By Jason Bryant
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Things seemed to be getting better for Delaware State’s wrestling program.
Traditionally a doormat amongst teams in the East, Darren Archangelo seemed to have the Hornets moving towards gaining confidence and winning.
Archangelo, a NCAA Division III runner-up at York College in 1993, resigned as head coach on October 18, citing personal and family reasons.
“I have two children Ryan, 8, and John, 11,” Archangelo said in an e-mail statement to InterMat. “My visits with my children were a clear conflict on my ability to manage this team effectively.”
Archangelo had been recruiting heavily into the untapped resources that tiny Delaware has on the wrestling mats and had been making progress.
Articles both in the Delaware News Journal and InterMat last season talked of the program’s promise, but last week, allegations of academic fraud against Delaware State surfaced, adding to hurdles Archangelo had to face as a coach.
“Coaching at DSU has been extremely difficult,” Archangelo said. “Being a part-time employee for the university certainly makes the task of achieving very difficult.”
“The Presidency at Delaware State is fully committed to intercollegiate wrestling,” said Associate Athletics Director Doug Dowdy.
“Our commitment is unwavering in the face of this new news for us. We are moving forward the best we can to help our student-athletes in the sport of wrestling.”
Dowdy is part of a transformed athletics department at Delaware State. Chuck Bell was appointed the new Athletics Director in July and Dowdy came on board in September.
Archangelo, a physical education teacher at H.B. duPont Middle School in Hockessin, Del., said the burden of the commute to Dover also took its toll after teaching all day.
The lack of a dedicated practice facility was also a reason of Archangelo’s departure, as did a practice schedule that had to tip-toe around DSU intramural activities that used the gym where the team practiced.
“Not having a wrestling room to claim as our own. We share the small gym and must roll up the mats every night,” Archangelo said.
“Facilities are always a challenge at the I-AA level,” Dowdy said. “We’d like to address everyone’s needs regarding the facility challenge.”
“We have a prioritization and we will work forward on that priority list as quickly as we can,” Dowdy said.
Delaware State is the only Historically Black College that fields a wrestling team after Coppin State, Howard, Morgan State and Norfolk State dropped the sport from 1998-2000. They compete in the Eastern Region as a qualifier for the NCAA championships.
The Hornets were winless in 2003-04, routinely forfeiting half of the 10 weights. Archangelo took over at midseason for Wayne Newsome, who coached the Hornets the previous 14 years. Newsome now coaches at Dover High School.
The Hornets snapped a 36-match losing streak in 2004-05 with a 54-6 victory over Division III Gallaudet, a program that cut its program this year due to lack of participation.
Later that season, the Hornets broke through with a moral victory, tying Millersville 21-21, a team that had beaten Delaware State 41-3 in 2003-04.
The losing streak went back to 2000-01 when the last two victories Delaware State earned were over Slippery Rock and Syracuse.
Last season, Myron Drayton qualified for the NCAA Division I Championships at 141 pounds, the Hornets’ first qualifier since Leonard Bridgeford qualified at 197 pounds in 2001.
Dowdy says the school isn’t going to drag its feet in its search for a new coach.
“We will identify the very best candidate to help our student athletes succeed and we will get that candidate here and hired as soon as we can,” he said.
Delaware State’s reputation as a bottom-feeder in Division I isn’t a depressing thing in the minds of the department.
“Our future is directly in front of us. In particular, to build something that we can be proud of,” Dowdy said.
“It would be our goal and expectation to whomever we bring in, that would share this vision that the glass is half-full and that we continue to fill the glass up as a team and as a family.”
Expected to lead DSU this season were 184-pounder Chris Woodall and 197/285 Zeb Davis.
The academic fraud charges against former DSU professors was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back for Archangelo.
“I believe you have to respect and trust your employer to be successful, that has all changed,” he said.
Dowdy would not comment on the recent allegations of academic fraud at Delaware State, actions that allegedly took place before Dowdy and the current athletic administration was hired.
“Our expectations are rising here around the campus and in the athletics department,” Dowdy said.
“We have lots of experience in this department and we’re interested in moving Delaware State University forward.”
Regardless of who Delaware State hires, Archangelo didn’t leave all the cupboards bare.
“I know I have left this team in a much better place than the nightmare I adopted two seasons ago,” Archangelo said. “Much of the success this team will experience will be through my recruiting efforts and I wish them the best.”
Archangelo will still continue to officiate high school matches in Delaware.
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