Jim Cranfield was a soaking wet 112 pound junior at Auburn High when he was talked by a couple of “buddies” into going out for the Maroons wrestling team. The team had a hole that 1955-56 season at 112, and his pals told him this would be a fun experience. Shortly after, he was getting tossed around and ground into the mat by teammates Bob Catalano, a 103 pounder and Butch Ohara, a 120 pounder, each of whom would capture sectional titles that year. But it was a helpful start. Coach Jack O’Mara encouraged Cranfield to come back the next year. Just like Douglas MacArthur, he did return, and started winning matches at more solid 112. Although he won no league or sectional titles that year, he co-captained his team and developed a love and respect for the sport that kept him in the game for the next fifty years.  

A natural leader, Jim was elected class president his senior year at Auburn. But it was in track and field that Jim excelled in high school, winning a sectional title in the 880 and placing sixth in the New York state championships his senior year.

Jim went on to participate in wrestling, track and field and cross-country at Cortland State, where the physical education major earned a total of nine varsity letters, including a red letter in track and field in 1959. His leadership ability was again recognized by the Cortland student body, who elected him president of the Cortland State House of Delegates. His leadership skills did not impress Leo Johnson, one of his more senior fraternity brothers, who required Jim to sleep under his bed for a week during fraternity initiation.

Jim enjoyed a successful wrestling career at Cortland, finishing as the 130 pound runner-up in the SUNYAC championships his senior year. It should be noted that Cranfield’s Red Dragon wrestling teammates were to become a virtual Who’s Who of New York wrestling and included future Hall of Famers Leo Johnson, Bob Ridall, Butch Millard, Jack Stanboro, Al Sheer and Jack LaBombard. Each of these individuals, individually and collectively, were to have a profound impact on the development of New York high school wrestling over the next half century - indeed, it is hard to imagine what New York wrestling would be without them. Also, on the team was his brother Mark, a SUNYAC champion, who was to go on to become a long-time wrestling coach at Ulster County Community College.

After Cortland, Jim headed to Syracuse University to earn his master’s degree. While at Syracuse, Jim would occasionally find himself in the Syracuse wrestling room and rolling around with team members, including future National Hall of Famer Sonny Greenhalgh. After completing his master’s, Jim headed back to Auburn, teaching health at West High for two years before joining the faculty at Auburn Community College (now Cayuga County Community College). Cranfield was promoted to a professorship ten years later and appointed the school’s athletic director and physical education department chair in 1991.

At Auburn CC, Jim coached wrestling (and indoor/outdoor track and field and cross-country) for a quarter century. Cranfield’s wrestling teams qualified athletes for the National Junior College Championships nearly every year he coached. Some of his more successful wrestlers included Steve Gross, a Skaneatles High product who took second at the junior college nationals, Fred Prentiss and Art Cross Auburn High standouts. Jim also officated high school wrestling for twenty years and officiated at the New York State Championships in 1973 and 1977.

Among his many awards, Cranfield has been voted into not less than five halls of fame. These are the Region III NJCAA Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, the NJCAA Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, the NJCAA Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Cortland State “C” Club Hall of Fame and the Auburn Sports Boosters Hall of Fame. Jim was awarded the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award Excellence for Excellence in 1994. His community involvement includes serving eight years on Auburn School District Board of Education, fifteen years on the Cayuga – Onondaga BOCES Board of Education and thirty years as a stadium announcer for Auburn High football games.

Jim has been married to Sue, his high school sweetheart, for fifty-seven years and now spends most of the year in Venice, Florida. Jim and Sue own interests in three golf courses near Venice and their son Mark manages the pro shop at one of the courses. Their daughter Kelly is an adjunct math teacher at Cayuga County Community College and son Tom is a Senior Associate Athletic Director at his alma mater, Cortland State. Jim and Sue return each summer to upstate New York to visit friends and family and to escape the Florida heat. He sees old teammates Butch Millard and Leo Johnson on each visit home.  

Jim credits his success in coaching to his training at Cortland, supportive administrators at Auburn and all those tough upstate kids.