Vallimont’s career started in Lake Hopatcong, N.J., a suburb in the northern part of the state five miles from Interstate 80, a road that links many of the sport’s top programs. Somewhere on the walls of the Jefferson Township municipal building Lynn Vallimont, Dan’s father, noticed fliers promoting the township’s nationally-ranked wrestling team. “That piqued my interest a little bit,” Lynn said. “But I don’t exactly remember much other than that. Dan was always interested in athletics, and given the family’s height, wrestling seemed like a better option than basketball.” Lynn didn’t know it then. But the fliers would eventually link Dan with his extended family.
Dan now wrestles at 157 pounds for Penn State, the university in the county where his parents, Lynn and Abbie, spent their childhood. Both parents are Bald Eagle Area graduates. Dan has more than 25 relatives living in central Pennsylvania. Lynn and his twin brother, Dana, wrestled for BEA from 1978-80. Lynn’s parents, Donna and Robert Vallimont, live in Snow Shoe, while Abbie’s parents, Norman and Peg Fisher, live in Unionville. Lynn, Dana and their older brother, Bob, who lives in Lewistown, hunt in a family-owned cabin in Clinton County. Dan tries to wedge visits to the cabin between his architectural engineering classes and vigorous workouts.
As a child, Dan, and his sisters, Christen and Gina, spent the holidays in Centre County. Dan has memories of playing with his cousin, Bryant Clontz, a former Bald Eagle Area wrestler, and Matt Fisher, a current Bellefonte football and baseball player. Dan’s decision to attend Penn State has increased the frequency of family reunions. The venue, though, has changed to Rec Hall. “A lot of them want tickets,” Dan said. “Sometimes they are tough to get.” Dan has done nothing to disappoint his family since entering Penn State’s lineup last year. Dan, a sophomore, has never lost during a home dual meet. He will enter today’s match against Indiana’s dangerous Brandon Becker with a 19-0 record that includes three dual meet victories at Rec Hall.
In many ways, Dan resembles a wrestler developed to flourish in his current environment. First, Dan has lived in three major wrestling states. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, where his father worked at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base. His father left the Air Force in 1988 and the family moved to Reading. In 1994, the family moved to New Jersey, where Dan’s father now works for Alcatel- Lucent and Abbie teaches seventh grade at Northwest Christian School. Dan, Christen and Gina all attended Northwest Christian. Lynn said the family has discussed moving to central Pennsylvania at various times. But the children all comfortably settled into New Jersey life. “It isn’t State College,” Dan said. “There are developments everywhere.”
Dan wrestles likes somebody who has spent time in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He’s solid in all three positions. He’s aggressive. He doesn’t flaunt his accomplishments or engage in any zany on-mat antics. Dan’s first bout of 2007-08 demonstrated all of the above. He immediately dove at the knees of Maryland’s Brian Letters and needed just 10 seconds to complete his first takedown. Letters reversed Dan during the first period. But Dan quickly recorded a reversal of his own. He then added take-downs in the second and third periods. Finally, he earned his team a bonus point by recording a five-point move with less than a minute remaining and riding Letters out during the final 45 seconds remaining for a major decision. The bout was wrestled on Dan’s birthday. The celebration epitomized Dan’s demeanor — he shook Letters’ hand and calmly walked off the mat. “One day I want to check to see if his heart rate or blood pressure goes up,” Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. “He’s just a steady performer. He doesn’t show a lot of emotion. He gets his hand raised and walks off the mat. He’s a very determined young man. He has a plan and he sticks to it.”
The determination was something former Jefferson Township coach Ken Rossi noticed early in Dan’s career. Rossi and former Penn State wrestler Shane Force conducted youth clinics in Jefferson Township that Dan started attending in second grade. During his first year, Dan resembled many of the other wrestlers. Then, by fourth grade, he won a midget state title. “Dan’s first year he took a couple of lumps,” said Rossi, who now coaches at West Morris. “But he kept getting better and better. You could tell he was going to be dynamite.” No coach knows more about Dan’s career than Rossi. Dan trained with multiple clubs during middle school before earning a spot on Rossi’s Jefferson Township High School team as a freshman. Although Dan cut weight to make 119 pounds, Rossi said the transition to varsity wrestling didn’t take long, something the wrestler and coach recognized when Dan held Kittatinny’s Matt Valenti to a major decision. Valenti, who is three years older than Dan, won his second NCAA title last season. “He had mixed feelings about it,” Rossi said. “Dan was upset that he lost, but he looked good against a two-time state champion who became a national champion.”
Dan eventually developed into the senior who younger wrestlers didn’t want to face. He went 72-0 his final two seasons at Jefferson Township and won New Jersey’s grueling one-class tournament twice. His college search didn’t last long — he was fascinated by Penn State for as long as he can remember. “I talked to a few coaches and looked at some campuses,” Dan said. “But I always wanted to come here.” Dan left an indelible impression on a Jefferson Township program that during the late- 1980s and early-1990s was among New Jersey’s best. Rich Daniel, one of Dan’s primary workout partners, recorded 19 victories as a senior one year after finishing with a 3-6 record. Rossi said Daniel’s turnaround was the product of training with a determined state champion. “Every day Dan came in and gave 100 percent in the practice room,” said Rossi, who plans on attending today’s match. “I’m huge on pushing kids mentally and physically. I never really had to look in Dan’s corner.”
Dan brought some lessons from the Jefferson Township practice room to Penn State. Before every match, the demanding Rossi gathered his team and emphasized three concepts. “He would tell us to score at the beginning of the match, at the end of the period and on the edge of the mat,” Dan said. Dan has allowed the first takedown just twice in 19 bouts this season. “Getting that first takedown is a huge mental step,” he said. “You’re feeling good about yourself and you have momentum.” No Penn State wrestler besides senior 197-pounder Phil Davis entered the Big Ten season with more momentum than Dan. The former New Jersey wrestler with Centre County roots has risen to No. 4 in the national rankings. Dan recorded his signature win 15 days ago when he beat Cael Sanderson’s little brother, Cyler, at the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals. Similar wins during the next two months could place Dan on the NCAA awards podium, a place he missed reaching by one victory as a 149- pounder last season.
Still, this postseason should represent a stark contrast to the last one. Lynn volunteered last year to serve in Iraq with the Air National Guard last year. He left New Jersey in late-February and didn’t return until mid- May, meaning he missed Dan’s first Big Ten and NCAA Championships. Lynn followed his son’s progress on the Internet. Dan and Lynn talked more than normal because Abbie was working when her husband wasn’t sleeping. Dan’s parents are expected to attend this year’s Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis and NCAA Championships in St. Louis. “My dad has always been there for me,” Dan said. “When I feel down about something, he always picks me up. He’s always been kind of laid back and he never gets mad at me for losing a match. He never forced me to go to practice or told me to do something.” No, Lynn just wandered into a municipal building, a move that created a self-motivated wrestler who brings an already closer family together more often. “This is absolutely like home for me,” Dan said.
Thanks to Guy Cipriano and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article