Northwestern University Athletics
Andrew Pariano Named NWCA's Assistant Coach of the Year
3/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 19, 2008
ST. LOUIS -- In a ceremony held on the eve of the NCAA Championships, assistant coach Andrew Pariano was named 2007 Division I Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). Pariano, a 2000 graduate of Northwestern, is in his third season at the side of his college coach, Tim Cysewski.
Other NWCA honorees included Iowa State's legendary Cael Sanderson, who was named Coach of the Year.
Pariano played a vital role in leading the Wildcats to a program-best fourth-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Last season, the Wildcats sent six wrestlers to the national tournament and came away with four All-Americans.
In 2006, Pariano's first year on the staff, NU came away with a 13th-place finish and had three All-Americans. This year, all six Wildcat entrants are seeded entering the NCAA Championships for the first time under Cysewski.
Pariano is always busy on the recruiting trail, having brought some of the nation's best talent to Evanston. In the past three seasons, NU kept Illinois' accomplished Brandon Precin and Mike Benefiel close to home, continued the pipeline to Ohio with state champion Keith Sulzer, and for the latest recruiting class, went to California to sign Jason Welch, the nation's top wrestling prospect.
Prior to his return to Evanston, Pariano was the head wrestling coach at Cornell College in Iowa for two seasons. Three of his recruits went on to total six All-American finishes and helped Cornell to seventh place at the 2008 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. In his first season at Cornell, the Rams went 1-15, but the athletes Pariano brought in helped them to two top-12 national finishes the past two seasons
Before working at Cornell, Pariano was an assistant coach at John Carroll University. He helped the Blue Streaks win two Ohio Athletic Conference titles and place in the top 25 of the NCAA Division III Championships three times.
Pariano was a three-time NCAA qualifier and four-year starter for the Wildcats. He qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1997 and 1998 at 150 lbs. and in 1999 at 165 lbs. He earned Academic All-Big Ten and Academic All-American honors, and was a Midlands place winner.
He received a bachelor's degree in education and social policy from Northwestern in 2000, and a master's degree in communication management from John Carroll in 2003.
