Wrestling


Rich Russell


Donell Young '07(center) accepts congratulations from head coach Al Russomano (left) and assistant head coach Greg Banks (right) on Senior Day.  His 68 career victories places him fifth on the Royals' all-time list.

2007 Metropolitan Conference
149-pound Runner-up

2007 NCAA Division III
Championship Participant



Ray Claudio



Kevin DiGiulio



Mike Ebert



Mike Guenther



Tom Kash



Neil Slocum







Darren Buseman '03
NCAA All-American (2003)








Coaching Staff
Historical Information
All-Time Results
All-Time Roster
Records
Team Finishes at Middle Atlantic Conference Championships
Links
Bill Johnson Photography
(Official Action Photographer of the Royals)

NCAA Sports
Results
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Lodging
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Interested in trying out
for the wrestling team?  
Please fill out the enclosed prospective student-athlete questionnaire and return it via e-mail.


Questionnaire
Roster
To prospective student-athletes:
For more information on The University of Scranton wrestling program, you print out a
fact sheet (pdf format)

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Quick Facts
Statistics Previous Statistics

2001-2002
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2005
2005-2006 2006-2007
2007-2008


Head Coach  - Al Russomano
To e-mail Head Coach Al Russomano, please click here



Al Russomano provided a wealth of experience as both a coach and competitor in his first season as head coach with the Royal wrestling program this past winter.  The highlight of his season came in March when he escorted Donell Young to the 2007 NCAA Division III championships in Duqubue, Iowa.

Prior to his appointment as Royals’ head coach, he served as an assistant varsity wrestling coach for nine seasons at nearby Scranton High School, where he helped develop four Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) District II champions and two two-time all-regional selections by the Scranton Times-Tribune.  He was also on staff when the Knights won the Lackawanna League Division II title in 2000.

Russomano also served as head junior high school and substitute assistant varsity wrestling coach at Elk Lake High School in Dimock, Pennsylvania, where the Warriors produced two junior high school individual district champions and were Northern Athletic Conference (NAC) team champions in 1994. 

Russomano, a member of the PIAA Coaches’ Association, also served as head coach of the Iron Man Wrestling Club of Pennsylvania in Scranton in 1999-2000, where he was voted by the organization’s more than 200 members as its coach of the year at their annual end of the season tournament.  He has been a guest clinician at various wrestling clubs and events throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

He learned his craft from Larry Fornicoli, the legendary head coach of the wrestling program at the then Keystone Junior College in nearby LaPlame in the early 1970s.  As a competitor, Russomano finished third in the PIAA District II championships at the former Scranton Technical High School and was a two-time Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Eastern qualifier.   He is also a two-time Pennsylvania state power-lifting champion (1972, 1973).

Russomano resides in Scranton.  He is the father of two sons:  Anthony, a volunteer assistant with the program and a United States Marine Corps veteran who took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Al, Jr., also a member of the United States Marine Corps and a former member of the all-Marine International wrestling team.



Greg Banks
Assistant Head Coach

To contact Assistant Coach Greg Banks, click here

Greg Banks lent his expertise as a volunteer assistant coach for the Royals last season.  His work did not go unnoticed; in the off-season, he was promoted to assistant head coach.

A native of Delmar, Delaware, he was a two-time place-winner at the highly regarded Middle Atlantic Conference championships while wrestling for the former Western Maryland College, now McDaniel College, from 1974 through 1978.  He finished runner-up at the 177 and 190-pound weight classes at the 1976 and 1978 championships, respectively.

He holds a degree in political science from McDaniel College and a master of business administration degree (MBA) from George Washington University.  He also received a certificate of participation from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 2005.

In 1978, he joined Kraft Foods of Northfield, Illinois, and enjoyed a 28-year career in a variety of positions, including vice president for sales of the Kraft Pizza Company (1995-1997), vice president for sales of the East Area (Northeast United States, 1997-2003), and vice president of customer business operations (2003-2006), before retiring recently.

Greg and his wife, Louise, are the parents of two daughters:  Sarah and Adele.  The family is in the process of relocating to nearby Harford, Pennsylvania.

Tony Russomano
Assistant Coach

Tony Russomano, a former standout wrestler at nearby Scranton High School, will help out his dad as an assistant coach for the second straight year.

Upon graduation, he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he continued to wrestle and earned all-Marine honors at Camp Lejuene in North Carolina before serving a tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He was a member of Charlie Company in the Second Tank Battalion that saw action in Operation Phantom Fury, a successful campaign that resulted in driving out insurgents in the town of Fallujah in November 2004.

As a three-year member of the wrestling team at Scranton High School, he won two Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) District II titles and became the first wrestler in Knights’ history to post an undefeated season (29-0).  A two-time Northeastern Pennsylvania regional all-star, he finished his career with 94 victories.  He also wrestled on the high school level in Texas for one season.

Tony resides in Scranton with his daughter Cally, age 5.  He is employed as a private contractor.

Joseph Pipitone
Volunteer Assistant Coach

Joseph Pipitone, a native of nearby Gibson, will begin his first season as a volunteer assistant wrestling coach.

He is a 2004 graduate of Blue Ridge High School, where he wrestled in the 171-pound weight class, and is currently working towards his bachelor’s degree from Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania.  He served as an assistant coach at Dallas High School last season.

