It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in my current position with the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) for over 10 years. A lot has happened since I started as the director of the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference (CCAC) back in the fall of 1998. The CCAC was at that time a two year conference that offered athletic opportunities for freshmen and sophomores in the Commonwealth Campus system. At that time only a few campuses offered baccalaureate degrees, therefore athletic competition was limited to two years. They competed against each other and also other 2 year colleges, community colleges and junior colleges. Approximately 5 years ago, when the campuses began to offer 4 year academic programs, the change was made to offer 4 year athletic programs. Going to 4 year eligibility meant not being able to compete with the 2 year (community college and junior college) programs. To reflect the change the conference name was changed to PSUAC and my title went from director to commissioner. Two years later we joined the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association). This enabled our student athletes to compete for national titles, and academic All- American and All-American honors. The transition from 2 year to 4 year varsity intercollegiate athletic programs has been very exciting for me. The USCAA was developed for small colleges that may not be quite ready for NCAA Div. III yet seek national competition.
I just returned from the USCAA national basketball championships and our PSUAC teams did quite well as PSU Du Bois placed 4th and PSU Wilkes Barre placed 6th in the Men’s Division while PSU Beaver placed 5th in the Women’s division. The Beaver men, who were seeded first, lost a tough one point first round game to the eventual champion. Beaver has won the PSUAC Men’s and Women’s championship 2 years in a row. It gives me great pleasure to see our PSU Commonwealth Campus student athletes compete so intensely and passionately without scholarships or many of the perks that are available to Division I athletes. The transition has been an enormous boost to our campus programs and a great satisfaction. The conference is continuing to grow in the number of opportunities that are offered as there has been a recent surge in the variety of sports offered, which has increased participation numbers substantially. We now have approximately 1,450 student athletes competing at 15 campuses. I am also a member of the USCAA Board of Directors which has been a great experience.
My work with the campuses and the various committee responsibilities ( I’m currently involved with 8 committees) doesn’t leave much time, but I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to stay involved with wrestling as a coach with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club (a local wrestling club for wrestlers 6 years old through college). The NLWC meets Sundays and Wednesdays during fall and winter and Mondays and Wednesdays during the spring. The club is led by Rich Lorenzo and coached by former PSU great Dave Hart and it is gratifying to watch him work with the next generation of wrestlers. Dave is an outstanding coach and technician and, along with Chad Dubin, Mike Maney, Aaron Anspach, Pat Flynn and guest appearances by Cael Sanderson and his staff, the wrestling instruction is as good as it gets. The staff is outstanding and I learn something new at each practice. Most of all, they all seem to have a gift of being able to combine passion, intensity and concern for those they work with on and off the mat. Working with them inspires me.
I also stay active with wrestling camps. I currently direct Keystone Wrestling Camp. We do a week in York, PA and we generally do a few day camps in Colorado. I thoroughly enjoy working with young wrestlers and watching them mature and transform into the next generation of champions. The camp allows me to bring in many of our former PSU greats and “catch up” with their careers, family, etc. Some of this year’s guests at Keystone include: Kerry McCoy, Phil Davis, Sanshiro Abe, John Hughes, Troy Letters, Pat Santoro, Aaron Anspach and Hachiro Oishi. Most of them are National champs and all have some connection to PSU wrestling past or present. They make up one of the top staffs in the country and I’m so grateful that they will be with us in York July 10-16. I started directing this camp in 1977 and it has been rewarding to watch it grow in the 30 plus years of existence and follow the many campers through their careers, many of whom have gone on to experience success at the college level. Seeing Frank Ferrandino, a camper twenty some years ago and a regular Keystone staff member, coach two state champions at Wyomissing HS last year was a special thrill.
I also do a few day camps in Colorado each year which allows me to visit one of my favorite states and do some hiking and backpacking in the Rockies. I have to say I really feel “in my element” there as I combine two of my passions, wrestling and the great outdoors.
