John Laurenzi started his wrestling career in 9th grade at Clarkstown North HS where he played football, wrestled and ran track & field. However, it was the sport of wrestling that he fell in love with and has pursued at every level to this day. He was a 3X All County wrestler, and won the 1979 Rockland County Championship while being voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. He won numerous other titles and amassed a career record of 69-17-1. His leadership skills were evident early on as he was voted Team Captain his senior year. John would go on to wrestle for two seasons at Cortland State where he would place in several tournaments and record wins over All American wrestlers. But it was in the coaching ranks where John would have his biggest impact on the sport. 

John started his coaching career as a volunteer for his old Cortland roommate Vin Nicita at Harrison HS in Westchester County. He then went back to his old junior high school to run that program for a year before taking the reins at Clarkstown South HS, were he would develop a perennial Section One and NYS powerhouse program. In his 12 year head coaching career he coached 28 Rockland County Champions, 9 Section One champions, 3 All State wrestlers and one NYS Champion. His wrestlers would also go on to earn NCAA All American Honors five times. David Hirsch, 1990 NYS Champion, would become a two time All American and 1994 National Champ for the Big Red of Cornell. Andrei Rodzianko, All State, would become an All American at the University of Pennsylvania and Eric Gould would AA twice for Springfield College. His teams won the only Rockland County (1994) and Section One (1995) Team Titles in school history. Those remain the only titles for Clarkstown South in those tournaments to this day! John led his Viking wrestlers to team titles multiple times at Shoreline, Pearl River, Divisionals and many others. Upon retirement as the Head Coach, John would continue to volunteer for another 11 years supporting the program as time allowed him to.

During his tenure at Clarkstown South HS, John would start the Clarkstown Kids Wrestling Program for his entire district that produced numerous champions for both his alma mater at Clarkstown North and his own Vikings at Clarkstown South. He welcomed wrestlers of all ages from outside his district to benefit from his coaching acumen in both his youth program and the Clarkstown South Mat Club. He hosted an international competition between a traveling HS team from Russia against an All Star team from his club in the 1990s, in an effort to introduce local wrestlers to Freestyle wrestling. Coach Laurenzi joined his friend Mike Ondich, a fellow 2026 HoF inductee, on international travel to camps in Italy and Bulgaria with their HS students to open their students’ eyes to the global culture of the sport. Coach L. would continue taking these trips with his own club in the future, always inviting wrestlers from neighboring schools to join. These trips proved to be invaluable experiences for the athletes and propelled them to a higher level of maturity about the world around them.  John would also become an Official for USA Wrestling during this time and whistle local, state, and national competitions. While securing facilities permits for his mat club and youth club for 28 years in the Clarkstown Central School District, John would eventually leave the school and start his private club outside of the district. His Rockland International Wrestling Academy currently teaches all 3 styles of wrestling to boys and girls in youth, scholastic and open division age groups. RIWA has produced NYS Champions and All State wrestlers. John also joined BOCES to become an official for the newly sanctioned Girls Freestyle wrestling, in an attempt to continue to grow the sport of women’s wrestling. He traveled to Paris for the 2024 Olympics with one of his female wrestlers whom he has been training for the past three years. Odunayo Adekuoroye won a World Bronze Medal in the 2023 World Championships competing for her Nigerian Federation and is a resident volunteer Girls/Boys Coach at the Rockland International Wrestling Academy.

It was during the early 1990’s that Coach Laurenzi was introduced to the prestigious New York Athletic Club by one of his HS wrestlers. From wrestling at the NYAC with all of its members and guests from foreign delegations, John would truly hone his coaching skills and develop as an athlete as well. Coach Laurenzi ascended from a guest to an athlete for the club winning Silver medals at the US Open Masters division tournaments in 2012 (Greco Roman 69 kg) and 2024 (Freestyle 70 kg). He would also win Gold in 2024 US Open Masters Division 70 KG in Greco Roman wrestling. As a member of the Club, John served as recording secretary for the Wrestling Intra-Club and was eventually voted President of the Wrestling Club. It is in this role that he has become known in the sport of wrestling around the country and internationally. John plays an integral role every year facilitating the NYAC Bill Farrell International Tournament. His preparation and trouble-shooting always ensure that this event runs smoothly every year. The Bill Farrell has become one of the premier sports competitions at the NYAC in their annual schedule of events. He is a Freestyle and Greco Roman Coach for the Club and is an active participant in many Club events. John cites the NYAC community, like all of the programs he is associated with, as an extended family. He is proud to serve in his many roles there. 

John is also proud of the life long relationships he has forged and feels blessed to remain in the lives of hundreds of athletes he has coached over the last four decades. He has traveled to Moscow, Paris, and the Bahamas to attend weddings of his former students and has officiated the marriages for two of his former wrestlers as well. He is “GrandCoach” to many of his former students' children and has discovered that the nickname “Uncle Grandpa” is a flattering compliment. He continues to support Odunayo and her 1 year old daughter Eliana, who still live with him. “PaPa” finds his greatest joy is playing with Eliana and watching mommy and daughter grow. He looks forward to being heavily involved in the sport on every level for years to come!