He began wrestling in the fourth grade, and his training background includes extensive knowledge of Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling.

The University of Scranton All-Time Coaching Records

Name Years Record Pct.
John Hopkins 1969-1998  180-250-4  .426
Steve Laidacker, Ed. D. 1987-88, 1998-2002  40-59-1 .405
Brett Owen 2002-2005 19-40-0 .322
Jim Morgan 2005-2006 2-12 .143
Robert Mazzatta 2006-2007 0-2 .000
Al Russomano 2007 0-7 .000
Totals 1969-present 237-361-5 .397


2007-2008 Schedule & Results (2-13 Overall/1-5 Metropolitan Wrestling Conference)

Day Date Opponent/Event Time
Sun.

Nov. 4

at Washington & Jefferson Invitational
Non-Team Scoring Event

Sat.


Nov. 10


at Monarch Invitational (King's College)
Tournament Brackets
Tournament Summary


Tue.

Nov. 13

at Wilkes, 7-41
Match Summary

WED.


NOV. 14


LYCOMING, L, 9-39
Match Summary
Program


Sat.


Nov. 17


at Red Dragon Invitaitonal (Oneonta State University)
12th-place, 12 teams, 29.5 points
Tournament Results
Match Summary


Tue.

Dec. 4

at King's, L, 16-24
Match Summary


Sat.

Dec. 8

at Elizabethtown, L, 6-47
Match Summary


Sat.


Jan. 12


at Washington & Lee Invitational
(5th-place, 14 teams, 51 points)
Tournament Summary


Wed.

Jan. 16

at Muhlenberg, L, 9-42
Match Summary


Sat.




Jan. 19




at York College Quad Meet
vs. 14th-ranked York, L, 0-51
vs. Apprentice School, L, 21-29
vs. Wilkes, 3-45
Match Summaries


Sat.
Jan. 26
at Centenary (N.J.), L, 0-48
Match Summary

SAT.



FEB. 9



OSWEGO ST., L, 9-39
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, L, 0-53
Match Summary
Program

SAT.







FEB. 16







NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, HUNTER & MORRISVILLE ST.
Program
12:00 PM:  SCRANTON 27, HUNTER 20
12:00 PM:  NYU 46, MORRISVILLE ST. 0
1:30 PM:  MORRISVILLE ST. 31, HUNTER 14
1:30 PM:  NYU 39, SCRANTON 3
3:00 PM:  SCRANTON 20, MORRISVILLE ST. 18
Match Results

Sun.



Feb. 24



at Metropolitan Wrestling Conference Championships
Marts Center, Wilkes University
9th-place, 9.5 points
Tournament Summary



HOME MATCHES IN CAPS
 Directions to the John J. Long, S.J., Center on campus


2007-2008 Roster
Click Here for a Roster in MS Word format



Name Wt.  Yr. Hometown/High School
Scott Puglisi
125 Fr. Webster, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit
Ray Claudio
133 So. Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills
Rich Russell
133 Sr. Livingston, N.J./Livingston
John Dineen 141 Jr. Harrington Park, N.J./Don Bosco Preparatory
Mike Ebert
141 So. East Northport, N.Y./Northport
Dan Hanifin
141 Fr. Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan
Jeff Kapica
141 Fr. Burlington, N.J./Holy Cross-Delran
Dan Lutz
141 Fr. Purchase, N.Y./Harrison
Tom Manning
141 Fr. North Kingstown, R.I./Bishop Hendricken
Thomas Kash
157 So. Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier
Steve Gray
157 Sr. Clarksboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional
Mike Guenther
157 So. Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley Regional
Steve Glickman
165 Fr. Pennsauken, N.Y./Holy Cross-Delran
Ben Courtney
174 Fr. Norristown, Pa./LaSalle College
Kevin DiGiulio
174 So. Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Preparatory
Luke Genovese
174 Fr. Yorktown, N.Y./Yorktown
Adam Finch
184 So. Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills
Michael Byrnes
197 So. Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic
Kyle Calvey
197 So. Scranton, Pa./Scranton
Joe Williams
197 Fr. Florham Park, N.J./Hanover Park
Sean McCauley
285 Fr. Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue
Neil Slocum
285 Sr. Scranton, Pa./Scranton Preparatory

Head Coach:  Al Russomano (2nd year)
Assistants:  Greg Banks (1st year)


Quick Facts
Name:  The University of Scranton
Founded:  1888 
Location:   Scranton, Pa. 18510 
Affiliation:   Society of Jesus
President:   Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J.
Enrollment:  3,600 undergraduates
Nickname: Royals
Colors: Purple and White
Conference:  Metropolitan Wrestling Conference
Conference Members:  Centenary College (NJ), The College of New Jersey, Hunter College, King's College, New York University, SUNY-Maritime College, The University of Scranton, Wilkes University, Yeshiva University
Athletic Affiliation:  NCAA III,
Athletics Director:  Toby Lovecchio (The University of Scranton '85)
Phone:  570-941-7440
Head Coach:  Al Russomano (1st year)
E-mail Address:  russomanoa2@scranton.edu
Assistant:  
Greg Banks
Mailing Address: The University of Scranton, 209 Long Center, Scranton, Pa. 18510
Sports Information Director: Kevin Southard
: 570-941-7571/570-941-4223 (Fax)