UConn wrestlers renew friendships at NCAA Div. I national championship meet

Former UConn wrestlers Bob Sibilia, left, Joe Viola and George Murray at the 2024 NCAA Division I nationals in Kansas City, sporting their UConn wrestling shirts.

They may have met on the mat but their friendships were forged in the tiny, hot wrestling room in the Hawley Auditorium in Storrs.

In the 1970s, the UConn wrestling team worked out daily in a small, elongated room with mats on the floor and along the walls. A series of small, grated windows let some air into the room, but not a lot.

“It was super hot in there,” said Joe Viola, a two-time New England champion (1978, 1980) with the Huskies. “There were security grates on the windows so we felt we couldn’t get out if we wanted to.

“But it was hot and we worked out a lot and lost a lot of weight,” he said.

UConn dropped their varsity wrestling program following the 1981 season. Only two men in the program’s 25-year history qualified to wrestle at the NCAA Division I championships with Viola being the last man to represent the Huskies in 1980.

But for the past few years, a group of former UConn wrestlers have been at the national championships, getting together again to celebrate the highest pinnacle of collegiate wrestling.

The wrestlers wear self-made UConn wrestling shirts. And they answer that frequently asked question. There was a wrestling team at UConn?

“We had a pretty good team and there was camaraderie,” Robert Sibilia said. “It is what we built in that room and it has lasted through today.” Sibilia came to Storrs on a football scholarship and played with the Huskies. He walked onto the wrestling team and earned a spot in the starting lineup.

“That is why we are here (at the nationals),” Viola said. “I look forward to this every year. When you work that hard together, you bond together.”

As many as 18 former UConn wrestlers have made the trip in a single year. The numbers of wrestlers the last few years has been smaller but it hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm at all.

The varsity program at Connecticut began in December 1956 under the leadership of James Bauer. In 1968, the Huskies began a strong three-year run with a 9-3 record under head coach Nathan Osur. In 1969, UConn won a then-program record eight matches with an 8-2 record and exceeded it in 1970 with an 11-3 mark under Osur.

The closest UConn came to winning a New England title was third place finishes in 1978 and 1979. The final varsity season was in 1980-81.

Scott Casper was UConn’s first NCAA qualifier in 1975, going 2-2 in matches at 142 pounds at the NCAA Division I tournament. Viola went 1-1 in 1978 at Maryland, competing at 118 pounds. Two years later at Oregon State, Viola went 0-1 at 126 pounds. In 1980, a wrestler got a chance to compete in the consolation round brackets only if the person they lost to continued to win matches.

Today, a wrestler is guaranteed at least two matches in the NCAA tournament.

“Cameraderie and the team approach (are my best memories),” said former UConn wrestler George Murray, who won a State Open title with Ledyard High. “We didn’t get a lot of support from the administration but the students came out and we had a few hundred people for a match and we wrestled some pretty good teams.”

This year in Philadelphia, four former Huskies were at the national meet. From left, Joe Viola, Bob Sibilia, George Murray and Peter Frampton. (Photo courtesy Joe Viola)

UConn does sponsor club wrestling, a team that was established in 2007 and competes in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) national championship meet. Like their varsity ancestors, the club team practices at Hawley Gymnasium and struggles with funding to attend tournaments on the road.

The club team, which had one All-American finisher at the NCWA nationals this season, had a Go-Fund me fundraising effort to support the team’s trip to Louisiana earlier this month.

Hawley Gym on the campus of UConn where the club wrestling team currently trains on campus. (Photo courtesy UConn wrestling club)