GUILDERLAND — Guilderland High School was the site for one of the biggest wrestling events ever held in the Capital District.

The Journeymen Athletics club hosted the second annual Northeast Collegiate Duals on Saturday at the high school’s new gym.

Four mats were stretched across the floor to provide constant wrestling during the day the club and the wrestling coaching staff at Guilderland busy.
"Without a doubt," said varsity Coach Regan Johnson. "When I got approached, if it was possible to have it here, I didn’t care about the work. I wanted to have those people in our gym."

Johnson was excited about showcasing big-time college wrestling because there isn’t a college wrestling team in the area.
"It was a wonderful day," said Journeymen director Frank Popolizio. "We had 1,200 people come through the door and that’s not including volunteers, workers, and wrestlers. It was good for an area that does not have a collegiate wrestling team within a 60-mile radius."

The Division I schools in the area — The University at Albany and Siena College — do not have wrestling teams and the closest large school with wrestling is Binghamton University, which participated in the duals on Saturday.

Ranked wrestlers

The event grew from last year’s event. Popolizio and his staff were able to secure some bigger teams, including three nationally-ranked teams. The Univeristy of Minnesota, a traditional powerhouse, was the marquee name, but Central Michigan University and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga also came into the duals ranked. Minnesota was fifth in the WrestingMall.com pre-season poll. Central Michigan was 15th and Tennessee-Chattanooga was 25th. Pitt-Johnstown was ranked third in the Division II poll.

The teams also featured numerous wrestlers who were ranked high in their weight classes — including Cole Konrad of Minnesota, ranked second in the country in the 285-pound weight class.

Also participating were American University, Ohio University, Virginia Tech, Sacred Heart University, Drexel University, and Division II power Pitt-Johnstown.

The teams were split into two pools. Minnesota won its pool, beating Chattanooga, Central Michigan, Virginia Tech, and American.

But the highlight match of the day was against Central Michigan.
"For me, to see Minnesota wrestling Central Michigan is like watching the Yankees and the Red Sox," Johnson said. "Well, maybe not, but its close."

Pitt-Johnstown won the other pool, beating Ohio, Sacred Heart, Binghamton, and Drexel.

Big gym for big teams

Johnson was asked by Popolizio to have the tournament at Guilderland instead of last year’s host site, Niskayuna High School. The gym at Guilderland is larger and has a bigger capacity than Popolizio’s alma mater.
"He upped the ante by getter the bigger teams," Johnson said. "Our gym is bigger than Niskayuna’s. It’s more fan friendly."

And it looks like the event will stay at Guilderland for at least one more year.
"Until we get bigger, we’ll stay with it," Popolizio said. "It’s an ideal complex. Everything we needed was there and was pretty good with the things we needed. The stands were perfect.
"We’ll try to have it there next year," Popolizio added. "Again, we have to see how we are doing and we’ll look at it at that point. Guilderland High School and the staff of coaches there with Regan Johnson and Kory Rogotzke were very supportive and made it a lot easier."

Popolizio was overjoyed to be able to get the teams that came out this year.
"It’s exciting to see that caliber of wrestling in your hometown," he said. "This has the same excitment for wrestling fans as having the [University of] North Carolina playing basketball or the Yankees playing in town."

Developing wrestling

The goal of the Journeymen club is to develop wrestling in the area and to help give high-school wrestlers the chance to compete in college. The club runs camps and clinics throughout the year to help younger wrestlers.

And hosting a tournament like this can only help.
"The goal is for kids in our area to see great wrestling up close and personal," Popolizio said. "If they watch it, then they will want to be in it and live it and that’s the goal."

Having 10 good teams compete and travel from the different parts of the country helps make the event bigger.
"It only helps feed into it for next year," Popolizio said. "Other teams will hear what they did and think, ‘Why not us"’ Once you get one, then you can get two and, once you get two, you can get three or four. Hopefully, we can get the ball rolling."

Popolizio made sure the Minnesota team was well equipped to spread the word.
"I gave them a whole bunch of shirts," he said. "Hopefully, that will help promote it and spread the word."

Popolizio is already working on next year’s dual meet.
"I called [the Univeristy of] Iowa and had a good dialogue with them. I’m also looking at Lehigh, Oklahoma State, and Penn is interested."
"Hopefully, they want to come back," Johnson said. "They gave us support for this tournament. The number-one thing is that they all are nice people. It’s good for the kids to start to see wrestling at this level. If one kid in the crowd experiences this and then wrestles in college, it was worth it."