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By Todd Irwin
tirwin@altoonamirror.com
It was only in late August when Purdue wrestling head coach Tony Ersland hired Tyrone graduate A.J. Schopp as an assistant coach.
Schopp had been an assistant for two years at South Dakota State after being a three-time All-American at Edinboro University.
Purdue hasn't been known for its wrestling prowess in the Big Ten Conference, but the program is in the toughest conference in the nation, and Schopp wanted to make his mark on the Boilermakers' program.
Asked what he expected when he took the job, Schopp said, "Pretty much what I'm used to, putting your head down and getting to work. If you want to be a part of a program that's done something already, that's fine.
"I personally like to put my two cents into something and see it grow. To be the underdog trying to beat up on the big dogs is fine. It's definitely more rewarding when you are able to achieve more as the underdog."
The Boilermakers are 5-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten after weekend losses to Penn State and Illinois. Schopp, though, says he's starting to see some of his coaching pay off.
"It's good," Schopp said. "I've only been here for three or four months, and to have an impact on the guys that quick is hard, but I definitely see a lot of improvement. I'm stepping right into a good position. We definitely have a good team already, and with what we've got, we'll definitely make some noise. Be on the lookout for the Boilermakers."
Schopp and the Boilermakers wrestled Penn State at Rec Hall Friday night, and the Nittany Lions earned a 43-6 victory. The only Purdue win was a forfeit at 125, as the Lions racked up four falls and a technical fall.
"Now that it's over, you always want to come out with a win, so I'm obviously disappointed with that," Schopp said. "We're going to go back and work on things right away. Our guys are definitely excited with what they've been doing so far. I think we could have put out a little more fight than we did, so we're definitely not happy with the performance."
Schopp talked to many family and friends during the visit to Rec Hall. The Purdue coaches were located on the corner of the mat, where those friends could chat with him and take pictures. After getting interviewed by the Mirror, he signed autographs for kids.
"It was exciting to be around family and friends, but other than that, it was just another dual," Schopp said. "Just to come back to the area and have my family and friends who have been around my whole career watch my team compete was definitely exciting in that aspect of it."
Schopp was a 2010 Class 2A state champion, three-time state finalist and four-time state placewinner for Tyrone. Schopp, a two-time Mirror Wrestler of the Year, went 160-11 with 94 pins in his high school career.
A three-time Eastern Wrestling League champion at Edinboro, Schopp placed fourth in the NCAAs in 2013 and 2014, and after getting upset in the first round of the 2015 NCAAs, he rolled back through the consolations to finish third.
He went 133-17, an .887 winning percentage, and set the career pin record at Edinboro with 67.
"I know what I could have done. I know I put it all out there," Schopp said. "The way that I did go out was kind of exciting. To lose that first match and come back and win seven straight, get four pins along the way, is fun."
Not long after he left Edinboro, Schopp was hired as an assistant at South Dakota State, a small Division I program in wrestling. He coached there in 2015-16 and 2016-17, and last year, he helped 133-pounder Seth Gross to an NCAA Tournament runner-up finish and 149-pounder Alex Kocher to a seventh-place finish.
"I was elated to see him get the job at SDSU," former Tyrone coach Blair Packer said. "I knew he would be in his element if he went into coaching. Purdue is definitely a step up. Being in the Big Ten will be a challenge I'm sure he looked forward to.
"I was hoping he would go into coaching. He was always ready and willing to demonstrate technique and work with other wrestlers. He always had a great rapport with other wrestlers. He is a natural."
"Being around the coaches that were there, I definitely learned a lot," Schopp said. "I had never done coaching before, so to be able to learn the other side of the sport ... There's the wrestler's side and then there's the coach's side. It's a whole different spectrum. With the stubbornness that I have and the willingness and love that I have to compete, it will take us far. Our whole team has got that drive in them."
What made Schopp so dangerous and effective on the wrestling mat was his top wrestling and unorthodox style. He would into some crazy positions from the top, and then he would use that style to rack up pins. Schopp is trying to get some of them to develop some of that style.
"There are a lot of guys that are trying the stuff out," Schopp said. "It's definitely unorthodox, but it's not the only thing I can teach them. I have a whole, broad spectrum of things that I can teach the guys. My unorthodox style of wrestling definitely is something different, and it is hard to wrestle. It's fun, and it's rewarding when I see guys start to do the things that I've done in college."
"A.J. has a tremendous skill set on top that will benefit our program," Ersland said in a press release after Schopp was hired. "He embodies toughness and an attitude in his wrestling that I want our wrestlers to be around.
"Coming from Edinboro and South Dakota State, A.J. understands what we are doing here. He has been through the building process as a wrestler and as coach with the goal of moving a program forward and creating success."
While he's working on his coaching career, he's not done trying to extend his wrestling career. In March, a week after the NCAA Tournament, he'll be trying to make the world freestyle team.
"I want to get a world gold medal," Schopp said.
Schopp and his wife, Katie, have a nine-month-old son named, appropriately enough, Ryder.
"It's fun," Schopp said of having a child. "If you have a hard day at work, or anything during the day that gets you upset, you see that little smile on his face and it's definitely rewarding.
"If he wants to get into (wrestling), he can get into it. He'll be around it, for sure."
"I think it's good for me competitively."
Looking down the road, Schopp wants to be a head coach on a program where he can make an even bigger impact.
"I would assume a lot of people's goals are the same thing, to eventually become a head coach, to be the head of my own program," Schopp said. "I've got to be around guys that I'm around now, guys that have been around before as a competitor in college. I'll mold myself into my own head coach. It will be exciting one day."