June 4, 2007

Massillon grappler all smiles in signing with Notre Dame

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame Wrestling program announced today the signing of a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Letter of Intent with Mark Smilek of Massillon, Ohio.

Smilek, a four-year wrestler at Massillon Jackson High School, was a two-time District Qualifier wrestling at 152 pounds. The son of Matt Smilek and Robin Boyd also placed second at Sectionals, and earned his team’s Most Improved award. In his senior year, the Jackson Polar Bears sported an 11-3 season record.

“We’re extremely pleased to sign such an outstanding person to our team,” said the Head Coach of the NDC Wrestling program, Frank Romano.

Smilek earned Honor Roll status in the classroom with a 3.3 grade-point average and an all-around athlete after class. The 5-foot-9 Smilek earned a total of 10 letters in wrestling, football, lacrosse, and track.

“I chose Notre Dame because I like the area and I think it’s a good school,” said Smilek, who plans on majoring in the College’s Nursing program.

Notre Dame Falcon Wrestling got off the mats in November, 2006; the fledgling program was impressive early-on under Romano, who guided the team to a 10-6 record in their inaugural season. Five NDC grapplers advanced to the NAIA National Tournament, with heavyweight Nick Terifaj (Fr/Strongsville, OH) earning All-American status. The second season of Falcon Wrestling gets underway in November.

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Notre Dame College is a co-educational liberal arts institution in South Euclid, Ohio. The Notre Dame Athletics Department sponsors the Falcons' participation in 17 men's and women's sports. The College is affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the American Mideast Conference (AMC), which is the largest NAIA conference in the country.