About 15 years ago, Marc Copani rocked the wrestler stance. Now it's the principal stance.

It's his latest achievement since switching to the field of education in 2009.

"I'm excited. I mean I've been in the district for four years. I've made a lot of connections with faculty, with staff, with families in the community, students," said Copani, the principal at Fulton Junior High School.

While most of his students weren't alive when he was a part of the WWE, occasionally people recognize him. 

"I think they get a kick out of it at first and then it doesn't take very long really within a week, two weeks, I'm no longer the guy that used to wrestle," said Copani.

Copani comes from a line of educators, so when it came time to change careers — it was a no brainer.

"I wanted to teach history. Then, it was through history that I realized that I wanted to make a much bigger impact and widen my scope," said Copani.

He was the assistant principal at Fulton's high school before his placement as principal at the junior high.

Through all the changes, that wrestling background has come in handy.

"While I'm not body slamming kids, a lot of the skills that I built and not to mention pressure and having the large responsibility — it's a big transition, but there's a lot of parallels. I've worked closely with diverse people towards a common goal in building relationships with people, working with people in different aspects of the chain of command," said Copani. 

"Through all walks of life, kids are going to struggle and have setbacks. They need to hear that it's not always smooth sailing and that you do have to persevere. If you want to do something, what I say to kids all the time is why not you."