Patrick Greene

Patrick Greene was introduced to wrestling in 7th grade when he failed to make the cut for his junior high basketball team's tryouts and sought an alternate activity in which to participate during the long, cold and dark winters of Central New York. He went on to become team captain in 8th grade and was hooked on the sport. Pat enjoyed a stellar high school wrestling career at Cicero High School under the tutelage of Jack Williams. Williams, a Hall of Fame Member (2001) , had returned to coaching in the early 70's, after a very successful span at Watertown High School in the 1950's and early 60's. With Pat and several other talented Cicero wrestlers, he brought Cicero to prominence in Section III. Pat had a high school record of 88-6-1 , losing only one dual match in his career. Two of his six high school losses were to opponents who themselves went on to become two-time Division I All Americans, one of those being his future teammate and good friend John Janiak. He was one of the few high school wrestlers to prevail over Dan Hunt, New York's first three-time state champion. Pat won the old Onondaga County North title three times, back when that league was considered one of the toughest in the state. In his sophomore year at Cicero, Pat finished the season as a Section III runner-up. In each of his junior and senior years, he won the Section III championship and twice place third in the state championships. Pat attributes a good deal of his success in high school to Coach Williams, and believes that the two weeks spent after ninth grade at Leo Johnson's summer wrestling camp in the Adirondacks provided him with him the basics of a low single that served him throughout his career. Pat states, however, that most of his learning came from just working out with other wrestlers, both his age and oftentimes older guys who would often stop by his high school wrestling room or at the YMCA in downtown Syracuse. He recalls that he and other Onondaga County athletes would hitchhike or bus in from rural areas a couple times a week, after spring or fall practice in another sport, to compete and sharpen skills with other Syracuse area wrestlers. The YMCA had only the old canvas mats which resulted in frequent mat burn and banged up elbows. They also had frequent battles with old boxers for the use of the room, recalling that there were never any coaches or YMCA personnel present. Upon graduation from Cicero, Pat was recruited on scholarship by Ed Carlin, another Hall of Fame coach (2007). Syracuse was coming off a five-year wrestling drought without scholarship aid and had finished 15th out of 16 teams at the EIWA's the year before. Pat was one of a class of good recruits that brought the Orange wrestlers back to prominence both in the East and nationally. Pat's freshman class included Guy Dugas, John Janiak and Tim Jenks, and the ranks were filled with nearly all boys from sections, three, four and five. Coach Carlin was convinced he did not need to go far to put together a successful team. Pat's freshman year saw the team jump to fifth place at the EIWA's. After that, and for the next twenty-five years until the program was eliminated, the team would nearly always finish high in the EIWA's and rank in the top twenty nationally in Division I. Pat experienced success as freshman, losing only one dual meet, making it to the EIWA semi-finals, losing there to a defending national champ and placing sixth. As a sophomore he was undefeated in dual meets, but was upset in the first round of the EIWAs and failed to place due to the lack of a true wrestle-back system. In his junior year, Pat placed 3rd at the EIWAs and qualified for the NCAA Division I National Championships. His senior campaign witnessed a successful dual meet season, but a disappointing conclusion to his college wrestling when he failed to qualify for NCAAs. The four years of grueling workouts and weight loss was, Pat muses, not enjoyable, particularly when you see fellow students having a great social life. But Coach Carlin managed to help create an atmosphere that encouraged hard work with laughter. And it didn't hurt that the teams Pat was on at Syracuse had a bunch of talented guys who were a lot of fun to be around - these included names most upstate wrestling fans will remember quite well - names like Guy Dugas, Tim Jenks, Randy Gillette, Dan Hunt, Ken Wilson, John Janiak and a freshman named Gene Mills. Following graduation from Syracuse, Pat moved to Southern California to work in sales for the Mennen Company, a division of Colgate-Palmolive. While in California, he also became an assistant high school coach at Thousand Oaks High School in Ventura County. After three years in sales he joined the Peace Corps, serving as a volunteer in Guatemala. When he returned from Guatemala he entered law school and graduated from Fordham Law in New York. At Fordham, he was on the staff of the Law Review. He was subsequently recruited by and began his legal career at a major Wall Street law firm. Sonny Greenhalgh, Syracuse wrestler, former NYAC wrestling chairman and member of the National Hall of Fame, added that while at Fordham , "Pat became very active in wrestling at the AC. He would show up at our practices to assist and work out with the wrestlers and attend our meetings to help keep our program at the Club alive and vibrant." After law school, Pat married Ellen Sax, whom he had met at Syracuse, and the two left New York City a few years later for the Capital District, where they have raised a family. Pat's accomplishments in his professional and community life include serving as a board member of the Bethlehem YMCA , working as board member on the Saratoga County IDA , serving as a Republican committeeman and working as a part-time counsel to the Albany County Executive in the early 1990s. In addition, Pat is a founding member of the Friends of Section II Wrestling. He served as the treasurer of the Friends of Blue Grapplers Wrestling Boosters, and has performed substantial pro bono work, including a fair amount for the occasional wayward wrestler, as well as for the University of Albany's athletic program. In addition, Pat has been an active member of the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Board of Directors. Pat has also had time to help coach and be a supporting father to his two sons, Matt and Kyle . Matt was a Section II champion and two-time state qualifier who was recruited to wrestle at Northwestern University, where he was an Academic All-Big Ten. Matt will be attending the University of Pennsylvania School of Law this fall. His son Kyle was also a successful high school wrestler who became Columbia High's first four-time Section II Class A champ. Kyle was recruited to wrestle and remains on the squad at Bucknell, where he will be entering his senior year in the fall. Pat and his wife Ellen reside near Saratoga Springs, where Pat has his law office. He is also of counsel to Melvin & Melvin, a Syracuse law firm. Pat and a group of Syracuse wrestlers manage to get together nearly every year for the state tourney and the NCAAs. The Board of Directors of the Upstate New York Chapter acknowledges Pat's contributions to wrestling and welcomes him into our Hall of Fame.

Awards:

Year
2018
Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
Chapter/Region
New York - Upstate

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