Ben has been involved in wrestling for nearly 60 years. He wrestled at Cathedral High in Springfield and was the first Cathedral wrestler to step on the mat and compete in 1961 at 103 pounds and won his match with a pin (1:48).

In 1967, he won the New England YMCA championship and finished second at the national YMCA championships. 

Ben was the head coach at Cathedral High in Springfield, Mass., for nine years (1969-78) where he had a career record of 118-27-4, coached 21 Western Massachusetts champions, two state champions and one New England runnerup. Ben ran a youth wrestling program at the Springfield YMCA in the early 1970s and was a New England AAU official from 1968-73.

He was named head coach at Fermi High in Enfield (1983-94). In the 1985, the Falcons were second in Class LL and in 1987, Fermi won a CCC East championship and finished second (unofficially) at the State Open. He had a career record of 171-71-2 at Fermi, coaching 11 CIAC state champions and two State Open champions. Fermi finished in the top 10 of the state coaches poll three times. He coached José Navarro, who was named an All-American by Amateur Wrestling News.

Since leaving as head coach, he has been a volunteer assistant with Fermi, Enfield High and the Enfield youth wrestling program. Ben contributed greatly to the construction of a dedicated wrestling practice facility for the Enfield High wrestling program. It was officially dedicated in December 2019 as the Ben Aleks Wrestling Center. 

One former athlete called Ben a "tremendous beacon of positive energy." In 2016, Ben was inducted into the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame.

Posted by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, May 2022

Profile photo taken May 2022