THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997 TAG: 9701100690
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 117 lines
It's 10 a.m. on Wednesday, less than 48 hours before the Virginia Duals are scheduled to begin, and Frank Lipoli is working the phones like a telemarketer on speed.
He punches call waiting, and with an enthusiasm usually reserved for a call from the President, breathlessly intones, ``I'm talking to USA Wrestling.
``We're talking eight mats for next year. Let me call you back. I'll tell you all about it.''
Uh-oh.
When Lipoli says ``Let me tell you all about it,'' what he really means is, ``Clear your appointment calendar for a week.''
His attitude toward wrestling is simple and forthright: Why settle for little bites when you can swallow the sport whole, like a pit bull would a pork chop?
Lipoli, media director and high school adviser for the Virginia Duals, can wax - sometimes eloquent, sometimes not - for hours about wrestling.
``I sort of look at myself as the area spokesperson - self-appointed,'' he says.
It's the same way with his other passions, the Haunted Forest to benefit Viet Nam Veterans and Norfolk FestEvents.
As production director of the Haunted Forest he's overseen 42 consecutive sellouts over the past seven years and raised more than $100,000.
His work with FestEvents stems from his livelihood as a caterer and vendor. Lipoli, 44, has served on numerous committees for area festivals, from Harborfest to the Neptune Festival.
But his oldest, boldest identity is with wrestling.
Lipoli was a 1970 state independent schools champion at Norfolk Catholic and wrestled on scholarship at Temple University. He spent one season as an assistant coach at Temple before returning to Hampton Roads as the head coach at Bethel High.
His 1977 Bruins won the state championship. Four years later he was laid off.
Lipoli was disappointed, but not devastated. There would be other jobs.
What he really needed was an outlet for his wrestling passion. And standing there like a dowdy Cinderella, angling for a date, was the fledgling Virginia Duals.
This year's Duals, today and Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum, are the 17th, and Lipoli's role has grown with each event.
Already hyperactive - he stands while watching TV - Lipoli goes into overdrive in the weeks leading up to the Duals.
``The phone never stops ringing, but I don't answer it,'' says his wife, Debbie. ``Frank gets so excited I have to tell him to calm down.''
Does it work?
``No. It helps me, though,'' she says.
The Duals are the centerpiece of Lipoli's winter, but his presence hardly diminishes when they're over.
He's worked as a wrestling analyst for five seasons with cable Channel 23 in Chesapeake and is also a regular on Tidewater Amateur Sports.
Lipoli's TV persona borrows from Chris Berman, Dick Vitale and Yogi Berra.
``Every time Frank works with us it's an adventure keeping up with him,'' says Channel 23 producer Randy Williford. ``He's jumped on the mat to discuss a controversial call with a referee and been chased away from the scorer's table more than once.
``A few years ago at the state tournament he got so excited when Great Bridge was receiving the championship trophy that he put his arm around Jamie Kelly and said he was with Mark Strickland.
``Jamie got mad and Frank said he couldn't recognize them without their head gear on.
``Another year he had Jody Staylor on when Jody was at the University of North Carolina. He looked at Jody and said. `We've watched your career unravel before our very eyes.' ''
Unfold is what he meant.
Lipoli takes special delight in awarding nicknames to wrestlers. Jason Edmondson was ``The Dumpster''; Strickland was ``The Terminator''; Chris Viola was ``Pit Bull.''
``That's forever,'' he says of Viola, a sophomore at the University of Michigan. ``He's the Pit Bull and when he has kids they're the pups.''
Lipoli's strength as a broadcaster is his unbridled enthusiasm. If he has a bias it's toward wrestling itself and not a particular school or wrestler.
``It's just a game,'' he says of wrestling. ``But what a game.''
Where Lipoli opens himself to criticism is in broadcasting Great Bridge matches. His stepson, Derek, is the starting 160-pounder for the Wildcats.
``It's a conflict of interest,'' says Dennis Preston, whose son, Andy, wrestles for Western Branch.
Adds Ann Preston, Andy's mother: ``During the Western Branch-Cox match Lipoli interviewed his son. I talked to an administrator from Great Bridge and they agreed it was wrong.''
Lipoli, who refers to himself as ``everybody's buddy,'' says he's given the issue lots of thought and is satisfied he's done nothing wrong.
``I'm fair,'' he says. ``I've been criticized. But those that criticize me don't understand me.''
Who does?
When Lipoli was badly burned two years ago in a propane explosion, emergency room doctors looked at his mangled ears and thought they had been damaged in the blast.
It was only when another doctor, a former wrestler, recognized the condition as ``cauliflower ear,'' a condition endemic to wrestling and endearing to wrestlers, that Lipoli convinced them not to do plastic surgery.
The explosion occurred in Lipoli's vending tent 20 minutes before Harborfest was scheduled to begin. He suffered second-degree burns over 40 percent of his body and spent 15 days in the hospital.
There was no criticism of Lipoli then. Only an outpouring of concern.
``When I got blown up,'' as only Lipoli could put it, ``the Vets really helped me out.'' So did his fellow vendors, area service clubs and what Lipoli likes to call the ``wrestling fraternity.''
``The response was just tremendous,'' he says. ``I heard from so many people who said, `You helped my son.' It rejuvenated my enthusiasm for kids.''
Lipoli hopes that enthusiasm, not just for kids but for anyone who needs help, is his ticket to an even higher calling.
``When my time comes St. Peter better give me a second look,'' he says.
A little advice for the heavenly gatekeeper: Look all you want, but don't listen. Otherwise no one will get in for a week. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
STAFF/File photo
Frank Lipoli, seriously burned two years ago, is back at full speed
boosting Viet Nam vets, FestEvents and local wrestling.