Indiana University Athletics
Embracing the Challenge -- Fongaro Thrives in Wrestling, Law School
12/14/2023 10:00:00 AM | Wrestling
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Forget, for just a moment, the career-best 10-1 start, and consider the real challenge Dan Fongaro faces in his quest for national wrestling prominence:
Law school.
Fongaro transferred from Columbia University to Indiana to enter law school. Thanks to pandemic-caused NCAA rule changes, he had one more season of wrestling eligibility, and wanted to take full advantage. He wanted one last shot to make college wrestling's biggest stage, academic rigors be darned.
Fongaro was all in. Hoosier coach Angel Escobedo was all in. That it meant an academic-and-athletic commitment few would undertake, let alone excel in, has made it all the more rewarding.
"This has been the hardest, most challenging year of my life," Fongaro says. "It's unbelievable."
Forget the grueling grind of seven-minute wrestling matches and two-hour practices. Try reading legal cases and statutes, none of which is like reading, say, a John Grisham thriller.
Then there's also learning how to analyze and interpret the law, write legal briefs and participate in class discussions, some of which are more like inquisitions, all of which requires lots of preparation.
"As far as the reading, it's like 200 pages a week that you have to do," Fongaro says. "There's no way around that."
The word in law circles is that the first-year of law school is the hardest, that it's designed to break all but the most dedicated and committed.
Fongaro doesn't disagree.
"I hear it from my classmates all the time about how hard it is. It is hard. It's a little harder for me with wrestling."
And yet, wrestling has its advantages. It gives him a break from academic stress.
"Wrestling doesn't add stress to my life. It takes away a little time from my day. It's not as if I'm worried all the time. The two hours I take for wrestling, I have more gratitude now. It's the only two hours I get to think about wrestling during the day."
Fitting in those two hours isn't always conducive to a team practice setting. Escobedo was flexible about making it work.
"With the rigorous schedule he has with law school," Escobedo says, "we knew it would be difficult, but as long as he communicated with us, we could come up with a special plan. That's what we did."
Escobedo works with Fongaro on Mondays. Volunteer assistant coach C.J. Red works with him on Tuesdays. Fongaro is with the team the other days.
For the record, Escobedo is one of the greatest wrestlers in IU history, with a national title on his resume. Red was unbeatable in Indiana high school wrestling, then went on to an All-America career at Nebraska.
In other words, Fongaro has excellent practice partners.
"He gets a little more individual attention than most guys would because of his schedule," Escobedo says, "and he's really capitalized on that."
Fongaro's record includes two pins and two major decisions at 141 pounds. He's ranked No. 26 in his weight class, with plenty of opportunities to move up with upcoming matches against No. 1 Penn State, No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Ohio State and No. 15 Rutgers.
He could face second-ranked Beau Bartlett of Penn State or third-ranked Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, among other talented Big Ten foes.
Fongaro took first at The Battle at the Citadel and second at the PRTC Keystone Classic. His 15-2 win against Princeton in the meet's final match delivered an 18-15 team victory and helped the No. 24 Hoosiers to a 3-0 start. His only loss came by a 4-2 decision to then-No. 12 CJ Composto of Penn.
This is a big jump from his three seasons at Columbia, where he compiled a 52-41 career record.
Dropping from 149 pounds to 141 has helped. So has his maturity.
"This year feels different," he says. "A big part of it is this being my last year competing in a sport I've done since I was 5. It gives you a perspective shift and a new approach to competition."
As far as his fast start, Fongaro says, "I'm excited to keep that momentum going into the Big Ten schedule."
Fongaro says he's improved his takedown defense, and in his ability to ride opponents.
"When guys get in my leg, I look at it as an advantage. It tires them out. I'm not worried about them scoring.
"On top, I'm riding guys out. Part of that could be technical. Part of it I went down a weight, so I'm a bigger guy at the weight."
How did Fongaro come to IU?
After graduating from Columbia, he wanted to go to law school and still wrestle. Indiana, with its Maurer School of Law and up-and-coming wrestling program, seemed a great fit.
"When you narrow the list of schools that had a wrestling program that I wanted to be a part of and they wanted me, and that had a good law school, it was a pretty small list," he says.
"I took a visit to Indiana and loved the coaching staff and the city. It immediately felt like home."
It helped that Fongaro's coach at Columbia, Zach Tanelli, has known Escobedo for years, and made a call.
"He said he had a guy who got admitted to law school at Indiana," Escobedo says. "He loved him in the room. He said Dan was a hard worker. He listened well. He would go above and beyond for the program.
"(Tanelli) and I talk a lot. He knows what I'm looking for -- a hard worker who is bought in for the team and our culture. He fit every attribute we needed, every characteristic.
"When we brought him on campus and being around him, I thought, Yeah, we need to have this guy."
Fongaro has never qualified for the NCAA Tournament. That's a goal, but not the only one.
"I want to keep getting better every match," he says. "Be consistent. Consistency will be a big thing. If I do that and perform how I'm capable and how I have been, I'll be at the NCAA Tournament and I'm going to make a run there."
After that, Fongaro will finish his final two law-school years. He says he hopes to be around the wrestling team in some capacity.
What kind of lawyer does Fongaro want to be? He's still working that out -- intellectual property, trademarks and copyright law are possibilities -- but one thing is certain:
No taxes.
