Council Rock South’s Kyle Waterman and Joel Martsinovsky were recognized for committing to continue their wrestling careers at the collegiate level. (Photos provided)
Joel Martsinovsky – Stevens Institute of Technology (Wrestling)
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Final list of colleges: Stevens Institute of Technology, Lehigh, Penn State, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Reasons for choosing Stevens: “I wanted to wrestle D3 in college because I felt wrestling D1 would have been too much like a job. I thought 
D3 would be perfect for me, and I wanted to continue wrestling in college because I love the sport. Stevens is also very good academic-wise, and they’re good at wrestling at D3, so I could have both the academics and the wrestling.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in wrestling at the collegiate level? “Going to South was the best for me because if I went to another school that might not have been as good in wrestling – I don’t know if I would have progressed as much as I have. I started wrestling seriously in middle school in eighth grade, and I remember being in ninth grade and I saw the gap between some of the varsity people and myself, but because of coach Sil (Brad Silimperi) and the training regiment and my determination to close that gap, I was able to slowly get closer to my goal. I was able to get a lot better, and I fell in love with the sport even more. If I went to another school, even though I would have been able to wrestle a lot more on varsity, I don’t think I would have been able to succeed as much as I have.”
Coach Brad Silimperi says: “Joel is an amazing story of grit, determination and sticking to a game plan. Joel was in the unfortunate spot of being behind some of our best guys to come through our program over the past 4-5 years. He was a role player – he was jayvee, but he would also get some varsity experience, but he never really wrestled an entire year of varsity. During his junior year, he was still kind of a major role player, and he said ‘Next year is my year.’ So we would tease him and say, ‘Whose year is next year?’ He would say, ‘My year.’ We knew how good he was, and we were just so excited for a student-athlete to stick with it. In this day and age, if a kid is not a starter by the time they’re a sophomore, they bail, they quit. Joe is so intelligent. He understood what was going on, and he just stuck with the game plan. A kid like that makes me as a coach just so super proud. Now he’s reaping the rewards because of it.”
About Joel:
Favorite food: Chicken Lo Mein
Favorite movie: Deadpool
Favorite music: Hard Rock
Kyle Waterman – Drexel University (Wrestling)
Major: Finance
Final list of colleges: Drexel, Appalachian State, Binghamton University
Reasons for choosing Drexel: “I was all set to go to Appalachian State, but after states, Drexel’s assistant coach, Josh Dziewa, who actually went to Council Rock South, was talking to my dad and said, ‘Do you mind if I talk to Kyle after states?’ He texted me and called me, and he told
me to come up, so me and my dad went up. I knew the coaches before and I liked them. I started talking to them more. Drexel gave me a lot better offer, it’s closer and more convenient - it was a lot of things.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in wrestling at the collegiate level? “After my sophomore season, I really started to think about wrestling in college. Coach Sil and Trap helped me a lot throughout the recruiting process. They really made finding a college easy.”
Coach Brad Silimperi says: Kyle has been pretty much one of the stalwarts, the backbone of our program for the past four years. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work with some outstanding student-athletes, but if I had to pick on that’s the total package and that I’d want my son or my grandson to look up to, it’s Kyle Waterman. He’s the epitome of class, integrity, hard work. He loves the sport. He doesn’t put too much pressure on himself. He loves the training, but I think keeping things in perspective. Sometimes we as coaches and as student-athletes all we see is wrestling, and we get trapped in that tunnel vision. It’s very easy to do, but Kyle was always very, very levelheaded and has a great perspective about it, and I think that starts with mom and dad. He’s an amazing kid. I’m really excited for his future in wrestling and beyond.”
About Kyle:
Favorite food: Chicken Parm Sandwich
Favorite movie: Endgame
Favorite music: Country
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