Northwestern University Athletics
Matt Storniolo: Building the Future at Northwestern
1/4/2017 11:29:00 AM | Wrestling
By Darnell Pearson, special to NUsports.com
MEET THE NEW COACH
Ten minutes before practice the mood was light and energetic, as if a grueling evening of working out and sweating in an 80-degree basement wasn't ahead of the Northwestern wrestling team.
A large circle formed in the middle of the mat, an intense game of hacky sack pursued. Bodies were flying everywhere. Guys were diving trying to keep the sack from hitting the ground. The leader of the hacky sack game was 32-year-old first-time head coach Matt Storniolo.
"Believe it or not this is normal, sometimes they even play hand ball," Tim Cysewski, the director of the annual Ken Kraft Midlands said. "It's a way to lighten the mood before practice."
Storniolo officially took over as head coach in 2016 after serving as the interim coach in the 2015 season. He served on the Wildcats' coaching staff as an assistant for six years before that.
Last year was a struggle for Storniolo as he stepped into that interim head coaching position. His team suffered two season-ending injuries to high-caliber wrestlers in Johnny Sebastian and Bryce Brill and finding wins last year was tough. The team finished with a 2-13 record.
"Last year was kind of our Murphy's Law year of wrestling here at Northwestern," Storniolo said. "We are extremely young, but this is an opportunity to grow as a team and with this new staff."
With the young talent on this year's team, Storniolo and the coaching staff expect the Wildcats to be better in every aspect of the sport.
WHO IS MATT STORNIOLO
Storniolo is a first generation wrestler from Pennsylvania. Growing up in Pennsylvania, he played baseball and football but became attracted to the solo competition in wrestling in first grade. But it wasn't until the end of middle school that Storniolo thought wrestling was something that he could be really good at.
"It was only you out there," Storniolo said. "I didn't have to rely on teammates or other peoples' efforts for the outcome of the competition."
Storniolo recalled being in gym class as a young kid and getting frustrated with the lack of effort that his classmates showed in class. Effort and competition drove his attraction to wrestling because in wrestling, effort matters a lot, he said.
Though Storniolo considered himself a "better than average" wrestler in middle school, it wasn't until he started going to a different wrestling club – one with better coaches and better workout partners – that he started to grow and develop as a wrestler.
Storniolo said once he got that foundation and confidence, wrestling became easier. People used to doubt him and tell him once he got to high school the sport would be much harder, but he used that as motivation and became a much better wrestler in high school. He had an undefeated senior year while winning a state title and being named an All-American.
He used that same motivation and foundation going into college at Penn State, where he wrestled his freshman year. He racked up a 34-10 record in the 149-pound weight class and reached the finals of the Big Ten Championships in 2004, winning conference freshman of the year honors. Before his sophomore year at Penn State, Storniolo transferred to Oklahoma.
He spent his next three years wrestling for the Sooners, where he became a two time All-American and won a Big 12 championship at 149 lbs. his senior year. He graduated from Oklahoma in 2007.
NEXT TASK FOR THE COACH
His success on the mat shaped him for life off of it. With 27 years of wrestling knowledge, he knows what it means to be a champion and he wants to bring that to Northwestern.
"I've been fortunate enough to be around some really good coaches and fellow former competitors," Storniolo said. "I was just fortunate to be around people where I can grow as a student in the sport."
Storniolo has always been around Division I programs and over the years he has picked up a few things that he feels will work for him and his coaching style.
He keeps things as loose and as light as possible. He wants his team to enjoy the sport while getting better. Wrestling practices aren't supposed to be 'fun,' so the more enjoyable Storniolo can make it for his guys, the better. But he also understands that when it is time to compete there is a switch that needs to be flipped.
"Some guys you need to keep them loose, you have to proactively keep them loose," he said. "It's an interesting mentality in this sport. They put a lot of pressure on themselves."
Storniolo also uses his relative youth to his advantage. At 32, he is the youngest coach in the conference. He said everything is still fresh in his mind, so relating to his team isn't a challenge for him.
"It's pretty cool [having young coaches] because they were in college not too long ago. Sometimes you get old coaches and times change," Johnny Sebastian, a redshirt sophomore from Ramsey, New Jersey, said. "We feed off them because they know what they are talking about."
"We've got a lot more help this year. Almost everything that could go wrong went wrong last year," assistant coach Conor Beebe said. "This year, just adding talent, the mood of the room, he put out a plan and everything is going in the right direction. There are not a lot of coaches that work harder than that guy."
The mood around Northwestern wrestling is changing because of Storniolo. He has brought in his own coaching staff and firmly put his stamp on his first official season. The team has already more than doubled last year's win total just through the non-conference season.
