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Discussion Topic: Ohio Chapter of National Wrestling Hall of Fame Set To Induct 2016 Class
Fred Feeney added to this discussion on September 21, 2016

ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is set to induct the Class of 2016 on Oct. 16, 2016 at the Embassy Suites in Dublin, Ohio.

The event will begin with a social at 2 p.m. with dinner to follow at 3 p.m. and the awards presentation taking place after dinner. Tickets are available until Oct. 7 and can be purchased online at oh-nwhof.ticketleap.com.

The 2016 class includes Chuck Angello, Andy DiSabato, Gary Sorace, Dick Bliss, Jeff Gaier, Jim Speelman, Larry Deaton, Jim Sedlick and Steve Reedy.

Andrew J. DiSabato

Nominated for a lifetime of service to wrestling, Andrew J. DiSabato has impacted the wrestling world for over 40 years. The 1977 All-American competed at Ohio State and served as a captain during of his two years. He was the first four-time NCAA Qualifier at Ohio State University and was a Big 10 runner-up in 1976. In the same year, he placed sixth at the Olympic Trials and was the national champion at the Junior Worlds. In 1979 he finished fourth in the Senior World Trials and in ’84 he wrestled in the Olympic Trial Finals. DiSabato went on to coach at Ohio State for seven years, contributing to the production of several All-Americans. He coached for 25 years at Grandview High School where his teams won 11 League, seven Sectional and four District championships. DiSabato was inducted into the Ohio Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007, named the State Coach of the year, 10 time League Coach of the year, Grandview High School Hall of Fame, five time District Coach of the year, and was named the All-Metro Coach of the year three times. He coached 23 state players, 47 state qualifiers and four state champions. DiSabato served as a past president of the Ohio Wrestling Coaches Association where he started 8th place in state tournaments and started Academic All-State wrestlers. He also served as president of the Central District Wrestling Coaches Association. DiSabato is currently an Ohio High School referee, where he has officiated for 4 years, including the 2015 District Tournament.

Larry Deaton

Larry Deaton has been in the wrestling world for about 50 years. He has been all around the mat, serving as a player, coach and official. Deaton first found an interest in wrestling when it was introduced to his home town in 1958, when his older brother made the team. Two years later marked his first season as a wrestler; he competed at 127 lbs. and placed in the District and Ohio Valley Athletic Conference all four years. After high school, Deaton got his officials license in 1966. Since that year, he has refereed 3 NAIA National Championships, the NCAA Division 2 Regional Tournament, 8 Ohio State Championships, 15 West Virginia State tournaments, 33 OVAC Championships, 11 Medina (Ohio) Invitational Tournaments and 3 National AAU Wrestling Championships. In 1975, he started the Ohio Valley Wrestling Club, run out of his garage. The club won the High School Division of the AAU Zone National in Indianapolis twice. The OVWC later held the largest wrestling tournament in the area with over 700 wrestlers in 63 weight classes. Deaton has numerous accolades including the 1992 OVAC Mr. Mat Award, the 1994 Charter Distinguished Member of the Ohio Wrestling Officials Hall of Fame, the 1997 WV Official of the Year, Martins Ferry High School Wrestling Hall of Fame and the 2004 Ohio High School Athletic Association Officials Hall of Fame. In 2009 the OVAC named their official of the year award the “Larry Deaton OVAC Official of the Year” award.

John Sedlick

As a retired teacher and head wrestling coach, John Sedlick has been nominated for his lifetime service to wrestling. Sedlick attended Ashland College in Ohio from 1969-1972, which he immediately after, began coaching at Wellington High School. In his 44 years with the program, Sedlick started a youth wrestling program, started junior-high wrestling in Wellington and helped start the Lorain County Coaches and Officials Association. He also created a scholarship for wrestlers going to college known as the “Jason Hartman Memorial Scholarship” in 2003. In 2016 he was inducted into the Ohio Coaches Hall of Fame. Sedlick was named the Lorain County Coach of the Year 14 times, the Patriot Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Greater Cleveland Coach of the Year and Lorain County Conference Coach of the year. He supports the Lorain County Coaches and Officials Association, as well as the Greater Cleveland Coaches and Officials Association.

