Ed Pawlak

Ed Pawlak has spent most of his life living in sleepy, little towns. He grew up in Lakewood, NY, a town of 3,258 people outside of Jamestown.

At Southwestern High School, Pawlak was a star wrestler, winning a New York State Championship and a gold medal at the Empire State Games.

He was recruited heavily by colleges on the East Coast and chose a college in another sleepy town, Lock Haven, in the heart of rural Pennsylvania.

Situated in a small lumber town off Interstate 80, Lock Haven University, a school of four and a half thousand people, sponsors 16 sports, but only wrestling is Division I.

During his first two and a half years of college, Pawlak excelled on the mat at the small university, earning two bids to the NCAA Championships.

In the fall of 2002 though, the dream life Pawlak had been living in those sleepy towns turned into a nightmare.

Pawlak broke a school code at Lock Haven, and all of a sudden, the school pulled not only his wrestling scholarship, but told him to transfer.

"Everything bad was happening to me at that time," Pawlak said. "Knowing that I had to change schools, I guess I was just really looking at what opportunities were out there."

At Lock Haven, wrestling coach Rocky Bonomo made a phone call. Three years earlier, Pawlak had chosen Lock Haven over the University at Buffalo. Now, Bonomo was calling Buffalo head coach Jim Beichner to ask him to give the talented 20-year-old a second chance.

"I knew that Eddie had gotten himself into a little bit of trouble," Beichner said. "The first thing (Bonomo) said after a bit of small talk was that Eddie Pawlak was going to need some assistance and he was looking for someone to help him. (Bonomo) thought of me and this program.

"At first, I thought he was joking, but it wasn't very long before I realized he wasn't. (Bonomo) very much cared for Eddie and wanted him to be in a place where he'd mature and get a fresh start."

Pawlak called Beichner and the two set up a campus visit. Beichner talked to Pawlak, then took him around to all of the athletic administrators for meetings to see if Pawlak would be a good or bad risk for Buffalo. Nan Harvey, the former assistant athletic director in charge of wrestling, decided that Pawlak was worth the second chance.

Pawlak arrived in Buffalo in January of 2003, living in a town of more than 10,000 for the first time in his life, and he worked out with the wrestling team for the spring semester. He did not see a minute of time at a meet.

Coming into the fall semester, Pawlak's collegiate wrestling career had been somewhat of an enigma. He'd appeared in two NCAA Championships, but had won only 34 matches in his career.

Part of that enigma, though, was caused by who he was wrestling in the Eastern Wrestling League, namely Edinboro's Josh Koscheck, a national champion in 2001. Pawlak finished third in the EWL during his freshman year and second the next, wrestling in the shadow of the current UB assistant coach.

Ed Pawlak

Wrestling Koscheck every day from the time he stepped foot on UB's campus, Pawlak was driven (whether he wanted to be or not) to make the best out of his final year of eligibility.

"The fresh start meant everything," Pawlak said, "but you've got to have the support to do it, too. I had that support from my parents and Coach Beichner, Josh (Koscheck) and Brandon (Newill). They all gave me helping hands."

Stepping on the mat at a meet for the first time in a year and a half on Nov. 15, 2003 at the Oklahoma Gold Classic in Brockport, NY, Pawlak finished third.

It was the beginning of the best year of his career. While compiling a 3.10 GPA to earn his interdisciplinary science degree with a concentration in community mental health, Pawlak completed a 600-hour internship with People, Inc. working with developmentally disabled people. He also juggled his wrestling responsibilities well, winning the Beast of the East Collegiate Classic, UB Open and New York State Collegiate Championships. As the season moved into March, he had 30 wins and a remarkable 13-4 dual-meet mark.

He won the MAC Championship, defeating Mitch Hancock of Central Michigan, 3-1, to guarantee Pawlak another shot at All-American status at the NCAA Championships. Going into the NCAAs, Pawlak had more wins than anyone else in the country at 174 pounds.

After losing in the opening round to second-seeded Tyler Nixt of Iowa, Pawlak posted three consecutive wins to move to the All-American round where he faced Brad Dillon of Lehigh, who had beaten Pawlak 6-2 at the Buckeye Duals. This time, Pawlak fought Dillon to an 8-8 tie through regulation before Dillon earned a two-point takedown in overtime.

"I was on a mission to be an All-American," Pawlak said. "I took it one match at a time. I beat a lot of ranked wrestlers that people wouldn't expect me to beat (at nationals)."

Even with the loss, during his one year at Buffalo, Pawlak woke up from a nightmare that almost took wrestling and education from him forever.

"Eddie's story is rewarding, personally, because he came here with a cloud over his head," Beichner said. "We hoped that he'd be productive and good for the team and he was. He came in here, worked extremely hard and had a great attitude."

This year, Pawlak will serve as a volunteer assistant for Beichner, a decision Beichner said he made because of the caliber of person he knows Pawlak to be.

"When you build faith and trust in somebody, that's a reward in itself," Beichner said.

Given a second chance in the Queen City, Pawlak earned that trust.

- Written by Joe Guistina, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant