Cleveland wrestling icon Dick Bonacci and five others from around the state will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame on Sept. 12, in Columbus.
Former CSU wrestling coach Dick Bonacci heads a six-man class entering the Ohio chapter of the Wrestling Hall of Fame.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The name Dick Bonacci and "Hall of Fame" are starting to go together quite often.
The Former Cleveland State wrestling coach, who was also a successful high school and college wrestler, will be part of the inaugural class of inductees into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Ohio Chapter, Sept 12, in Columbus.
This will mark his fifth HOF induction, but Bonacci noted "this will be the first national one."
Bonacci will be honored along with 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. Bonacci was familiar with all of them and was a college teammate of Leffler with the Toledo Rockets.
Bonacci is most known for the eight All-Americans he coached, the string of sending wrestlers to 34 straight NCAA Championships, and for winning 296 dual matches while coaching at Cleveland State. Included in those wins is one of which Bonacci is especially proud, a 29-17 upset of No. 7 Oklahoma in 1978.
"We wrestled Oklahoma down in the old arena because the demand for tickets was so great," Bonacci said. "There was a basketball game before us, then they put us on as the feature. That year was probably the best. It has been a great career."
According to a release, when Bonacci arrived at Fenn College to coach in 1962 he revived a wrestling program that had been dormant for almost 30 years. He then was part of the change over to Cleveland State. In his 36 seasons at CSU, he compiled a 296-177-9 record that featured 31 winning seasons. The Vikings posted winning records in 19 consecutive seasons from 1964-65 through 1980-81.
Bonacci, who lives in Rocky River, began his wrestling career at Cleveland's West High where he was undefeated on the mat. "I was 60-0," he said. "We didn't wrestle in as many matches then as they do now."
A three-time state champion in three weight classes, Bonacci was part of a highly successful West High team under coach Harold Kester.
"In 1951 we had six state champions out of 10 weights. For 59 years they didn't break that record," a proud Bonacci said. "That was 10 weights, one division; now they have 14 weights in three divisions. Says a lot for the coach we had. I just repeated everything he taught me."
Bonacci has also been inducted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame, the Ohio Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Toledo Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.
The other inductees are:
Chris Ford -- Successful high school coach at Huron High, and later at Ashland University. Also coached 10 years at Ohio State where he produced a national champion and several All-Americans.
Harry Houska -- A state wrestling champion at Parma High, a NCAA wrestling champion, 191 pounds, at Ohio State, and successful head coach at Ohio University.
Jim Humphrey -- A 1972 All-American and Big Ten champion at Ohio State went on to become U.S. Olympic (freestyle) wrestling head coach.
George Kovalick -- Considered the father of high school wrestling in the Ohio Valley, where he led Bridgeport High to a 1959 state title. The only team in Southeast Ohio to ever win a state title when there was only one division in the state.
Richard "Doc" Leffler -- guided Toledo St. Francis to state titles in 1964 and 1967.
-- Reporter Pat Galbincea also contributed to this story.