Zach Veleas is the new head coach of the East Lyme/Norwich Tech squad after spending five seasons at Ellis Tech. (Photo courtesy East Lyme Athletics)
Zach Veleas is the new wrestling coach at East Lyme/Norwich Tech, East Lyme High athletics announced in a news post on Facebook on Tuesday.
Veleas replaces long-time coach Ed Lorah, who stepped down last March after 16 seasons leading the Vikings.
Veleas has been the head coach at Ellis Tech in Danielson since 2021 (five seasons) and began the wrestling program at Putnam, serving as head coach for two seasons.
A special education teacher at Windham High, Veleas graduated from Castleton University with a bachelor’s degree in history. At Castleton, now called Vermont State Castleton, Veleas was a member of the wrestling team where he earned Academic All-NEWA honors in 2017. He also has a master’s degree in special education from the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford.
In the off-season, Veleas is a volunteer coach with the Silverbacks Wrestling Club in WIllimantic.
“We are thrilled to have coach Veleas take over our wrestling program continuing and building on the rich tradition set by many great East Lyme wrestling coaches in the past. Coach Veleas comes in with outstanding experience and success both as an individual wrestler and as a head coach,” said Kevin Marcoux, athletic director at East Lyme, said in a statement.
“He has a proven track record of developing both male and female wrestlers and we look forward to him bringing that experience to East Lyme High School. He has shared his vision of continuing our winning culture while always emphasizing respect on the mat, in the classroom and in the community,” Marcoux said.
Veleas wrestled in high school at Berlin and is the son of current Berlin High head coach Peter Veleas.
“I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to take over as the next wrestling coach at East Lyme High School,” Zach Veleas said. “I have had the opportunity to work with many of the wrestlers from East Lyme the last couple years as they attended Silverback Wrestling Club.
“That experience made this position extremely appealing, seeing the dedication and commitment of the athletes here to better themselves and strive for greatness,” Zach Veleas said. “I know that East Lyme has a rich history in wrestling and athletics, and I look forward to the challenge of living up to that standard, building a strong program and involving myself in the East Lyme community.”
East Lyme has been in a co-op program with Norwich Tech since the 2020 season.
Lorah finished out his career with the Vikings with four consecutive winning seasons and a pair of Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I championships. East Lyme went 14-5 last winter and won their second ECC Division I title in three years. The Vikings shared the ECC Division I title in 2023.
The Vikings finished fourth in the ECC Tournament in 2025 and 2023 – their best performance since finishing fourth in 1997 and 1987.
In 2025, the Vikings finished sixth at the State Open with four New England qualifiers – Open champion Lincoln Carlson (215), Brayden Soleau (190), Noah Caisse (120) and Jonathan Harris (285).
At the New England championships, Carlson (41-0) became the second New England champion in East Lyme history with his victory at 215 and the first since Chris Kelley won back-to-back New England titles in 1996 and 1997. Soleau finished second in New England.
First posted Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025
