The Upstate New York State Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the honorees for our local awards, the Stanbro Media Award and the Volunteer Award, for this year’s ceremony on September 25, 2022 at the Double Tree Hotel in East Syracuse.

This year the Board of Directors selected Matt O’Rourke for the Stanbro Media Award. This award is given to an individual who has contribute much in the field of media for the promotion of the sport of wrestling. Matt is one of the outstanding advocates for our sport. Matt works for Western New York Athletics covering wrestling inside out. He is always at each of the wrestling championships and writes outstanding articles recognizing the dedication and hard work of Section VI wrestlers. Joseph Scapelliti, President of Western New York Coaching Association, had this to say about Matt’s work. “Matt has gone above and beyond to provide coverage throughout our region publishing weekly recaps of matches and tournaments, marquee duals and tournaments, providing real time social media updates via Twitter and Facebook along with live streaming video, and recognizing a student athlete weekly with a Wrestling of the Week Award. What’s amazing about all of this is that he does all of this without receiving any compensation.” The Upstate New York Chapter is extremely proud and honored to now pay homage to Matt and all he does for the betterment of wrestling in the section and state. 

The Annual Volunteer Award for 2022 goes to Dick Ballard of Whitney Point. Dick has worked as a volunteer coach at Whitney Point High School for over 20 years. In addition, Dick has served in several capacities working for the Section IV Coaches Association and has also been a Board member of the “Friends of Section IV Wrestling.” Dick has worked untiringly in advocating for wrestling. Throughout his career in wrestling he has promoted the sport by organizing a wrestling exchange trip to Sweden and bringing in team from foreign countries including Germany, Turkey and Sweden to compete against the local wrestling community of Section IV. Cornell Coach at the time, Rob Koll, convinced Dick to be one of the founding members of the Fingerlakes Wresting Club which is now known as the Spartan Wrestling Club. Dick has devoted most of his spare time as the President of the Club and has had a huge impact on advancing wrestling in the region. Additionally, Ballard has helped with many youth sports programs in his community of Whitney Point. For all the volunteer work that Dick does in his community and for wrestling, the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame proudly selected him for our annual Volunteer Award.