Wrestling has been an integral part of John’s life for more than 50 years. Since moving from New Jersey to Connecticut, he has been a competitor, head coach, assistant coach, volunteer coach, state tournament director and official.

John was the head coach at St. Bernard in Uncasville in 1975, when the Saints finished second at the State Open and Class M tournaments and at Newington High in 2016.  He was an assistant coach for over 20 years at Windham, Berlin, and Newington high schools. John was part of seven state championship teams and, while at Berlin, was named the CIAC Assistant Coach of the Year in 2001.

For five seasons (2007-12) he was the head assistant coach at Trinity College. John was a founding member of the Windham Wrestling Club in Willimantic, the precursor to the Silverbacks Wrestling Club. Fifteen years ago, he built a wrestling studio in his backyard and established the In Your Zone wrestling club.

John was a member of the Connecticut Interscholastic Wrestling Officials Association (CIWOA) for 13 years and officiated numerous Connecticut state tournaments.

As an athlete, John competed in the U.S. regional qualifier for the Olympic Games in 1984 and was a four-time member of the U.S. Veterans World team, winning the gold medal in Toronto in 1993 at 68 kilograms. He won three U.S. Veterans championships in freestyle and Greco-Roman and overall was an 11-time medalist at the Veterans National and World Championships.

Published by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, April 2019
Profile photo taken April 2019