Before the 1981 school year began, Franklin High School Athletic Director Gerry Leone Sr. was searching for a new wrestling coach. Mr. Leone decided to take a chance on a 19-year old recent graduate from Franklin High School who was a former three-sport athlete and multiple-time varsity letter winner in wrestling, football, and baseball. It turned out to be a great decision.

For the past 32 years, Carmine Colace has been the head coach of Franklin High School's wrestling program. When Carmine took the reins of the Panther Wrestling Program, there had not been much success with the program. After several years of hard work, Carmine turned Franklin High School into a perennial powerhouse. Those familiar with Massachusetts wrestling are aware of Franklin's dominance over the past three decades.

Coach Colace's record speaks for itself. His overall dual meet record of 491-143 translates to an amazing 77% percentage. His teams have won nine state championships and finished second in the state five times. Carmine's nine team championships are second all-time in Massachusetts history, behind only hall-of-famer George Bossi. Under Colace's leadership, Franklin has also won nineteen sectional titles and twenty-one Hockomock League titles. Carmine has coached over one hundred Sectional Champions, thirty-six State Champions, eight New England Champions, twenty-one All Americans, and three National Champions.

Not surprisingly, Colace has received numerous coach-of-the-year honors. He has been recognized as Boston Globe Coach-of-the-Year three times, Massachusetts Interscholastic Wrestling Coaches Association (MIWCA) Sectional Coach-of-the-Year twelve times, and MIWCA Divisional Coach-of-the-Year five times. On two occasions, Carmine has garnered regional coaching honors: the Sons of Italy recognized Colace as New England Coach-of-the-Year in 2000 and the National Wrestling Coaches Association named him Region 1 National Coach-of-the-Year in 1999.

Carmine's success can be attributed in large part to his year-round devotion to coaching the sport of wrestling. Colace has spent countless hours in the off-season as a club coach, traveling throughout New England and the United States, seeking the best competition that he could find. He has dedicated himself to improving his wrestlers through off-season practices and competitions sponsored by USA Wrestling, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), and many others. Carmine was the founder of the Hockomock Wrestling Club and co-founder of the Cobra Wrestling Club (along with Natick Coach Bob Annaballi).

Coach Colace also started and grew the highly successful Wadsworth Wrestling Club, well-known for sponsoring its "Spring Duals" tournament that draws teams from throughout the Northeast. Most recently, Carmine established the New England Gold Wrestling Club, which will undoubtedly carry on the Colace tradition of developing wrestlers through year-round training.

Wrestling in the Colace house has always been a family affair. For many years, Carmine held work-outs in his basement or his back yard, wherever there was room to roll around. There were always wrestlers to feed and schedules to plan. Carmine's wife Gail, who recently lost a valiant fight with cancer, was Carmine's partner for 31 years, sharing in all of his victories and successes, and completely supporting his devotion to wrestling. Gail was Carmine's rock, always encouraging him, pushing him when needed, never complaining when Coach Colace was headed off on another trip to a wrestling camp, clinic, or tournament. Gail is greatly missed by the Colace family and the entire Franklin Wrestling family.

Of all the wrestling successes and accolades they enjoyed, Carmine and Gail were most proud of the accomplishments of their sons C.J. and Nick while competing for Franklin. Carmine was in the corner and Gail was in the stands when C.J. became a New England Champion, All-State Champion, and National Champion. They were both there a few years later, when Nick became a two-time State Champion and an All-State Champion. Carmine and Gail are equally proud of their other two other sons, Michael and David.

In recognition of his many years of dedicated service as a coach and mentor, Carmine Colace is being honored by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for his Lifetime Service to Wrestling.