Rob Faugno took months to make his college decision. He could either continue his wrestling career or focus primarily on academics.

Between cutting weight and injuries throughout high school, the sport had already taken its toll on Faugno. And his parents didn’t want to see him go through it for another four years.

“We decided I’d hang up my wrestling shoes and concentrate on my education, which is the most important thing for me,” Faugno said.

While he may no longer wrestle like he used to, he has embraced his “coaching-like” role as the co-president of the Syracuse University club wrestling team. The sophomore, who is planning to double major in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises and marketing, attends every practice and teaches the new members basic techniques.

“He is definitely a good role model to follow with all the experience he brings,” said Rob Zollo, the club’s co-president.

Faugno always looked up to his uncle, Bartolo “Buddy” Valastro Jr., star of TLC’s “Cake Boss.” Entrenched in the family bakery business, Faugno was there all the time. His parents both worked at the bakery full-time and appeared on most episodes of the show, which started in 2009.

Wrestling was his outlet outside the bakery.

His career started in sixth grade when he learned about the sport in gym class. He knew nothing about wrestling before that day, but attended a tryout for the school team because a friend invited him.

Valastro Jr., his uncle, noticed Faugno’s passion for wrestling as his nephew tried to find his own niche.

“I told him straight: You will never accomplish anything if you don’t put in the hard work,” Valastro Jr. said. “If you’re not willing to put in the work, you don’t deserve the reward.”

Wrestling was a hobby for Faugno in middle school.

By his freshman year at Seton Hall Prep, a Roman Catholic boy’s high school in West Orange, N.J., Faugno played football and planned on trying out for the baseball team. Wrestling had become his third sport.

After watching his son wrestle in middle school for three years, Joseph Faugno was ready for him to give up wrestling and focus on baseball.

“I wrestled when I was in high school and didn’t want him to wrestle,” Joseph Faugno said. “I knew the commitment it took to make weight and I rather him spend his time getting ready for baseball tryouts.”

However, Rob continued to wrestle. To crack the lineup in his freshman year, he had to bulk up from 130 pounds to 145 pounds. Grace Faugno, his mother, worried about his new extreme eating habits that year.

“I hated the dieting and eating aspect of wrestling,” Grace said.

Three weeks into the season, Rob was moved up to varsity and qualified for the New Jersey Invitational Freshman State Wrestling Tournament. He placed fifth in the state, reassuring his parents that wrestling was indeed for him.

However, in his junior season, he sat out 10 months with cauliflower ear, a wrestling injury that causes the outer ear to swell. He had his ear drained twice during that span, staying in the hospital for three days on one occasion.

“It was the worst pain in my life,” Faugno said. “I had to wear my wrestling headgear to bed because even the touch of my ear to the pillow was too painful.”

In the hospital, Faugno desperately tried to talk the doctors into letting him wrestle at the state tournament, just three days away.

After being released from the hospital, Faugno wrestled Mike McGann, a national finalist for freestyle in the first round of the state tournament. With the score 2-2, heading into the third period, his father remembers McGann jabbing at Faugno’s ear. In a counter move, Faugno unleashed a cement mixer and pinned McGann, getting six points for his team.

“As a father, I couldn’t believe what just happened,” Joseph Faugno said. “Rob was in so much pain that he had tears in his eyes. It was pretty amazing.”

After capping his high school career, Rob missed wrestling. He learned that Syracuse had a wrestling club at an activities fair his freshman year, and by the spring semester, he took over as co-president, staying close to the sport he loved.

Said Faugno: “Wrestling is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.”

Published on October 10, 2012 at 12:29 am

Contact Bryan: bwrubin@syr.edu