Update on Notre Dame College (Ohio) Wrestling

Hank Kornblut – OhioWrestling.Net

On December 22, 2005, Notre Dame College, a liberal arts school of 1400 students in South Euclid, Ohio, announced it was adding men’s wrestling to its athletics program., There were no coaches in place., There was no wrestling room on campus., And there was certainly no team.

Eight months later, NDC is almost finished constructing a wrestling room., Two full size, custom cut mats will fill out the space., The coaches’ office is built into it., The school’s weight room is being expanded and new equipment has been purchased., A seasoned full-time head coach and two quality assistants have been hired., Perhaps most impressively, however, is the list of wrestlers who have committed to NDC., Forty-two young men and counting will be part of the inaugural squad., One is a former NHSCA Senior Nationals champion; three have won state titles., Fourteen others have placed at the OHSAA state championships at least once ” some on multiple occasions., Most of the rest qualified for the Ohio state meet during their careers., In addition, two more former state champions are likely to sign ” perhaps by the time you are reading these words.

As rosters go, this one would be good on any level.

So, how does a wrestling program go from non-existent to a bonafide NAIA power in eight months?

It starts with a woman.

Sue Hlavacek is the Athletic Director at NDC., It was her belief that a small college nestled in the heart of Cleveland’s east side suburbs ” one that didn’t admit men until January 2001 ” could rapidly put together a wrestling program that would be competitive from it’s inception.

Hlavacek (pronounced Lah-vah-chek) is Cleveland born and raised., She was a former, high school and collegiate two sport star who had played basketball professionally in the WBL, a forerunner of the WNBA., She understood that northeast Ohio is one of the nation’s premier high school wrestling regions.

But did she believe NDC wrestling would take shape this rapidly?

She pauses a moment on the phone then answers, “Yes.”

“We did our homework,” she adds., “We understood how talented this region is in wrestling., We felt that if we went about it the right way, we could put together a team that would be capable of quickly contending on a national level.”

It’s no small irony that in the Title IX era, a former First Team All-Ohio basketball and volleyball female athlete has been the catalyst behind the most productive effort to begin a collegiate wrestling program in Ohio history.

It’s also worth noting that the history of collegiate wrestling in Ohio can be summed up in a single word ” underwhelming., In spite of being a hub for great high school talent, Ohio has generally not shown itself well on the collegiate level because lackluster athletic directors have often ignored the sport financially or not cared enough to get rid of mediocre (or worse) coaches., Sue Hlavacek saw clearly what most Ohio collegiate AD’s have failed to note ” that a strong investment in a wrestling program could rapidly create an asset for a school.

But Sue’s vision alone wasn’t going to get NDC off the ground., She needed a coach that could work with her hand-in-glove on turning it into reality.

Enter Frank Romano., Romano, a wrestling lifer, embodies northeast Ohio wrestling to near perfection., As a high school wrestler, he won two state titles for legendary coach Mike Milkovich at Maple Heights., At Ohio State, he was team captain twice, a three time NCAA Tourney qualifier and the first wrestler in school history to participate in the East-West All-Star Meet., His senior season he finished among the top eight in the nation.

His coaching resume was equally impressive., Romano had enjoyed successful stints as head coach at Maple Hts, Elyria and Kenston high schools., More importantly, he had spent twenty-three years as a coach at Kent State ” the last seven as head coach., His record during that span was an impressive 99-41-1., He knew the recruiting process and understood what it would take to attract talent to NDC.

Romano didn’t want to take the job simply for the sake of returning to coaching., He made it clear during the interview process that the college needed to commit fully if it wanted to be successful., As Romano saw it, that meant several things; first, his job needed to be full time., Next, he needed scholarship dollars to offer., He would need two paid assistants., The school would have to build a wrestling room on campus., The team would need a bus to travel, money for accommodations, and money for meals., All training facilities had to be first rate.

Neither Sue Hlavacek nor NDC’s supportive president, Dr. Andrew Roth, were phased., While they allowed the interviewing process to play out fully, when Frank Romano was hired, all his requests were granted.

The most miraculous part of the construction of this program has been the short time table in which it has been accomplished., Frank Romano wasn’t offered the position at NDC until March 15, 2006 ” two weeks after the OHSAA state meet had concluded., That put him behind every collegiate program in the state when it came to recruitment., But, he had some advantages and he used them to maximum effect.

First, the former lightweight wrestling star remains vigorous., Although he is well past fifty, Frank Romano talks in rapid clips with intelligence and insight., He follows all leads like a bloodhound and quickly began to use his myriad connections throughout the Ohio wrestling community to determine who was still available throughout the state.

Secondly, he had money to offer., Only six other Ohio collegiate wrestling programs have athletic scholarship dollars available and Romano was given more to spend than any of them., NAIA has byzantine rules regarding scholarships but the upshot is you can spend as much as you want ” although you need the equivalent of a salary cap specialist to determine who can take the mat over the course of a season.

Given his peripatetic nature and the money he had in hand, Romano began to sign wrestlers in early April and hasn’t stopped., Some of his more noteworthy commitments include these former state champions and placers:, Tyler Savage, Brett Freeman, Michael Santone, Jason Spencer, Nathan Spencer, Jim Chmura, Mike Haxton, Brent Weisenstein, Ken Sanger, Cory Braden, Justin Tripp, Jeremy Stevens, John Horn, Greg Hooper, Anthony Watson and Jeff Gasser., Former state champions Chris Tripp and Anthony Caruso are likely to join the squad as well.

His most intriguing signing, however, is former Maple Heights ace, Steve Kosarko., Kosarko, age 31, was a wondrous competitor in the early 1990’s., He won a state and national title as a senior in high school., As a frosh in college, he was JUCO national runner-up., If age hasn’t dimmed his skills, he is an NAIA title contender.

When asked why he’s had such a high degree of success in a short period of time, Romano offered these reasons:

“You’ve got to be honest., If you lie, it will come back and hurt you”¦And you’ve got to beat the bushes”¦I know a lot of guys in the area., When I got the job, I called them and they called me”¦it got me started., After that, I found some guys; others came to me.”

So, what can Notre Dame College expect to accomplish in their first season? Sue Hlavacek and Frank Romano both have high expectations., But Romano remains coy., He talks about other tough NAIA programs such as Dana, Cumberland and Lindenwood., He says he has a nice group of incoming wrestlers that are long on talent ” but short on collegiate experience., He’s well aware that incoming frosh ” which comprise most of his squad ” often struggle with academics.

When asked his goals, he keeps it vague: “to improve, to work hard, to get experience, to wrestle up to our capabilities, etc”¦”, He mouths these platitudes not because he lacks confidence, but because he’s experienced., Foot-in-mouth is a younger coach’s disease., He wants to see what he’s got before offering up any concrete statements.

The NDC wrestling program’s first home meet will be on Sunday, December 10 against Mercyhurst Northeast at 1:00 p.m., At this time, Coach Romano and his assistants ” former two-time state champion and MAC champion Anthony Ralph and former Division Three All-American Mark Hawald, Jr. ” will debut their squad in front of what is likely to be a large and knowledgeable northeast Ohio crowd., , While the outcome is not yet known, the rapid emergence of NDC wrestling is a great success for the region and the sport of collegiate wrestling as a whole.