By NICK KOSKO
Staff Writer
There is something about the difficulty of wrestling that is so fascinating. The blood, sweat, tears, rejoice, pain, redemption — and so on — are just a few things that going into a young man becoming a great wrestler.
However, all of that work could never prepare someone for the most devastating news on the planet: that a loved one has cancer.
Dan Tramontozzi’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a few years after being diagnosed, and no amount of wrestling practice, wins or years in the sport could have prepared him for that. So what did Tramontozzi do about it? He formed a non-profit organization to use something he loves to help defeat a disease that has affected so many.
Pin Cancer has given many wrestlers and wrestling organizations the opportunity to succeed in the sport while giving back to many in order to fight cancer. Tramontozzi formed the organization in 2011, and funds are raised through events, apparel sales, sponsors and ‘Wrestle For A Cure’, which is the main fundraising branch. So far, Pin Cancer has raised nearly half of its goal of $100,000. Wrestlers can earn gear by reaching certain levels of donations, and much of the money raised is donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Tramontozzi, the founder and CEO of Pin Cancer and a former wrestler at Kittatinny High School and Bloomsburg (Pa.) University, travels all over the country to reach as many teams as possible because he knows the dedication wrestlers and coaches have to the sport.
“Wrestling is unlike any sport in the world and we know how tight-knit all of those communities are, so we are always confident about getting big responses from many teams around the country,” Tramontozzi said. “When we get a full team on board, we can do a lot with raising money.”
One of those teams, Egg Harbor Township, has pledged to be a part of the cause and use its success on the mat toward reaching a goal of pledging $2,500 for the season.
The Eagles are the first team in South Jersey to start raising money for Pin Cancer, and they plan on reaching out to other teams in the future to spread the word about the organization.
Head coach Mike Caiazza said he felt the opportunity to become a part of the organization and support Pin Cancer throughout the season was a no-brainer.
“This is a national thing and it is something for our kids to become aware of and do their part to help others in need.” Caiazza said. “We hope to promote this to other schools and spread the word because any amount helps this cause and I’m glad our guys are working hard to raise money for each of their goals.”
Sophomore Nick Leone, fresh off a first-place finish in the 195-pound bracket at the Arthur O. Marinelli Christmas Tournament, earned a few pins along the way to aid the donations.
“It’s basically saying for every pin or win I get, I donate or someone else donates (someone that has pledged to be a sponsor or donor) ‘X’ amount of dollars, so it kind of puts a little more emphasis on getting pins in addition to helping out just the team,” Leone said. “It feels pretty good knowing that if I win, it actually helps something pretty big outside of the team.”
While Egg Harbor Township continues to be active in raising funds in South Jersey, Tramontozzi has always planned to go nationwide and has been successful in doing so. Reaching out to big programs has been no easy task, but it certainly helps when a team such as Penn State agrees to start a page online and begin raising money for Pin Cancer.
“When I started this, I borrowed $2,000 in order to buy shirts and bands just to raise awareness and reach out to local teams in North Jersey and just go to the small local tournaments to try and raise some money,” Tramontozzi said. “I was able to pay that back in two weeks and since then we have evolved and have made a strong online presence.”
Tramontozzi said he is amazed at something that started as a small non-profit organization has become a nationwide presence, with Frank Molinaro — a former Southern Regional High School, NCAA Champion, and Olympic wrestler — becoming an ambassador.
“New Jersey and Pennsylvania have been great states to start because of the large wrestling communities in these areas,” Tramontozzi said. “Since my mother passed about two years ago, we have continued to strive for big things with Pin Cancer, and every time a donation is made, someone else’s day is made because all we want to do is help and give back.”
While Pin Cancer has reached out all over the country and has even sold official merchandise to all 50 states, Tramontozzi said he is glad Egg Harbor Township is beginning to spread the message throughout South Jersey. He added that being able to spread the message to so many teams shows the immense growth potential of Pin Cancer.
“I always say I will take any call from any team or organization that wants to help out, and that was just what happened with EHT,” Tramontozzi said. “Because we do so much online now, teams have easy access to spread their pledges and utilize things like social media in order to spread that message.”
Coach Caiazza said the same, knowing his team is full of dedicated kids with the ability to spread the awareness for Pin Cancer throughout Egg Harbor Township and eventually to other towns around South Jersey.
“I think everyone knows they can do their part to try to cure cancer, and bringing cancer awareness to people is big,” Caiazza said. “Our sport has a lot of good, committed people in it, and I think that is a big part in getting this organization nationwide and getting the best results.”
Follow Nick Kosko on Twitter @nickkosko59