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Stillwater, OK – The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is announcing the Class of 2012 to be honored by the Hall of Fame in the state of Ohio. There are six individuals being honored for their “Lifetime Service to Wrestling”, one individual being honored with the “Outstanding American from the state of Ohio” and a Medal of Courage recipient. The “Lifetime Service to Wrestling” Award is presented to coaches, officials or contributors, who have given a lifetime of service to the sport of wrestling, their communities and most importantly to the young people they have coached, taught, motivated and inspired. The “Outstanding American from Ohio” Award is for an individual who has wrestled at some point in their life and then has gone on to become successful in their profession or nationally famous for their work. The individuals must have integrity and uses the disciplines they learned in wrestling. The “Medal of Courage” Award is presented to a current or former wrestler who has overcome exceptional challenges in his/her life.
The State Chapter Program is in its 19th year and at present there are 35 chapters throughout the United States. The Chapter and, in this case, the Ohio Chapter nominates individuals that fit the criteria of the awards and sends their recommendations to the State Chapter National Director. Individuals are screened and final approval is given from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. The awards are National but the individuals are being honored in their home state.
The following individuals will be honored with the following Awards:
“Outstanding American from Ohio”
Dennis Tomcik—wrestled at Mentor High School and Cleveland State before graduating from University of New York and the US Army’s Command and General Staff College. His military career included two tours of duty in Vietnam, where he served as an infantry Company Commander. He is a qualified US Army Airborne Ranger and received two Distinguished Service Crosses, nine Bronze Stars four of which were for valor, and a Purple Heart. Dennis retired from the Ohio National Guard after 27 years of duty.
“Medal of Courage”
Chase Holcomb—was born with a congenital disorder in which there is abnormal development of the lower spine. It occurs at a rate of one per 25,000 births. His parents were told from the time he was born that he would be bound to a wheel chair, but after many surgeries and determination, Chase at age 6 started walking with canes. He played baseball in 4th grade, but did not like that sport too much. After trying other sports and hobbies, Chase said his true calling came in 6th grade when he started to practice with the wrestling team and finally, from 7th grade until he graduated, he wrestled for St. Clairsville HS where he graduated in 2012. He is now enrolled at Ohio University where he would like to pursue physical therapy.
“Lifetime Service to Wrestling” Award
Coach Bob Stoll---has coached high school wrestling since 1978 and is the present coach at Dublin Coffman High School. In the 34 years of coaching, Bob has an outstanding record of 418 wins with only 47 losses. His teams had 118 state qualifiers, 58 state placers, 12 state runner-ups and 14 state champions. Coach Stoll has coached 6 NCAA All Americans. In 2012, Wrestling USA Magazine named him National Coach of the Year.
Vincent R. Matteucci---has served either as an official or interpreter in the state of Ohio for 60 years. He has been instrumental in Ohio’s success in the sport of High School wrestling, with the wrestling official training program, which has helped produce outstanding officials. As Ohio State interpreter for 40 years, he helped to establish National Wrestling Federation High School Wrestling Rules.
Robert J Dieli, Sr---has spent the greater part of 68 years in the sport and promotion of Amateur Wrestling throughout the state of Ohio and most recently in Central Ohio. Bob’s devotion to the sport was in all three phases; Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Folkstyle often coaching some of the greatest wrestlers the state produced. Bob’s influence on Central Ohio wrestling was a who’s who of champions on the state, national and international levels.
Gene Gibbons---was the NCAA National Champion for Michigan State in 1951 and was the Olympic alternate. Gene Gibbons is probably best known for his 50 years of high school coaching with most of those coaching years at John Marshall High School in Cleveland. Gene has the most dual meet wins in Ohio history, though it hasn’t been verified as records were not well kept back in the day but he certainly is one of the coaches in Ohio with the most records.
Bob Triano---was a very successful coach at St Francis DeSales High School from 1965 to 1974 where his teams won two State Championships, but Bob also was an official for 31 years. During his officiating years he did 14 NCAA Division 1 Championships and 3 Division III Championships. He has been a clinician and conducted workshops for officials in Ohio. Bob has served as Wrestling Officials Evaluator at both the NCAA and NAIA National Tournaments.
Walter A. Tolarchyk, Jr.---was the first coach in Ohio to receive the Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award back in 1995. The Ohio Chapter realizing that in 1995, Walt did not receive the proper recognition deserving the award. So, we have invited Walt back to Ohio to receive is proper due for giving a lifetime of service to our great sport. Walt coached at North Canton HS for 27 years before retiring to North Carolina. But as so many wrestling coaches that retire from one school, Walt decided to coach again in North Carolina where he was head coach for 14 more years at Riverside High School
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Ohio Chapter will honor the above individuals on November 18, 2012 at The Embassy Suites in Dublin, Ohio. There will be a social hour with dinner and the induction ceremonies to follow. Additional information on how to buy tickets to attend the “Honors Banquet” is available at
www.nwhof.org and go to the Ohio State Chapter page. Information will also be available by contacting National State Chapter Director Mike Clair at
mclair@nwhof.org or by calling 717-615-2323
For a young wrestler that was about as good as it got. Walt was good friends with my Uncle (LaMotte) and I was around him many times. Just a great role model for a young wrestler.
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