Six inducted into New England Wrestling Hall of Fame

NEW HAVEN, March 7, 2009 — Two long-time wrestling coaches were inducted in the New England Council’s wrestling Hall of Fame.

Nonnewaug’s John Lawless and Bristol Central’s Pat Parente joined 11 other Connecticut athletes, coaches and administrators in the Hall of Fame. They were inducted along with two representatives from New Hampshire and Vermont.

“It’s exciting. It’s overwhelming,” Lawless said. “It’s pretty emotional. I think back to when I first started the program in 1975 and was convincing kids to go out for wrestling. It took off and we never looked back.”

Lawless was the head coach at Nonnewaug from 1975-99, earning 302 wins and leading the Chiefs to four Class S state titles and 12 Berkshire League championships.

He has also served as the gymnastics and volleyball coach at Nonnewaug along with time as the school’s athletic director. A member of the CIAC’s wrestling committee, Lawless has been an able assistant to current head coach Dave Green offering whatever assistance is needed without impeding on Green’s program.

Lawless was a State Open champion as a high school student at Hall High in West Hartford and wrestled two years for Southern Connecticut State once they began a program in 1974.

Parente has been involved in some aspect of wrestling for over 30 years at Bristol Central. He was a long-time assistant under Hall of Fame coach Dennis Siegmann for years, taking over the Ram program in 2000, coaching three years and posting a record of 57-13-1.

Some of his largest contributions have been behind the scenes as a tournament site director. He was the site director for the Class L tournament from 1980 to 2002 and was the site director for the State Open for 10 years.

He initiated computer scoring for the CIAC wrestling tournaments. His son, Peter, wrote the first wrestling tournament computer scoring programs used by the CIAC when he was just in high school.

Parente, a member of the CIAC wrestling committee from 1994 to 2002, also coordinated the New England wrestling tournament in New Haven in 2004 and 2006. He was helping out again this year with Siegmann and Chris Fanelli, who has been helping at tournaments for years.

“I’m honored,” he said. I like being with the kids and seeing what they can achieve. It’s been fun. It’s been like a family. They’ve all been a part of this. It’s not just me. When you honor me, you honor everyone I’ve worked with over the years.”

Lawless and Parente were inducted with Barry Chooljian, the head coach at Timberlane High in New Hampshire, which won a record seventh New England title and its fourth championship  in five years and longtime New Hampshire coach, official and state committee member Don Woodworth of Timberlane, who coached the Owls to 13 state titles in 24 years.

Vermont inducted Scott Legacy, who has coached Mt. Anthony Union to a national record 21 straight state titles in 25 years and five New England championships. He has been named national coach of the year by two different organizations.

Blaine Isham, an assistant coach at Essex High for 17 years, and a Vermont wrestling official for 28 years was also inducted.