Drew Pariano's interview with Ohio Wrestling Site
Ohio Wrestling Site: Drew, after serving as an assistant for three years under Kerry Volkmann at John Carroll University and has head coach at Cornell College for two years, you are now back at your alma mater, Northwestern University- Was it a tough decision to leave Cornell, which made great strides in your two years as a head coach?
Pariano: It was, I had 24 freshman and sophomores that I recruited. When I got there we have seven varsity wrestlers and were in the basement of the Iowa Conference. We didn’t have any athletic scholarships to give the kids, they just bought into the fact that we were going to be good. But yeah, it was tough, but I wanted to get back to the Division I level.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Coach Pariano, Northwestern University is currently ranked #13 in the nation. You beat Illinois and almost beat Michigan- possibly the best team in the country. Last year, you beat the Iowa Hawkeyes. And of course you beat Ohio State 31-6. You seem to have an up and coming program to go along with your obviously great academic reputation. What is the key to Northwestern’s resurgence?
Pariano: I think that before I got here Head Coach Tim Cyzeswski, Tony Ersland and Foley Dowd did a great job of changing the overall attitude of the program….they brought in great guys, no question. When you bring in guys like Jake Herbert and Ryan Lang, not to mention Dustin Fox and Matt Delguyd, you’re obviously doing something right. Our guys now believe that they belong at the top and I think they look forward to going to practice- I know our coaching staff does! I can’t say enough about the environment we have right now….we have three full mats and a full video area with a flat-screen TV. We have everything we need to be successful. We train to become Big Ten and NCAA Champs.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Well, that’s becoming a realistic possibility.
Pariano: Yeah, well, we’ve changed the mindset. I think if you look at a guy like Jake Herbert, every day he comes into the room thinking he’s going to be a National Champ- and we do too. That is the mentality we want!
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: How big of a role have Ohio Wrestlers had in Northwestern’s resurgence?
Pariano: They’ve been absolutely instrumental. I would look to John Velez (of Kings H.S.) and Matt Delguyd (of Mayfield H.S.) first and foremost, they came in at a time, I think right around 2001-2002, where Northwestern Wrestling had fallen on some pretty hard times. But they had the presence of mind to know that they could still be successful and be at the start of something big. I think Velez and Delguyd, they were the guys who gutted it out and are now reaping the benefits, being seniors and being captains they can feel proud they helped build the program back up.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Do you think that Velez and Delguyd paved the way for other Ohio wrestlers to come?
Pariano: I think they did, because it kind of showed that “hey we can be successful here.” We obviously know the academics Northwestern offers, and I would think that wrestling in the Big Ten is a huge draw for any Ohio kid. When you look at Ryan Lang and Dustin Fox coming out, their individual year’s they were top Ohio guys. To Northwestern’s benefit, they decided to travel to Evanston.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Drew, former 4x Ohio State Champion Ryan Lang came out strong this year beating Andy Simmons, but then was hampered by injury. I saw he had a nice win Casio Pero recently. Do you think he is now 100%?
Pariano: Lang had a series of nagging injuries that kept him out. He worked real hard on rehabbing and getting back to the level he is capable of, which is a real high level. Against Pero, he rode him out and just really controlled him. He is one of the best I’ve ever seen at creating flurries. I love wrestling him…. but I’m sure many other people don’t love wrestling him.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: I’d like to ask you about Ohio’s own John Velez. While he did win a state title in high school, he was winless as a redshirt and had a losing record as a freshman. A few weeks ago he pinned Ohio legend and 2x NCAA Runner-up Kyle Ott. He is now ranked #7 in the nation in the NWCA coaches poll. What has been the key for him?
Pariano: John Velez, his learning curve is exceptional. He picks up anything you throw at him. Second, he is a visionary when it comes to his own style, nobody can really copy his style, sometimes I watch him in matches and am just in awe. The way he caught Ott was just unreal. Ott shoots in on Velez, looks like he is going to finish, then Velez somehow maneuvers him for a takedown and backpoints and then the fall.
