‘I Realized This is the Spot for Me’
May 13, 2024 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
About 45 miles east of Wagner College, nestled on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens, is a neighborhood called Rockaway Beach, which stretches from Beach 3rd to Beach 153rd Streets on the Atlantic Ocean, and comes alive each summer. It's home to Justin Wolf, who is often confused with hailing from Brooklyn, where he attended Xaverian High School. Wolf was born in New Jersey. But Rockaway Beach, which is a secluded oasis that feels more like a charming New England port town, has been home for the past eight years.
"You wouldn't expect to see something like Rockaway Beach in New York, honestly," Wolf says. "I'm right on the beach. It doesn't feel like New York from that aspect."
Soon, Wolf will pack up most of his belongings and make the 1,338-mile journey from old home to new home down Interstate-70 West to Manhattan, Kansas, and the cliché Big-Apple-to-Little-Apple analogy fits great here, and Wolf doesn't care because his mind remains wrapped around a new love and a new experience and new people and a new land that is anything but big city but that is big on football.
For the next year, or possibly two, Wolf, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound tight end, will call Kansas State and Manhattan, Kansas, home, and excitement rises in his voice as he eyes his college graduation from Wagner College and then his escape — no, not so much of an escape, as a trek to a new life to play K-State football. He plans to arrive in Manhattan on May 24. Already he is on Zoom calls with K-State tight ends coach Brian Lepak walking through "install" — learning the offensive playbook and the schematics of the offense — and he follows a team-issued diet and workout plan.
"Just trying to get my schooling done here, which is a little annoying because I want to be at Kansas State already," he says. "Wagner is pretty close — I never went far from home — and I'm extremely pumped about this. This is definitely one of the biggest and best moments of my life."
The first point of contact came from Lepak soon after Wolf entered the transfer portal. Wolf received interest from a variety of Power 5 football programs, including Alabama, K-State, Syracuse, Texas A&M, UCLA and West Virginia, among others. It had been Wolf's childhood dream to play for a big-time school.
But this?
"I never expected that to be my top six coming out of Wagner," he says. "But at the end of the day, I know my work ethic, my attitude, and I know what I do every day. I was definitely very honored to get all these opportunities to play at this level."
He first visited Syracuse, which is just 275 miles north of Rockaway Beach. Then he visited K-State on March 18-20. And then he visited Alabama. But he quickly circled back to K-State. He knew that he wanted to be a Wildcat all along.
"K-State was a huge difference from Syracuse," he says. "The number one thing that I recognized at K-State that they had over Alabama was a coaches' connection. I felt there was a need rather than a want. They came out to me and gave me a connection that I'd never had. Coach Chris Klieman, I talked with him for about 20 minutes one-on-one, and it felt like coach-to-coach but also human-to-human."
Here's what stood out during the talk with Klieman: FCS football.
"Coach Klieman coached at the FCS level, and I came from an FCS program at Wagner," Wolf says. "Coach Klieman said, 'I don't care where you come from, I don't care who you played for, if you're going to be here and you're the best guy at your position you're going to play.'"
Wolf began playing football at a young age. He began at running back, then moved to wide receiver. He played varsity football as a freshman at Xaverian and coaches moved him to tight end and wide receiver. He had 36 catches for 377 yards and two touchdowns as a junior and senior at Xaverian. At Wagner, he was asked to predominately be a blocking tight end. He had seven catches for 55 yards and one touchdown in his career.
"Coach Lepak showed me how dominant a tight end can be," Wolf says. "He showed me film. He basically said that I'm the same height and weight as Ben Sinnott, and he thinks I could be a great addition to the tight end room and also at fullback. He can definitely develop me into something I've never been. Coming from Wagner, I had a new coach every year. At K-State, tight ends get love. Coach Klieman told me if you're going to play and get love at the tight end position that K-State is the place for you.
"Ben Sinnott is a guy who walked-on at Kansas State and got drafted in the second round. He played his butt off and competed his butt off for four years, and now he's in the NFL. Tight ends are used in this program and tight ends become great, dominant Big 12 tight ends."
"I'm doing what I've always dreamed of," Wolf says. "It's truly an honor to be in this situation."
Wolf traces back to his visit to Manhattan.
"When I first got there, it was definitely a culture shock, I'd say, but it was definitely something I needed," he says. "I'd never really traveled around and seen new places, but when I was in Manhattan, I truly felt very comfortable and stressless. Everything was more at peace. Throughout the whole visit to Kansas State, I realized this is the spot for me to compete and get better as a player, teammate, student and person.
"K-State fans on social media is something you can't find anywhere else. That's something that was a part of my decision, I'd say. The made me feel like I was family. The whole community is united. I even noticed the trash cans are purple. It's like this whole place loves Kansas State football and it's a part of the community. Everyone around the community supports one another."
It's a different community far, far from Rockaway Beach and Queens and Brooklyn and the Q22 and Q35 local busses, and the NYC Ferry that some folks take to Manhattan, New York.
Shorty, the Little Apple will be home.
