History of George Mason Wrestling
The George Mason wrestling program strives to keep its tradition of success alive as it enters its 37th season in 2008-09. Since its inception in 1972, the program has posted 23 winning seasons, including a recent string of 16 in a row from 1986-2001, and has developed regional champions and national qualifiers while pushing the sport into the forefront of Patriot athletics. In its previous 36 seasons, the wrestling program has compiled an overall record of 334-230-8, with a .588 winning percentage. At John Linn Memorial Gym, the team’s 2,800-seat home, the wrestlers have a 110-53-1 (.673) record since 1981, and in the last 20 seasons, excluding last year when they wrestled solely at the Recreation Sports Complex (Fieldhouse), they have posted an 85-23-1 Linn Gym record (.783). Including matches held at the Fieldhouse, the Patriots are 136-72-1 (.652) overall at home. The program’s largest margin of victory came at home on Dec. 12, 1988, when the Patriots defeated Norfolk State, 76-0, putting them at 4-0 for the season. From Jan. 27, 1989 through the end of 1991 the wrestlers continued a school-record home-unbeaten streak of 31 meets. The Patriots posted their first win in their first home meet on Dec. 6, 1972, versus Salisbury State, 30-25. They finished their first season 6-4, second in the Virginia Collegiate Athletic Association (VCAA) with three individual champions. In their second year, under their second head coach, Jerry Mullins, George Mason was undefeated. This 15-0 team finished first in the VCAA, boasting five individual champions. Four wrestlers qualified for NAIA Nationals, with John Long finishing in the top eight in the country. Mullins was named Coach of the Year. The success of the program in its first six seasons vaulted George Mason into NCAA Division I competition in December of 1978. Respect of Patriot wrestling also increased with the achievements of heavyweight Paul Maltagliati. In 1981-82 Maltagliati became the first Mason wrestler to qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships, which he did two consecutive years. Throughout his career he set several school records, including the mark for total victories with 122. The Patriots’ first NCAA AllAmerican, Scott Kirsch, came close to breaking this record in 1991, but finished just three wins shy at 119. The 1986-87 season marked the beginning of the program’s most successful era, with the team posting a winning record every year through 2000-01, and the Patriots have a record of 221-98-2 (.691) from 1986-87 through the present. In nine of the last 20 years, they have won at least 10 dual meets. The 1987-88 squad was 18-3, posting a school record for victories in a season. This era of success began under George Mason’s winningest coach, Mike Moyer. In his 10 years as head coach (1985-95), he led the Patriots to an astonishing 126-29-2 record, with a winning percentage of .809. During this time, Moyer produced 27 Division I NCAA qualifiers out of the 54 total in George Mason history. Each of George Mason wrestling’s NCAA All-Americans – Kirsch, John Curtis and Matt
Finacchio – came under Moyer’s tutelage. Curtis is George Mason’s only two-time All-American, as well as a three-time NCAA qualifier, two-time Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Year and winner of two CAA championships, three Virginia Division I state titles and one NCAA Eastern Regional crown. In 1992, the Patriots’ first year of CAA competition, they posted a 6-0 conference record and continued their unbeaten streak to finish 13-0-1 overall. In the inaugural CAA Championships, the Patriots emerged as the first conference champion. Mike Santamaria, Jason Spezzano and Curtis were each individual winners, while Curtis was named CAA Wrestler of the Year and Moyer was heralded as the conference Coach of the Year. In 1995, Moyer’s final team posted an 11-0 record, the third undefeated season in George Mason wrestling history, and again captured the CAA championship. Moyer was named CAA Coach of the Year for the second time and Virginia Coach of the Year for the fourth time. The Patriots continued their CAA stronghold, winning the next two consecutive championships under its seventh head coach, Brian Shaffer. In his 10 years at the helm, Shaffer compiled a 70-59 record (.543). In addition to leading the Patriots to a CAA championship in 1996, his first year as head coach, he was also named CAA Coach of the Year. In 1997 the team won its fourth CAA championship, setting a scoring record for the third consecutive year with 101.5 points, shattering the mark of 86.5 it set the previous year. This was George Mason’s fourth CAA championship in the six years the conference had recognized wrestling as a championship sport, and the Patriots added their fifth team title in 2001 as they produced a school-record total of six CAA individual champions and seven NCAA qualifiers. Under Shaffer, George Mason produced 29 NCAA qualifiers, including five freshmen – Sean Shea (1996), Kevin Brandon (1997), Brent Lancaster (1999), Donnie DeFilippis (2000) and Tony Howard (2001) – who were the first Patriots to qualify in their first season of competition. Shea, DeFilippis and Howard were recognized as the CAA Rookie of the Year award winners, while Shea was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the CAA Championships in 1997. By winning the CAA title at 125 pounds in 2001, Shea became George Mason’s first four-time NCAA qualifier. Throughout their history the Patriots have continually produced accomplished wrestlers, yet the program’s most celebrated era has come within the last 20 years. They have proven their regional success since joining the CAA by going 69-36 in conference dual meet action, and they have proven they are a national force, producing at least three NCAA qualifiers nine times in the last 18 years, with at least one qualifier in 20 of the past 22 seasons. With the program’s recent power pushing the team forward, nothing but the best is expected in the seasons ahead.