The future is looking bright for Matt Storniolo and Northwestern wrestling.
MEET THE NEW COACH
Ten minutes before practice the mood was light and energetic, as if a grueling evening of working out and sweating in an 80-degree basement wasn't ahead of the Northwestern wrestling team.
A large circle formed in the middle of the mat, an intense game of hacky sack pursued. Bodies were flying everywhere. Guys were diving trying to keep the sack from hitting the ground. The leader of the hacky sack game was 32-year-old first-time head coach Matt Storniolo.
"Believe it or not this is normal, sometimes they even play hand ball," Tim Cysewski, the director of the annual Ken Kraft Midlands said. "It's a way to lighten the mood before practice."
Storniolo officially took over as head coach in 2016 after serving as the interim coach in the 2015 season. He served on the Wildcats' coaching staff as an assistant for six years before that.
Last year was a struggle for Storniolo as he stepped into that interim head coaching position. His team suffered two season-ending injuries to high-caliber wrestlers in Johnny Sebastian and Bryce Brill and finding wins last year was tough. The team finished with a 2-13 record.
"Last year was kind of our Murphy's Law year of wrestling here at Northwestern," Storniolo said. "We are extremely young, but this is an opportunity to grow as a team and with this new staff."
With the young talent on this year's team, Storniolo and the coaching staff expect the Wildcats to be better in every aspect of the sport.
WHO IS MATT STORNIOLO
Storniolo is a first generation wrestler from Pennsylvania. Growing up in Pennsylvania, he played baseball and football but became attracted to the solo competition in wrestling in first grade. But it wasn't until the end of middle school that Storniolo thought wrestling was something that he could be really good at.
"It was only you out there," Storniolo said. "I didn't have to rely on teammates or other peoples' efforts for the outcome of the competition."
Storniolo recalled being in gym class as a young kid and getting frustrated with the lack of effort that his classmates showed in class. Effort and competition drove his attraction to wrestling because in wrestling, effort matters a lot, he said.
Though Storniolo considered himself a "better than average" wrestler in middle school, it wasn't until he started going to a different wrestling club – one with better coaches and better workout partners – that he started to grow and develop as a wrestler.
Storniolo said once he got that foundation and confidence, wrestling became easier. People used to doubt him and tell him once he got to high school the sport would be much harder, but he used that as motivation and became a much better wrestler in high school. He had an undefeated senior year while winning a state title and being named an All-American.
He used that same motivation and foundation going into college at Penn State, where he wrestled his freshman year. He racked up a 34-10 record in the 149-pound weight class and reached the finals of the Big Ten Championships in 2004, winning conference freshman of the year honors. Before his sophomore year at Penn State, Storniolo transferred to Oklahoma.
He spent his next three years wrestling for the Sooners, where he became a two time All-American and won a Big 12 championship at 149 lbs. his senior year. He graduated from Oklahoma in 2007.
NEXT TASK FOR THE COACH
His success on the mat shaped him for life off of it. With 27 years of wrestling knowledge, he knows what it means to be a champion and he wants to bring that to Northwestern.
"I've been fortunate enough to be around some really good coaches and fellow former competitors," Storniolo said. "I was just fortunate to be around people where I can grow as a student in the sport."
Storniolo has always been around Division I programs and over the years he has picked up a few things that he feels will work for him and his coaching style.
He keeps things as loose and as light as possible. He wants his team to enjoy the sport while getting better. Wrestling practices aren't supposed to be 'fun,' so the more enjoyable Storniolo can make it for his guys, the better. But he also understands that when it is time to compete there is a switch that needs to be flipped.
"Some guys you need to keep them loose, you have to proactively keep them loose," he said. "It's an interesting mentality in this sport. They put a lot of pressure on themselves."
Storniolo also uses his relative youth to his advantage. At 32, he is the youngest coach in the conference. He said everything is still fresh in his mind, so relating to his team isn't a challenge for him.
"It's pretty cool [having young coaches] because they were in college not too long ago. Sometimes you get old coaches and times change," Johnny Sebastian, a redshirt sophomore from Ramsey, New Jersey, said. "We feed off them because they know what they are talking about."
"We've got a lot more help this year. Almost everything that could go wrong went wrong last year," assistant coach Conor Beebe said. "This year, just adding talent, the mood of the room, he put out a plan and everything is going in the right direction. There are not a lot of coaches that work harder than that guy."
The mood around Northwestern wrestling is changing because of Storniolo. He has brought in his own coaching staff and firmly put his stamp on his first official season. The team has already more than doubled last year's win total just through the non-conference season.
The future is looking bright for Matt Storniolo and Northwestern wrestling.
••••••
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