 "Photo: Matthew Sommo")
Never in Kevin Knight's five years at William Paterson University did he ever imagine that he would be where he is today.
Knight, who attended WPU from 1991-1996, was a communication major, and involved in the department as a volunteer. Knight is now associated with the IWF (Independent Wrestling Federation), based out of West Paterson. Knight runs the wrestling school and also wrestles for the company where he has held the IWF Championship title. Before getting involved in the wrestling business, Knight worked as its sports director from 1991-1993, then as operations manager from 19993 to 1994 for WPSC-FM, the university radio station. These jobs entailed doing sports and news updates, play-by-play for WPU football, baseball and basketball games, and also DJ work. Knight also worked for the university television station as the sports director from 1994-1995, and a news and sports anchor on "Newsline". He did play-by-play for WPU football, baseball, basketball, soccer and volleyball games for the station. Knight learned a lot from his time with the university stations. "I learned more during my hands on training at WPSC-FM and WPC-TV than I did in the classroom, as there is no better learning experience than on-the-job training," stated Knight. "It's tough to learn about radio and TV broadcasting on a blackboard…you need to be on the air!" Being on the air is what led to Knight being where he is today. "With running the Camp IWF Wrestling School in West Paterson, having the communication background comes in handy with having to also market and promote the school," added Knight. Knight didn't pick wrestling; it picked him. Knight interned at WGHT 1500 AM in Pompton Lakes doing news and sports updates, and eventually worked there full time in 1995 and 1996. When the local wrestling shows came to town, WGHT received tickets to give away and Knight went to the shows to hype up the crowd and give away freebies. "I made friends with some of the wrestlers and promoters who liked my personality and who saw I was tall (6'4") so they persuaded me to give it a try, so here I am 10 years later!" Knights career in wrestling has taken him beyond the IWF ring. He has been involved with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and lists his greatest moment in wrestling as competing on the "WWE Velocity" television show in Spike TV from Madison Square Garden against A-Train in June 2003. He also served as a druid for the Undertaker from MSG during "Wrestlemania XX" in March 2004. His favorite opponents include WWE Hall-of-Famer Tito Santana, and former WWE and WCW superstar the Patriot. Knight's future goals are to continue to make the IWF the best it can be. This includes Camp IWF. The school, which has been open for seven years, is where more than 250 wrestlers and managers have been trained by Knight to compete across the world. Besides the radio and TV stations, Knight gives credit for his success at WPU to two other big figures on campus. "President Arnold Speert and Baseball Coach Jeff Albies were very helpful to me when I was at WPU and involved with WPSC-FM and WPC-TV, they gave me unlimited access, interviews, and I learned a lot from them." Knight still keeps close ties to WPU. His camp is only five minutes from campus and he brings his students who are in training to the track to do running exercises.
As far as advice to the students at WPU, he says to "learn as much as you can in the classroom, and take advantage of all the extracurricular activities, no matter what your major is. Get involved in the radio and TV stations, the newspaper, athletics, student clubs and organizations. Get involved." The next big IWF events are Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26 at the IWF Center in West Paterson. For more information, you can check out www.campIWF.com.
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