Aug. 11, 2010
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Dick Bonacci, who won 296 dual matches, coached eight All-Americans and sent wrestlers to 34 consecutive NCAA Championships during his Cleveland State coaching tenure, has been named to the inaugural class of inductees into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Ohio Chapter, which will take place at a ceremony at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Dublin, Ohio on Sunday, Sept. 12.
Bonacci, who is already a member of five Hall of Fames, will be joined by Chris Ford (Ohio State), Jim Humphrey (Ohio State), Harry Houska (Ohio), Richard "Doc" Leffler (St. Francis deSales HS) and George Kovalick (Bridgeport HS) in the initial class.
"I am really excited and honored," Bonacci said. "I've been fortunate to be inducted into five other Halls of Fame but none have been nationally. It all goes back to the kids who wrestled for me. Without them, I wouldn't be in there. This is the big one."
When Bonacci arrived at Fenn College in 1962, he revived a wrestling program that had been dormant for almost 30 years. Through his hard work and determination, he guided the Foxes through the change to Cleveland State and turned the wrestling program into the most successful program in the athletic department.
In his 36 seasons at CSU, he compiled a 296-177-9 record that featured 31 winning seasons. The Vikings posted winning records in a school-record 19 consecutive seasons from 1964-65 through 1980-81.
A native Clevelander, he became one of the city's wrestling legends at West High School where he starred for three magnificent seasons during which he never lost a match. He won the state championship at 139 lbs. in 1949, 155 lbs in 1950 and 164 lbs. in 1951 while his team also reached levels of success which have not been equalled since.
Bonacci enrolled at the University of Toledo where he won Mid-American Conference titles at 167 lbs. in 1953 and 1954 and at 177 lbs. in 1955, serving as team captain during his final two seasons.
He won four tournament titles in 1954 and 1955 after finishing second in the National Greco-Roman championships and fourth in the National AAU Championships in 1953.
In 1956, he was asked to fill in as coach at Toledo while head coach Joe Scalzo was coaching the U.S. Olympic Grego-Roman team.
A period of coaching at the youth level followed until then athletic director Homer Woodling asked him to help start a varsity program at Fenn College for the 1962-63 season.
It was a request that has never been regretted.
His induction into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1983 in his first year of eligibility followed earlier entries into the Ohio Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the University of Toledo Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Eastern Wrestling League Hall of Fame in 1999.
Bonacci and his wife of 53 years, Nancy, currently reside in Rocky River. They are the parents of three daughters, Tami Grauer, a local attorney and graduate of CSU's Marshall School of Law, Shari Rooney, an elementary school teach and CSU graduate, and Kathy Bonacci, a model and a graduate of Ohio State.
Reservations for the event cost $45 and can be made online at www.oh-nwhof.ticketleap.com.