Gary Sorace

With 50 years of experience, Gary Sorace has impacted the wrestling community in numerous ways. Sorace, a State Champion at Maple Heights High School, wrestled at Cleveland State University from 1970-1975 where he was a four-year starter under Dick Bonacci and an NCAA Qualifier. He went on to serve as a coach to several programs including St. Edward High School where the team won 2 state championships. Sorace served as head coach, a worker with at-risk students in the Occupational Work Experience Program, athletic director and assistant coach at Twinsburg City School District. He went on to coach the collegiate level as an assistant to Tony DeCarlo at John Carroll University, at Cleveland State and Head Coach at Cuyahoga Community College. At Cuyahoga, his teams earned 24 All-American places in 8 years. Sorace was the head of the volunteer committee at CSU for the 1998 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Head of Officials, Pat McCormick called this the best-run tournament he had ever attended. Sorace also ran the College National Duals in 1999 and 2000. He ended his career in Administration at Twinsburg, while volunteer coaching its middle school program from 2006 to 2015

James P Speelman

James P. Speelman is being nominated for Lifetime Service to Wrestling for his countless amount of years to the sport of wrestling. Speelman attended Kent State University for two years from 1986-1987 before wrestling for the United States Marine Corps from 1987-1992. In those years of wrestling, he received special honors for being on the All-Marine Wrestling Team from 1987-1992, as well as being a four-time member of the National Team Championships US Open Greco-Roman and a two-time member of the Armed Forces Championships. Following his years wrestling for the Marine Corps, Speelman went on to become the head coach for Madison Comp. H.S. from 1993 to 2008 and later would become the assistant coach from 2012 to 2015, with a brief stint coaching as an assistant for Ashland University from 2009 to 2012. During that time, he would become a member of the USA-Ohio National Team, coaching from 1992-2016. Speelman would also go on to officiate Pan-Am Games and Championships from 2003 to 2004, as well as Olympic Trials during the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2016 campaigns. To top it off, Speelman has officiated World Team Trials for 12 years, as well as numerous FILA and UWW tournaments around the world since 1997. Aside from all of these accolades, Speelman founded the SWForce-Ohio Wrestling Club in 1993 and coached/directed until 2016, where he oversaw many All-Americans and National USA wrestling Champions. He served as coach of the Ohio Greco National Team from 1993 to 2016 and currently is the director of the USA-Ohio Greco Developmental program. Speelman has also been a member of the USWOA since 1990 and a member of UWW & FILA since 1996. He has been part of the NFHS Coaches Association, OHSAA Coaches and Officials Association, USA Wrestling National Coaches Pool, USA-Ohio At-Large, and Greco Developmental Director. In 1996, Speelman received the USWOA Glen Blackman award.

Stephen Reedy

Stephen Reedy is being nominated for Lifetime Service to Wrestling for his numerous years spent surrounding the sport of wrestling. Reedy attended Kent State University from 1977 to 1981 with a total win-loss record of 110-21-2. During his time at Kent State, Reedy was team captain from 1979 to 1981. He started for four MAC league championship teams and was a two-time NCAA qualifier. Reedy was named Kent State’s Most Valuable Wrestler in 1980 and 1981. Also in 1981, Reedy won the MAC champion and also a Division I All-American at the 167 weight class. He would finish individually in 6th place and helped lead Kent State to a 14th place finish, which is Kent State’s highest ever NCAA team finish in the history of the program. Reedy is recognized as being the first Kent State wrestler to win 100 matches, as well as holding the program record for most career wins at Kent State for 20 plus years. Following his years at Kent State, Reedy would become an assistant for the team he once wrestled for from 1982-1984. During those years, the team won two MAC Championships. He had a brief stint as a one-year head coach at Ashtabula Edgewood High School in 1984, before becoming the head coach at Ravenna High School from 1985 to 1999. During his time coaching at Ravenna, he garnered a win-loss record of 178-23. Reedy won ten consecutive league championships, as well as multiple sectional championships. Reedy would wind up having 42 state qualifiers, 24 state placers, four state runner-ups and three state champions during his tenure at Ravenna. A few accolades that he achieved during his time as a head coach include: coach of the year for the Metro/WRC League from 1990 to 1999, 1990 Inductee into the Ravenna High School Hall of Fame, 1993 division II Team State Champions, 1994 Division II coach of the year, 1995 District Championship and State Runner-Up and 1998 Inductee into the Kent State University Hall of Fame. After his retirement from the head wrestling coaching position in 1999, Reedy continued to coach Ravenna youth wrestling program that he implemented during his time at Ravenna. In 2007, a group of his former wrestlers finished second in the state and had one state champion along with four others placers. Once Reedy hung up the coaching title, he became an administrator at Berkshire High School and had the opportunity to work with Ray Porter and other community members to design and build a new wrestling and weight room. Reedy has made it his own mission to having a quality wrestling program for the school. He also has been a prime factor for producing three state champions and multiple placers at Berkshire in a matter of only a few years. Coming back inside of the ring to top it off, Reedy has coached his son Matt since Matt was six years of age. All of that coaching helped his son finish his senior year at Ravenna High School with an undefeated, 51-0 record, which includes a state championship. along with a career win-loss record of 167-19 during his time at Ravenna High School. Reedy and his son Matt, join an elite group of father/son wrestlers to have finished their senior years as undefeated state champions for the same high school.

