Tony Cipollone '93 was an outstanding student, athlete and leader at Baldwin Wallace University in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  From the time he arrived on campus in the fall of 1988 until he graduated in 1993, the political science major had a yearning to make a difference in athletics. The only difference now is that the 2004 BW Alumni Athletic Association Hall of Famer is doing it as an athletic director and not as either a competitor or coach.

Cipollone had an impact on both the Yellow Jacket football and wrestling teams. In football, the burly fullback helped BW compile a 30-9-2 record, win a pair of Ohio Athletic Conference titles and advance to the NCAA Division III Playoffs in 1991. He ran for 724 career yards and scored 12 touchdowns. The 3-year letterman had a career-high 366 yards in 86 attempts with six TDs as a junior in 1990.

Cipollone was even more dominant in the sport of wrestling. The 4-year letterman had a 110-27-2 career mark, which still ranks second at BW.  That included two trips to the Division III National Championship Tournament, 13 individual tournament titles and nine individual runner-up finishes.  He was a four-time BW John Summa Memorial Tournament champion and its Most Valuable Wresler once. He also served as team captain for three years.

But it wasn’t his prowess on the football field or the wrestling mats that impressed most observers at BW. It was his ability to be a team-leader. Not only was Cipollone a talented student-athlete, he also excelled in the classroom and was a Dean’s List student.

Following graduation, he began his coaching career at BW as an assistant wrestling and football coach from 1993 through 1995.

It didn’t take Muskingum College (now Muskingum University) Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Jeff Heacock long to come calling. In 1995, Cipollone was named as the Muskies Head Wrestling Coach and as its football Defensive Coordinator.  He would stay in New Concord for six years, and he had an impact on both the football and wrestling programs.  In 2000, he was named the OAC Wrestling Coach of the Year in wrestling and his team won the OAC title for only the second time in school history. He also had a key role in the Muskies’ football success as its defensive coordinator.

But more importantly, Cipollone was developing student-athletes. While at Muskingum, he increased the wrestling team from nine members to 30, coached four Academic All-Americans and one All-American and put the program in position to succeed.

In 2001, Cipollone moved up the ladder and was named as wrestling coach, academic advisor and advisor to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at NCAA Division II Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania.  It was a great move for both Cipollone and Mercyhurst.  As a coach, he was the 2004 NCAA Division II East Region Coach of the Year, coached five All-Americans and two Academic All-American and qualified 14 wrestlers to the Division II National Tournament.  He also displayed his leadership characteristics as he eventually served as the Secretary of the Division II Wrestling Coaches Association.

In addition to his coaching success in Erie, Cipollone continued to build his leadership credentials as a tireless worker for his student-athletes and all others at Mercyhurst. In his job as an academic advisor and advisor to the SAAC program, he served as a liaison between the faculty and athletics staff for the betterment of the students. He performed interventions with jeopardized student-athletes, advised up to 30 SAAC members, organized and coordinated numerous community service projects and coordinated and organized SAAC national conference trips.

It was at that point that both Cipollone and the administration at Mercyhurst realized his total value and promoted him to assistant director of athletics and then to interim athletics director.

In 2008, Cipollone moved back to the NCAA Division III level when he accepted a job at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. As the Associate Director of Athletics and Recreational Services, he was responsible for many of the same things as at Mercyhurst but added the responsibility of overseeing sports information and equipment. Again, Cipollone gained more knowledge.

That led Cipollone and his family to move from Meadville to Westlake in 2010, and the rest is history in the making.