Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 3 | January 2020

SH OT father’s or brother’s or some other family relative’s footsteps. He excelled in baseball as a kid, but became infatuated with wrestling when he watched a local county tournament held at West Milford High School. He started by wrestling his younger brother in the living room, and that only whetted his appetite. Much to his mom’s chagrin—she loves baseball—he traded the diamond for the mat, loving the in-your-face individuality of the sport. “That’s the great thing about wrestling,” McFadden said. “If one kid thinks they’re better than you, it’s like, ‘Let’s wrestle then.’ I just love that. I love the competition. “When I was younger and I transitioned over from the little diamond to the big diamond, I played center field, and you’re little and you’re playing on this big field, and you’re lucky if the ball gets out of the infield. I’m just sitting there picking flowers in the outfield. Wrestling was hands-on for me, and I just love getting in there and kind of brawling. It was awesome.” McFadden ultimately became a local legend in wrestling-crazed New Jersey. Wrestling for DePaul Catholic, a private school in his home county, he went 85-1 over his final two years of high school and won the state championship in his weight class both years. That success catapulted him into the national spotlight. College coaches from all over the country started showing him some love, but the coaching staffs at Rutgers and Virginia Tech showed him the most. At the time, Rutgers was planning the now-completed RWJ Barnabas Health Athletic Performance Center, which features a new mat room, locker room, and coaches offices for the wrestling program (and offices and amenities for other sports). That certainly appealed to McFadden. Plus, he had been to camps there—the Scarlet Already established as one of the greatest wrestlers in Virginia Tech history, David McFadden could become the program’s first four-time All-American, but he’s methodically working toward a bigger goal — becoming a national champion by Jimmy Robertson Continued on page 38 inside.hokiesports.com 37