four years when we were a lower-end Division I program, probably the lowest in Division I four years ago.”
Patterson is set to make his fourth straight appearance at the NCAA tournament. He placed seventh at last year’s tournament, earning All-America honors. For the other qualifiers, it will be their first time participating in the event. Patterson’s experience in the tournament will help his teammates immensely.
“[Patterson] knows what to expect,” Popolizio noted. “He helps lead the way for these guys. It’s his whole demeanor; his confidence and ability to relax in a big atmosphere like that is key. The good thing about the guys we’re taking out there is that they won at a very high level in high school, and even though they’re young and inexperienced, they’ve been at national tournaments, and some of the guys have been on world teams that have wrestled in the world championships, which are bigger than the NCAA tournament.”
Binghamton will have a prominent presence at the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time ever, and Popolizio expects his team to have a major impact.
“Our goal every year is going to be for someone, some guys, whoever believes it, to win a national title. That’s the ultimate goal. That’s what we train for. That’s our motivation. If you fall short, you become an All-American. Our mindset is that every guy who’s wrestling in that tournament is capable of placing. It’d be great to come out with multiple All-Americans. I know we have the talent to do that. As far as the team goes, there’s no reason why we can’t have a goal of finishing in the top 25.”
The NCAA tournament is scheduled for March 18 to 20 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska.