Two men with ties to the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame were honored at the 79th annual banquet of the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance.

Danbury High coach Ricky Shook, who was inducted into the Connecticut chapter in 2013, was recognized with a Gold Key – the first wrestling-only coach in the Alliance’s history to receive a Gold Key.

Enfield’s Ben Aleks, who will be inducted into the Connecticut chapter in April 2022, received a Good Sport award from the Alliance for his work to support youth wrestling in Enfield and the Enfield High program.

In the wrestling community, Shook’s success is no secret and he has been recognized for his program’s accomplishments on multiple occasions. He was inducted into the Connecticut chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013, named to the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018 and named to the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.

Two West Hartford coaches, Hall’s Frank Robinson (2001) and Conard’s Bob McKee (2004), were previously honored with a Gold Key but both men coached multiple sports, primarily football. Shook coaches just wrestling.

The Gold Key is presented to men and women who have made noteworthy contributions to athletics in Connecticut and it is regarded as the most prestigious sports award in the state. The Alliance has been presenting the award since 1940.

Shook joined a group that includes:

• President George H.W. Bush, honored for his election to the presidency and his play with the Yale baseball team in the 1940s
• Hall of Fame hockey players Gordie Howe, Ron Francis and Brian Leetch
• UConn coaching legends Geno Auriemma (women’s basketball), Jim Calhoun (men’s basketball) and Joe Morrone (men’s soccer)
• Marathon legend Bill Rodgers, who grew up in Newington
• Hall of Fame basketball player and broadcaster Rebecca Lobo
• Two-time World Cup champion soccer player Kristine Lilly, who grew up in Wilton

 Shook smiled and was a bit humble when looking at the list of previous Gold Key recipients.

But it all it took was asking him a single question about his Danbury High wrestling family to bring a sense of calm and familiarity back to his face.

“Everyone asks me why we are so good,” he said with a smile.

“It’s a program more than a team,” Shook said. “Everyone talks about the Danbury High team and it’s not that. It’s a program Mike Morris started it. John Nimock made us better. Actually, Morris says he started it, Nimock made us good and I made us famous.”

He smiled. Morris didn’t start the Danbury High program. It got its start in the late 1960s but it really began to get successful when he coached the team from 1979-91. Under Nimock (1992-99), the program picked up speed and started regularly winning Class LL and State Open titles. Shook took over in November 1999, after 11 years as an assistant coach in the program.

“There are so many people involved,” he said.

There is the Danbury Youth Wrestling Association that has Danbury wrestlers competing in elementary school and at the middle school level. Nearly every coach in today’s organization has been coached by either Morris, Nimock or Shook.

“So, they only know one way,” Shook said. “It’s not my way. It is our way.

“Literally, we still go by the same curriculum that we’ve had since I came back to Danbury,” he said. He rejoined the program as a coach after graduating from Central Connecticut State University where he wrestled under coach Ken Destefanis, who was also inducted by the Connecticut chapter in 2013.

“It’s the same curriculum with (some) adds. We haven’t subtracted anything, and we actually go to old school stuff when we need to.”

Shook praised his wife, Kim, for giving him the time and opportunity to coach wrestling all of these years. “My wife is the one that took care of our kids,” he said. “I have to thank her because she put up with all of the days I was missing during the winter.”

The event was postponed four times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was originally scheduled to be held in April 2019.

Aleks received the John Wentworth Good Sport award for his help in creating a wrestling room for the Enfield High and Enfield Eagles youth wrestling program. The Good Sport award is presented to individuals who unselfishly devote their time and energy to the promotion of athletics for youngsters of all ages.

Aleks spearheaded the effort to construct a dedicated wrestling room for the Enfield High program at the former Fermi High building. He contributed time, energy and financial resources to convert an old band room into practice center for the high school and youth wrestling programs.

In December 2019, it was named the Ben Aleks Wrestling Center in his honor.

Aleks wrestled at Cathedral High in Springfield, Mass., and returned to coach there from 1969-78 before becoming the head coach at Fermi High for 11 years (1983-94). Since retiring from Fermi, he has stayed involved in wrestling as a volunteer assistant, first with the Fermi and now Enfield High School. He was also instrumental in helping revive the Enfield Eagles youth wrestling program, which had been dormant for nearly 30 years.

Posted by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, October 20, 2021