Ridgefield’s Corey Paulish, center, and Danbury’s Frank Cammisa, right, were inducted into the New England Wrestling Hall of Fame in January. Paulish is with Williams head coach Scott Honecker.
Two men with Connecticut roots were inducted into the New England Wrestling Association’s (NEWA) Hall of Fame in January.
Ridgefield’s Corey Paulish, who wrestled at Williams College, and Danbury’s Frank Cammisa, who wrestled at Bridgewater State, were two of six men to be inducted into the NEWA Hall of Fame. Wesleyan’s Jefferson Ajayi and Rhode Island College’s Brandon Gauthier and Jay Jones were also recognized.
Paulish and Cammisa were both inducted for their performance on the mat at their respective schools.
Paulish competed in three different weight classes at Williams (133, 141, 149) and finished with a collegiate record of 129-35, second on the all-time list for career wins with the Ephs. He graduated in 2011.
He was an All-American wrestler as a sophomore in 2009, finishing fourth at the NCAA Division III national championships. He was a three-time qualifier for the NCAA tournament and a four-time All-New England wrestler. The NEWA Rookie of the Year in 2008, Paulish was a three-time Scholar All-American.
Wrestling helped create the foundation of Paulish’s post-graduate career.
“Discipline, dedication, and drive. I know wrestling really laid the foundation for the idea that hard work pays off, and when you apply that mentality to other aspects of your life (your relationships, your profession, etc.) it’s an incredibly powerful thing,” he said. “I still feel like I always have a lot to learn, but embracing the journey of self-improvement is another mentality that I definitely picked up through 12 years of competitive wrestling.”
Paulish is currently the Director of Data & Analytics at Veho, a start-up company in the logistics space. “Think last-mile delivery and helping to grow/improve the ecommerce experience for both brands and their end customers,” he said.
Cammisa is the only grappler in Bridgewater State wrestling history to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships in each of his four seasons with the team.
Cammisa came to Bridgewater in 2006 and immediately made an impact on the Bears’ wrestling program. In his freshman season he set school rookie marks for wins with 35 and pins with 21 on his way to capturing the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) 149-pound title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Cammisa repeated as the 149-pound champion and made a return trip to the NCAAs in 2008. In 2009, he placed second at the NEWA Championships and was awarded a wild card to the NCAA Tournament. In his senior season, Frank moved up a weight class and captured the 157-pound NEWA title as he made his fourth straight appearance in the NCAAs.
All told, Cammisa is tied for third all-time at BSU in career wins with 110, and ranks second in pins with 46. He is a four-time All-NEWA selection and was named the NEWA Rookie of the Year for the 2006-07 season.
He graduated from Bridgewater State in January 2011 as he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education with a concentration in Recreation. Following graduation, Frank served as an assistant coach at BSU for four seasons before becoming the 12th head coach of the wrestling program in September of 2014.
Cammisa was inducted into the Bridgewater State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
Along with his duties as head coach at BSU, Cammisa is currently the Milieu Coordinator at the South Shore Educational Collaborative in Hingham, Massachusetts. He presently resides in Braintree, Massachusetts with his wife, Katie, and son, Vinny.
