Brian Bonino’s transfer to Drexel might be the best thing to happen to his wrestling career
It was a decision that afforded him his first — and only — appearance at the NCAA championships in which he pulled off quite the upset.
Brian Bonino finished his last season of wrestling at Columbia University in 2022 — or so he thought.
When he decided to enroll in Drexel’s MBA program, it not only offered a chance to continue his education as a graduate student, but thanks to an extra year provided due to the COVID-19 pandemic pause, it offered one more year on the mats.
That decision afforded him his first — and only — appearance at the NCAA championships where the No. 25 seed Bonino (24-10), upset the No. 8 seeded Matt Finesilver (27-8) from Michigan in the 185-pound division.
“At the NCAA’s I just had everyone in my corner believing in me, and that starts to rub off. I was just so happy to be there, explained Bonino. “You see all these wrestlers that people look up to, so to be on the same playing field as them was incredible.”
As for winning a match in the tournament?
“That opening match, I won it with three seconds left, and I had to get up just to make sure I actually won.”
His secret to success? Being calm, enjoying the moment, and listening to some Fergie.
“I always try to stay relaxed, and there were all these players really locked in,” said Bonino. “I don’t even play my music on headphones, I was warming up playing ‘Glamorous’ by Fergie out loud. I think people thought I was weird, but I was just having a great time.”
Bonino eventually lost in the next round, one round before being named an All-America.
Bonino, originally from Paramus New Jersey, decided to transfer to Drexel following his undergraduate eligibility at Columbia ended. The decision, however, was swayed by some of his wrestling friends from his childhood.
“Some of the Drexel guys who I knew growing up convinced me to join the team. There was a need for a 184 at Drexel, and even though I was done with wrestling, I thought I should just give it a shot,” said Bonino.
Bonino said his transfer to Drexel went smoothly because of his strong relationship with both his teammates and his coaches.
“I hit it off with the coaches and the other guys on the team, and everything just clicked,” said Bonino, who even joked about wrestling against Drexel assistant CJ LaFragola, during his time at Columbia. “It was as if the stars aligned. “We actually wrestled my sophomore year at college. I lost to him, so it was really cool to start training with him at Drexel.”
Bonino was able to easily adapt to Drexel’s training and coaching programs and had no issues merging into the team. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team to transfer into. Within a year these guys are already like my brothers.”
At the EIWA Championships from Mar. 4-5, Bonino finished fourth, giving him automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.
“When I won my match, it was the best feeling ever. I was so happy, it’s something that you always think about wanting to happen to you, to make it to the NCAA’s. To finally have it happen, it really made it feel like all of this was worth it.”