About 45 miles east of Wagner College, nestled on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens, is a neighborhood called Rockaway Beach, which stretches from Beach 3rd to Beach 153rd Streets on the Atlantic Ocean, and comes alive each summer. It's home to Justin Wolf, who is often confused with hailing from Brooklyn, where he attended Xaverian High School. Wolf was born in New Jersey. But Rockaway Beach, which is a secluded oasis that feels more like a charming New England port town, has been home for the past eight years.
"You wouldn't expect to see something like Rockaway Beach in New York, honestly," Wolf says. "I'm right on the beach. It doesn't feel like New York from that aspect."
Soon, Wolf will pack up most of his belongings and make the 1,338-mile journey from old home to new home down Interstate-70 West to Manhattan, Kansas, and the cliché Big-Apple-to-Little-Apple analogy fits great here, and Wolf doesn't care because his mind remains wrapped around a new love and a new experience and new people and a new land that is anything but big city but that is big on football.
For the next year, or possibly two, Wolf, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound tight end, will call Kansas State and Manhattan, Kansas, home, and excitement rises in his voice as he eyes his college graduation from Wagner College and then his escape — no, not so much of an escape, as a trek to a new life to play K-State football. He plans to arrive in Manhattan on May 24. Already he is on Zoom calls with K-State tight ends coach Brian Lepak walking through "install" — learning the offensive playbook and the schematics of the offense — and he follows a team-issued diet and workout plan.
"Just trying to get my schooling done here, which is a little annoying because I want to be at Kansas State already," he says. "Wagner is pretty close — I never went far from home — and I'm extremely pumped about this. This is definitely one of the biggest and best moments of my life."
The first point of contact came from Lepak soon after Wolf entered the transfer portal. Wolf received interest from a variety of Power 5 football programs, including Alabama, K-State, Syracuse, Texas A&M, UCLA and West Virginia, among others. It had been Wolf's childhood dream to play for a big-time school.
But this?
"I never expected that to be my top six coming out of Wagner," he says. "But at the end of the day, I know my work ethic, my attitude, and I know what I do every day. I was definitely very honored to get all these opportunities to play at this level."
He first visited Syracuse, which is just 275 miles north of Rockaway Beach. Then he visited K-State on March 18-20. And then he visited Alabama. But he quickly circled back to K-State. He knew that he wanted to be a Wildcat all along.
"K-State was a huge difference from Syracuse," he says. "The number one thing that I recognized at K-State that they had over Alabama was a coaches' connection. I felt there was a need rather than a want. They came out to me and gave me a connection that I'd never had. Coach Chris Klieman, I talked with him for about 20 minutes one-on-one, and it felt like coach-to-coach but also human-to-human."
Here's what stood out during the talk with Klieman: FCS football.
"Coach Klieman coached at the FCS level, and I came from an FCS program at Wagner," Wolf says. "Coach Klieman said, 'I don't care where you come from, I don't care who you played for, if you're going to be here and you're the best guy at your position you're going to play.'"
Wolf began playing football at a young age. He began at running back, then moved to wide receiver. He played varsity football as a freshman at Xaverian and coaches moved him to tight end and wide receiver. He had 36 catches for 377 yards and two touchdowns as a junior and senior at Xaverian. At Wagner, he was asked to predominately be a blocking tight end. He had seven catches for 55 yards and one touchdown in his career.
"Coach Lepak showed me how dominant a tight end can be," Wolf says. "He showed me film. He basically said that I'm the same height and weight as Ben Sinnott, and he thinks I could be a great addition to the tight end room and also at fullback. He can definitely develop me into something I've never been. Coming from Wagner, I had a new coach every year. At K-State, tight ends get love. Coach Klieman told me if you're going to play and get love at the tight end position that K-State is the place for you.
"Ben Sinnott is a guy who walked-on at Kansas State and got drafted in the second round. He played his butt off and competed his butt off for four years, and now he's in the NFL. Tight ends are used in this program and tight ends become great, dominant Big 12 tight ends."
It all begins with a young man and a dream.Big Apple ➡️ Little Apple #emaw pic.twitter.com/PkKi3pUq0t
— Justin Wolf (@justtinwolf) April 23, 2024
"I'm doing what I've always dreamed of," Wolf says. "It's truly an honor to be in this situation."
Wolf traces back to his visit to Manhattan.
"When I first got there, it was definitely a culture shock, I'd say, but it was definitely something I needed," he says. "I'd never really traveled around and seen new places, but when I was in Manhattan, I truly felt very comfortable and stressless. Everything was more at peace. Throughout the whole visit to Kansas State, I realized this is the spot for me to compete and get better as a player, teammate, student and person.
"K-State fans on social media is something you can't find anywhere else. That's something that was a part of my decision, I'd say. The made me feel like I was family. The whole community is united. I even noticed the trash cans are purple. It's like this whole place loves Kansas State football and it's a part of the community. Everyone around the community supports one another."
It's a different community far, far from Rockaway Beach and Queens and Brooklyn and the Q22 and Q35 local busses, and the NYC Ferry that some folks take to Manhattan, New York.
Shorty, the Little Apple will be home.
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