SOURCE: armdrag.com

March 04, 2020

RESCHEDULED FROM APRIL 28, 2020.

The Section 5 Friends of Wrestling is proud to announce the Wrestling Hall of Fame 2020 inductees. They will be honored at our twelfth annual banquet at Red Fedele's Brook House on October 12, 2021 and their names will be added to the Hall of Fame Plaque located in the lobby of the Brook House. Since the Section 5 Wrestling Hall of Fame was started in 1994, 156 people have been inducted.

Here are some brief comments about the inductees for 2020:

Nick Clark (Canisteo-Greenwood) - Nick was the 189 lb. N.Y State Wrestling Tournament Champion in 2006 and runner up in 2005. He was a 3 time Section 5 Class Champion (2004-2005-2006). He had an overall career record of 156-15 and was undefeated (31-0) during his senior year. Nick was also an outstanding football player and had a very successful career at Alfred University where he twice earned All-America recognition. He later became a NY State Trooper. Nick was killed in July, 2017 while responding to a domestic incident.

Leo Fusilli (East High) - Leo was a 3 time Rochester Interscholastic League Champion (1962-63-64), a 2 time Section 5 runner-up and the 1964 Section 5 Champion. He served as an assistant coach at East High and as head coach at Bishop Kearney and Edison Tech where he coached multiple Class place winners and 2 Section 5 Champions, which included his son Mike. As a member of the Hall of Fame, Leo joins his older brother Lou and his son Mike. All 3 are also members of the City-Catholic League Hall of Fame.

John Grillo (Holley) - During John's career as head wrestling coach at Holley, he became the winningest coach in NY State with over 720 victories. He previously coached at Pavilion, and he coached for 44 years. He was named Genesee Region Coach of the Year 15 times and Section 5 Class Coach of the Year 6 times. He started the Holley Youth Wrestling and Gold Force Wrestling Clubs. He has coached numerous Section 5 Champions, NY State place winners and champions. He coached all 3 of his sons (Ashley John, Adam and Andrew), all of whom followed his example and have continued to contribute to wrestling after high school. John was honored by the Press Radio Club in 2017 for his contribution to local sports.

Mike Kohl (Fairport) - Mike had an outstanding wrestling career at Fairport High and SUNY Oswego. He qualified for the "Super Sectionals" 4 times from 1989-1992 and won the Class AA Sectionals and State Qualifier in 1992. He place 6th in the NY State Wrestling Tournament. At Oswego he was a NCAA Division III All American twice and twice an Academic All American. He finished his career at Oswego with 106 victories and is a member of the Oswego State Athletic Hall of Fame. As Fairport Head Wrestling Coach, Mike's teams won 3 Section 5 Class AA titles. He has received honors as Monroe County Coach of the Year, Section 5 Class AS Coach of the Year and All Greater Rochester Coach of the Year.

Tom Mandara (Gates/Victor) - Tom's career started as an outstanding wrestler and Monroe County Champion at Gates-Chili and later as a NCAA Division II All American at Ashland College. In his early years he coached at Charlotte and in Ohio and since then he has been involved in the Victor wrestling program in some capacity. As Variety wrestling coach he guided his team to 2 Section 5 Class Championships with 15 individual champions. 5 State Qualifier Champions, 5 NY State Wrestling Tournament place winners and 2 state finalists. He did take time off from coaching to watch his son, Dan, win the NY State Wrestling Championship. Mandara was inducted into the Victor Athletic Hall of Fame.