Dick Bliss

Dick Bliss has been nominated for his lifetime of service to the sport of wrestling. He has dedicated over 50 years to this sport in the role of the athlete, coach, or board member. As a senior at Eastlake North High School he was named Outstanding Senior Athlete in the class of 1961. He went on to earn a scholarship and wrestle for the Ohio State University where he earned the Outstanding Freshman award, was a two-year starter for the Buckeyes, and finished his athletic career with a 25-12 record. After college, he began his coaching career that recently reached 50 years in 2015. Throughout those 50 years he impacted many schools including: Watterson (2 years); North Ridgeville (3 years); Mayfield (2 years); and Aurora (43 years). At Watterson, Bliss produced the schools, and his, first-ever State Champion. He implemented several wrestling opportunities including the Diversified Cooperative Training program, middle school and youth programs, and the Mat Maid Program at North Ridgeville and Mayfield. In his career, he was worked over 150 camps and clinics, has served as the President of both the Greater Cleveland Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association and the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association, and is credited with creating and implementing the Ohio Duals, which started in 1994 and continues today. His athletes have won 106 Conference Championships, 63 Sectional Championships, and 20 District Championships. He has coached 68 individuals to the state tournament where 40 of them have placed. Bliss’ honors and accolades include: Ohio High School State Coach of the Year (2 times); Greater Cleveland Wrestling Coaches & Officials Association Coach of the Year (5 times); Conference Coach of the year (11 times); Cleveland Plain Dealer, Akron Beacon Journal, and the Akron Touchdown Club Coach of the Year; Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1997); and Aurora High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Jeff Gaier

Jeff Gaier has been recognized for his lifetime of service and success in the Wrestling community. After graduating from Miami University (OH) in 1981, where he was a 4 year letterman and team captain, he began his decorated coaching career at Moeller High School that would thrive for 29 years. He came into the 20-year old program and turned it around for the better. Over his career, he coached 2 All-Americans, 12 individual state champions, 79 state placers, and 152 state qualifiers. In 32 years of coaching (29 as head coach), Gaier led the Crusaders to 21 GCL titles and had 3 state runner-up finishes. Since the 1996-97 season, his team had fifteen top 10 state finishes and has been ranked in the State Poll Top Ten 16 of the last 17 seasons. Gaier established the Moeller Youth wrestling program, served in various roles with SWOWCA, and received the Founders Day Award in 2014 due to his commitment to the community and to excellence.


Chuck Angello

Chuck Angello has been nominated for a lifetime of service award for over 40-years of dedication to the sport of wrestling. Angello started his success by winning two sectional championship titles and was a district finalist at Garfield Heights High School. In his collegiate career at Ashland College, he had three first place showings at the Ohio AAU Freestyle Championships in 1967, 69, and 70. He earned USWF All-American honors by placing fourth in the USWF National Championships in 1969. He has coached for several schools including Brush High School (1971-73), John Carroll University (1973-82), Miami University (1982-99), Middletown High School (2002-07), Moeller High School (2007-11), and Team Ohio Jr. Greco (2010). During his time as the assistant coach at John Carroll, Angello helped the Blue Streaks to the NCAA Division III National Championship in 1975, and two runner-up finishes in 1974 and 1976. Along the way, Angello helped coach 39 individual NCAA Division III All-Americans including 13 NCAA Division III National Champions, two of which achieved All-American status at the NCAA Division I Level. Over the 18 seasons as Head Coach at Miami University, Angello was the winningest Wrestling coach in Miami University history. Angello’s teams won three Mid-American Conference Championships. Angello coached 26 individual MAC Champions, and 38 of his wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Div.I National Wrestling Tournament. Miami University had five NCAA Div. I All-Americans in wrestling under Angello. Two of Angello’s wrestlers made the USA Olympic teams. Angello has been named MAC Coach of the Year four times; 1984, 90, 91, and 92.



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Discussion Topic: Ohio Chapter of National Wrestling Hall of Fame Set To Induct 2016 Class
Brad Proudfoot added to this discussion on September 22, 2016

I love reading the biographies of the greats that I honestly had no idea about. It is wonderful to be reminded that there is so much to our sport that we are not privy to due to age, exposure, or the like.

Thanks for sharing the bios, Fred.



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Discussion Topic: Ohio Chapter of National Wrestling Hall of Fame Set To Induct 2016 Class
Michael Rodriguez added to this discussion on September 22, 2016

Steve Reedy used to frighten me when I was in high school.



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Discussion Topic: Ohio Chapter of National Wrestling Hall of Fame Set To Induct 2016 Class
Jim Behrens added to this discussion on September 22, 2016

Quote from Michael Rodriguez's post:

"Steve Reedy used to frighten me when I was in high school."



I remember Reedy was at my first Sectional along with Ralph Graham from Ravenna Southeast.
They were BIG names in the sport, both schools were intense rivals, and they scared the crap out of me as a newer official.
When his son was wrestling I remember being able to hear his booming voice, in the Brecksville gym, over all the other voices. He was LOUD!!



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