Velez is just an awesome story too, when he came to Northwestern he was an Engineering major and he wasn’t even sure he was going to wrestle, now he is a very viable All-American candidate.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Coach Pariano, your 174, Jake Herbert, is currently ranked #2 in the nation. However, many feel that the #1 guy, Ben Askren, is the best pound for pound wrestler in the nation. How do you think Herbert matches up with Askren?
Pariano: First off I think you have a really fair statement there. Askren has dominated a lot of tough guys. With that being said, we honestly feel that Jake’s the best pound-for-pound wrestler, if you were to watch him in practice everyday- his intensity, his willingness to get better everyday is exceptional. I’ve never met anyone who dislikes losing as much as Jake does, he even said in the Northwestern news, “I will do anything I have to do to win a wrestling match.” He’s just an amazing guy to watch. Before he wrestled Perry this year, we broke down tape on him, we figured out how to ride him, I think we outsmarted him. It was 5-0 going into the final seventeen seconds. He’s a special talent and we’re very lucky to have him.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Drew, you were a three-time Ohio state champion in high school in the mid 90’s, as well as a advancing to the top 12 of NCAA’s twice. I’m wondering, which matches do you look back the most proudly on?
Pariano: To be completely honest I look to some of my closer really heartbreaking losses and I think about what I can do to help my wrestlers avoid a setback like that. I also think back that I was very fortunate to have an awesome family, teammates and friends. But you know, I don’t really think back to those matches that much anymore. Losing in the All-American Round, that ate me up, but to be a great coach, you really can’t dwell too much on those things.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: As a wrestler and coach for the past 20 years who do you think was the best Ohio wrestler that you have seen?
Pariano: That is by far the most difficult question you have asked me! Alan Fried was just unreal. I remember watching him at the state meet. I also really looked up to Shawn Nelson. And then, my brother Tony (former two-time Ohio State Champion, junior national freestyle champion, and NCAA All-American), I lived and died his every match- I think I cared more about his matches than mine. But then, I honestly never thought he would lose when he stepped on the mat.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Now, I understand that Northwestern University is having a camp in Northeastern Ohio, at Mentor Lake Catholic, on June 19-22. Why did you decide to have one there?
Pariano: Coach Jack Mulhall allowed me to start a camp there five years ago while I was a graduate assistant at John Carroll University. It started off as a relatively small camp but it has just grown and now that I am at Northwestern it bears the Northwestern name- and with that comes a lot of great clinicians that I will be able to bring out. Lake Catholic High School and Coach Mulhall really made it happen.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Ok, I’m sure young wrestlers and parents of wrestlers will want to know what they can expect if the attend the Northwestern University Camp?
Pariano: I think it is going to be the best camp you can attend. One of the things I do right when I get there- I want to know every camper, a little bit about their background, and I actually ask each camper what they want to learn, or get out of the camp during the course of the week. It’s different, it’s much different- than the typical camp where you are paying $475. It’s a completely different feel. It’s an amazing progression, I’ll take kids on a Monday, and they’ll get real good in an area by the end of the week. I feel really good about what we’re going to bring this year.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: What former Ohio stars will be there as clinicians?
Pariano: We’re going to have some of the top clinicians, we’re going to have (2x NCAA Champion) Ryan Bertin, (Real Pro Wrestling Champ) Pat Cummins, Ryan Lang of course, Jake Herbert is going to be amazing, (Olympian) Rob Eiter, Dustin Fox will be great for the upperweights, the list goes on and on.
OHIO WRESTLING SITE: Sounds great. One last question- Coach Pariano, as a 3x Ohio State Champion, what advice do you have for high school wrestlers as we head to tournament time?
Pariano: I think that you have to believe that all the dedication, all the hard work you put in is going to pay off. I think of it as a three-week state tournament, starting with Sectionals, it’s a progression. Personally, I put it in my head that I deserved it because I put in sacrifices that the other guy didn’t.
I remember after I won my first state title my sophomore year my mom asked me why I wasn’t more excited. I think I told her it was because it was my job now to win two more! I think I put a lot of pressure on myself, but looking back now, what guys need to know is not to put pressure on themselves, just relax and trust in their stuff. If you can have that rested assurance that your technique is going to help you, and your conditioning is going to help you, you’ll get through the process fine and have no regrets!
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