Nicholas P. "Nick" Zacchilli has been an advocate and supporter of Massachusetts wrestling for more four decades. Zacchilli was first exposed to the sport as a senior at Milford High School, during the program's inaugural season in 1969. From that time forward, wrestling became Nick's main focus as a coach, parent, and administrator.

Hit with the "wrestling bug," Zacchilli began volunteering as an assistant coach at Milford High School while at UMass Amherst, often spending more time at Milford High than on campus in Amherst! Skills learned from legendary UMass Coach Homer Barr, as well as knowledge gained from many sessions at the "Boston Union" with hall-of-fame Coach Jim Peckham, formed the basis of Zacchilli's coaching education.

While serving as an assistant to Milford's Head Coach Jim Wittorff, Nick also refined his coaching techniques, working with respected coaches George Bossi, Rick Moyer, John Passarini, and Jack Johnson during many shared practices. The knowledge that Zacchilli gained from all of these men helped him develop Milford High School into an elite program on par with the best in the state.

Zacchilli took over the Milford High wrestling program during the 1975-76 season and quickly built a winner. Milford won its first Sectional championship that year, one of nine Sectional titles garnered during Nick's nineteen-year coaching tenure. Over the next seven seasons, Milford was crowned Division II State Champions three times (1978, 1981 and 1983), while finishing as State Runner-up twice (1977 and 1980). Milford also placed third at the Division I State Tournament in 1991. Along the way, Coach Zacchilli compiled a dual meet record of 197-121-6, while making it a point to schedule the toughest teams in New England in order to prepare his teams for the post-season tournaments.

Nick's 1978 team was widely considered to be one of the best in New England. Led by Milford's first individual State Champions Jim Mazzuchelli (New England Champ) and Greg Doyle (Wrestler of the Year), the team earned Sectional and State Championships and a 3rd place finish at the New Englands, while compiling a 13-0 record during the storm-shortened regular season (Blizzard of '78). The 1978 team was also crowned Lowell Holiday Champions and defeated New England Champion Nashua, New Hampshire in a dual meet (43-18).

Although Zacchilli had a superb coaching career, he had perhaps a bigger impact on Massachusetts wrestling as an administrator. During his time as a coach, and later as the Director of Athletics at Milford High School, Nick was an Executive Board member of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Wrestling Coaches Association (MIWCA), serving as MIWCA President from 1978-82. Nick was an active member of the MIAA Wrestling Committee from its inception in 1976 until his retirement in 2008, a span of 33 years. He led the committee as its chairman during his last seventeen years of service.

Zacchilli was instrumental in increasing competitive opportunities for high school wrestling teams, as well as co-authoring one of the first weight-control programs in the nation. Throughout his tenure as a coach and administrator, Nick was steadfast in his commitment to the wrestling community and to high school wrestlers in particular.

Nick has received many honors over the course of his career. He was twice honored as Boston Globe Division II Coach of the Year (1978, 1981) and is an inductee of the MIWCA Hall of Fame (1989), the New England Wrestling Hall of Fame (1993), and the Milford High School Hall of Fame (2009). As Director of Athletics, Zacchilli received the Massachusetts Secondary School Athletic Directors Association's Award of Merit (1995) and Athletic Director of the Year (1998). He was also chosen as the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrator's Eastern Regional Athletic Director of the Year (1998) and selected for the MIAA John E. Young Distinguished Service Award (2000).

Nick and his wife, Linda (a hall-of-fame volleyball coach in her own right), have three sons - Dr. Michael, Christopher, and Peter (current wrestling coach at Ashland/Keefe Tech) - all of whom were three-sport athletes (and wrestlers) at Milford High School.

In recognition of his profound impact on Massachusetts Wrestling as an administrator and a coach, Nick Zacchilli is being honored by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for his Lifetime Service to Wrestling.