"I do know I don't want to do tax law," he says with a laugh. "Math is not me. I don't do numbers."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Forget, for just a moment, the career-best 10-1 start, and consider the real challenge Dan Fongaro faces in his quest for national wrestling prominence:
Law school.
Fongaro transferred from Columbia University to Indiana to enter law school. Thanks to pandemic-caused NCAA rule changes, he had one more season of wrestling eligibility, and wanted to take full advantage. He wanted one last shot to make college wrestling's biggest stage, academic rigors be darned.
Fongaro was all in. Hoosier coach Angel Escobedo was all in. That it meant an academic-and-athletic commitment few would undertake, let alone excel in, has made it all the more rewarding.
"This has been the hardest, most challenging year of my life," Fongaro says. "It's unbelievable."
Forget the grueling grind of seven-minute wrestling matches and two-hour practices. Try reading legal cases and statutes, none of which is like reading, say, a John Grisham thriller.
Then there's also learning how to analyze and interpret the law, write legal briefs and participate in class discussions, some of which are more like inquisitions, all of which requires lots of preparation.
"As far as the reading, it's like 200 pages a week that you have to do," Fongaro says. "There's no way around that."
The word in law circles is that the first-year of law school is the hardest, that it's designed to break all but the most dedicated and committed.
Fongaro doesn't disagree.
"I hear it from my classmates all the time about how hard it is. It is hard. It's a little harder for me with wrestling."
And yet, wrestling has its advantages. It gives him a break from academic stress.
"Wrestling doesn't add stress to my life. It takes away a little time from my day. It's not as if I'm worried all the time. The two hours I take for wrestling, I have more gratitude now. It's the only two hours I get to think about wrestling during the day."
Fitting in those two hours isn't always conducive to a team practice setting. Escobedo was flexible about making it work.
"With the rigorous schedule he has with law school," Escobedo says, "we knew it would be difficult, but as long as he communicated with us, we could come up with a special plan. That's what we did."
Escobedo works with Fongaro on Mondays. Volunteer assistant coach C.J. Red works with him on Tuesdays. Fongaro is with the team the other days.
For the record, Escobedo is one of the greatest wrestlers in IU history, with a national title on his resume. Red was unbeatable in Indiana high school wrestling, then went on to an All-America career at Nebraska.
In other words, Fongaro has excellent practice partners.
"He gets a little more individual attention than most guys would because of his schedule," Escobedo says, "and he's really capitalized on that."
Fongaro's record includes two pins and two major decisions at 141 pounds. He's ranked No. 26 in his weight class, with plenty of opportunities to move up with upcoming matches against No. 1 Penn State, No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Ohio State and No. 15 Rutgers.
He could face second-ranked Beau Bartlett of Penn State or third-ranked Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, among other talented Big Ten foes.
Fongaro took first at The Battle at the Citadel and second at the PRTC Keystone Classic. His 15-2 win against Princeton in the meet's final match delivered an 18-15 team victory and helped the No. 24 Hoosiers to a 3-0 start. His only loss came by a 4-2 decision to then-No. 12 CJ Composto of Penn.
This is a big jump from his three seasons at Columbia, where he compiled a 52-41 career record.
Dropping from 149 pounds to 141 has helped. So has his maturity.
"This year feels different," he says. "A big part of it is this being my last year competing in a sport I've done since I was 5. It gives you a perspective shift and a new approach to competition."
As far as his fast start, Fongaro says, "I'm excited to keep that momentum going into the Big Ten schedule."
Fongaro says he's improved his takedown defense, and in his ability to ride opponents.
"When guys get in my leg, I look at it as an advantage. It tires them out. I'm not worried about them scoring.
"On top, I'm riding guys out. Part of that could be technical. Part of it I went down a weight, so I'm a bigger guy at the weight."
How did Fongaro come to IU?
After graduating from Columbia, he wanted to go to law school and still wrestle. Indiana, with its Maurer School of Law and up-and-coming wrestling program, seemed a great fit.
"When you narrow the list of schools that had a wrestling program that I wanted to be a part of and they wanted me, and that had a good law school, it was a pretty small list," he says.
"I took a visit to Indiana and loved the coaching staff and the city. It immediately felt like home."
It helped that Fongaro's coach at Columbia, Zach Tanelli, has known Escobedo for years, and made a call.
"He said he had a guy who got admitted to law school at Indiana," Escobedo says. "He loved him in the room. He said Dan was a hard worker. He listened well. He would go above and beyond for the program.
"(Tanelli) and I talk a lot. He knows what I'm looking for -- a hard worker who is bought in for the team and our culture. He fit every attribute we needed, every characteristic.
"When we brought him on campus and being around him, I thought, Yeah, we need to have this guy."
Fongaro has never qualified for the NCAA Tournament. That's a goal, but not the only one.
"I want to keep getting better every match," he says. "Be consistent. Consistency will be a big thing. If I do that and perform how I'm capable and how I have been, I'll be at the NCAA Tournament and I'm going to make a run there."
After that, Fongaro will finish his final two law-school years. He says he hopes to be around the wrestling team in some capacity.
What kind of lawyer does Fongaro want to be? He's still working that out -- intellectual property, trademarks and copyright law are possibilities -- but one thing is certain:
No taxes.
"I do know I don't want to do tax law," he says with a laugh. "Math is not me. I don't do numbers."
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