http://www.intermatwrestle.com/news/newsdisplay.aspx?ID=3999

Great pick-up for SCSU but also a great loss for Dana.

If coach Costanzo can recruit out of Minnesota half as good as he did in Blair, NE, I would suspect SCSU will soon be on the rise in D2.

Congratulations Coach Costanzo!

So who goes to the top at Dana? Fergola moves up, or do they hire someone else?

Fergola moves up...done deal.

I wonder how all of the Dana recruits for next season took this news?

This new President at the school is really jerking everyone around. No more JUCOs, cutting scholarships in most of the sports. I don't blame Steve for leaving-he was basically run out of there by that windbag. In a few years I'll be surprised if Dana has a wrestling program anymore.

Dana wrestling will be fine..wish steve didnt have to go but fergola is an excellent recruiter and an excellent coach and he's sure to bring in some good assistants

A Huge, HUGE loss for the Nebraska wrestling community.

Steve is one of the classiest guys in this sport and while I am happy for him as far as making this career move, I am sorry to see him leave Dana (even if the administration is acting the prototypical pencil-pushing jerk that does nothing to dispel the Dilbert Principle).

Dana wrestling was all but out the door when Steve came in 6-7 years ago. I remember sitting in his office talking about the potential stars he had coming in and how much work was ahead for them to even build a HALFWAY competitive program. Some of the guys he was touting back then lived up to their expectations and then some -- and they were key elements in Dana's run to the NAIA national championship AND the NWCA duals championship.

Steve mirrors much of his mentor, Mike Denney, in how he runs a program, deals with kids and carries himself in public. I've sat in Steve's office many a time and thought to myself how much he resembles Denney in so many ways as a coach.

Assuming Richard Fergola will take the reins, the program is being left in good hands. Richard is kind of the anti-Costanzo in that he's more of a high-energy and high-profile personality than Steve is. The complimented each other very well at Dana, and Richard not only is a great coach, but has a great group of kids coming back next season.

As for Steve, I know that St. Cloud State made a fantastic hire in stealing Costanzo from our great state. Somehow I get the feeling that it won't be long before SCSU starts making Augustana, UNO and the rest of what's left of the North Central Conference start sweating a few more bullets when they run up against a SCSU wrestler.

Congrats to Steve on the new opportunity and best of luck at St. Cloud.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Red Rocker,

You had better look at the past before you hand the job to Fergola. I worked a table at the Brute tourney in Omaha last month with a lady from Wichita, KS. and she did not have much good to say about him. He was at 4 different high schools in 5 years, ran out of 2-3 of them, moved on to a juco for 2 years that got put on probation while there. He may be a hard worker but don't hand him the reigns without knowing the background. I personally don't know him but she said a lot of Kansas wrestlers and parents were glad to see him go to Nebraska.

No matter where you go there are going to be people who don't like you.

Steve is a great coach and I agree with NWI, said it all along, they complimented each other with their different personalities. Steve wouldn't have hired Fergola if he wasn't the right man for the job. Behind every great coach is usually a great assistant coach as well.

It doesn't surprise me that Fergola might and I stress might have gotten pushed out of a couple of High Schools. He's the kind of guy that won't settle for second best. He expects the same from his wrestlers. Most High schools that aren't wrestling orientated won't put up with a guy that pushes that hard to be number one. Especially if the Athletic director/ bastetball coach feel threatened. Fergola doesn't belong in High School coaching. His level of knowledge belongs in the college ranks, where if one wrestler gets his feelings hurt he won't lose his job over it.

This new president will not stop Fergola from trying to stay at number one. I see some head butting in the future. He's a competitive guy. It will all work out.

Good luck Steve in your new venture and good luck Fergola, I know you'll do fine.

quote:

Originally posted by huskerjohnson:
You had better look at the past before you hand the job to Fergola. I worked a table at the Brute tourney in Omaha last month with a lady from Wichita, KS. and she did not have much good to say about him. He was at 4 different high schools in 5 years, ran out of 2-3 of them, moved on to a juco for 2 years that got put on probation while there. He may be a hard worker but don't hand him the reigns without knowing the background. I personally don't know him but she said a lot of Kansas wrestlers and parents were glad to see him go to Nebraska.

That's probably why one of the better wrestlers coming out of Kansas signed with Dana this year and it's probably why he always has a good group come up from Kansas for his tournaments and his camps. The wrestler's name is Altman...ring a bell. I watched him wrestle since he was 12...very good wrestler.

Anybody with half a brain will tell you that coaching at the high school level and coaching at the college level -- in ANY sport, but ESPECIALLY this one -- are two totally different animals.

I could see where Fergola's personality would clash with those who are satisfied with mediocrity (which, as 525 said, most basketball-happy AD's are when it comes to wrestling). He is a no-B.S. kind of guy and that sort of thing doesn't always play well to the "my boy is the best this school has ever seen and if we take him somewhere else your school might just as well shut down" parents whose warped sense of what's best for their children is the #1 cause for good coaches being run out of town.

I do know this -- if Dana's president REALLY wants what is best for his employer's wrestling program, he WILL work WITH Fergola in continuing the success Costanzo built there. If he doesn't, the powers that be at Dana had better make sure they get rid of that cat.

I guess I have never understood why an administrator--even if they aren't a particular fan of a sport--would NOT want a program under their watch to succeed.

amen....National titles are hard to come by in any sport. The publicity for the school is great...win win for the school.

Interesting conversation on the mat.com forums about what's going on at Dana.

I just wanted to say that Fergola will continue to take the program at Dana in the right direction. Also our new president is a lady, not a man.

Not to sound sexist...but that might tell us all we need to know about the future of Dana College's wrestling program.

I hope it all works out. But I have quite a few Kansas buddies that do not speak very highly of Fergola. Proably why he is in Nebraska. Hopefully that is all in the past. He does seem like a great promoter of the sport and that is half the battle at the college level.