When AU wrestling coach Mark Cody was hired four years ago to resurrect the program, his expectations weren't exactly low.
"To be honest, I wanted to make the quickest turnaround in college wrestling history," he said with a laugh.
Cody was hired to bring a wrestling program that was being threatened with elimination to a program with possibly three wrestlers taking down NCAA titles.
NCAA championships will kick off March 16 in Oklahoma City as Josh Glenn, Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov and Adam LoPiccolo have a chance to become the first wrestlers in AU history to capture NCAA titles. Glenn is the top-ranked wrestler at the 184-pound class, and Abdurakhmanov is ranked fourth in the 165-pound class and is undefeated. Both took Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association titles last weekend, and Cody said thinks each is capable of winning on the larger stage.
"Each is very capable of winning a title," Cody said. "I've been in the corner for six NCAA champions, and there's no doubt in my mind they're capable of being champions if they go out there and perform."
Adam LoPiccolo is a top 10 wrestler in the heavyweight division and finished fourth at the EIWA championships. Cody said LoPiccolo can go far if he wrestles up to his potential.
"As long as he wrestles at his level and forces his style onto his opponents he can do as well as Josh and Muzaffar," Cody said. "I think he will do it."
While they didn't match last year's school record of sending four wrestlers to the NCAA championships, the seven NCAA appearances in the past two years by AU wrestlers have nearly equaled the total in the programs history.
Cody gives a lot of credit for the program's comeback to alumni and the school's administration.
"A lot of alumni and former wrestlers have come back and really helped the program," he said. "They have done a lot of things to help the program. There's a long list of guys who have helped out."
On top of the list would be Alan Meltzer, who runs a financial services firm in Bethesda, Md. When the program was being threatened with being cut, Meltzer was able to get donors and the school administration to put money into the program and to help turn it into a powerhouse.
"He came in and basically circled the wagons," Cody said. "He's the reason for the program being here today."
Cody, a former assistant at Nebraska and Oklahoma State, two of the most prestigious college wrestling programs in the country, was brought to AU to make the wrestling program what it is today. However, he is not content in where the program is right
now.
"I believe we're years ahead of where I wanted to be when I came here," Cody said. "We've been making some great progress. I have some very high goals and I haven't reached them yet"
