Brookfield and New Farifield High Schools, Official
Brewster, New York
Rick Sherman
East Lyme High School
East Lyme, CT
Carl Snitkin
Norwich Free Academy
Norwich, CT
Roger Vertefeuille
Bulkeley High School
Hartford, CT
John A. Vino
Official
Stonington, CT
Arthur Peter Ziegler
East Lyme and Montville High Schools
Oakdale, CT
Medal of Courage Award
PFC Jeffrey Francis Braun
State of Connecticut
Mark C. Lawrence
State of Connecticut
Andrew Levitt
State of Connecticut
Outstanding American Award
Gralyn Harris
State of Connecticut
Richard M. Larrabee
State of Connecticut
John Rowland
State of Connecticut
Erik Weihenmayer
State of Connecticut
What we do
The Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors individuals in three ways:
The Lifetime Service Award Program, coordinated by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, is designed to honor and recognize dedicated wrestling people for their years of commitment to young people. The award is not about win/loss records. It is about a person’s dedicated efforts to help young people to not only succeed in wrestling, but also in life.
The Medal of Courage Award is given to a wrestler who has overcome overwhelming adversity to be successful on the mats and in his own life.
The Outstanding American Award is presented to an individual who was a former wrestler and has received state or national acclaim in his/her chosen profession.
Each award recipient is permanently recognized in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (Stillwater, Oklahoma) with an embossed name plaque, and each receives a plaque and jacket to commemorate this very special occasion.
Connecticut Chapter, National Wrestling Hall of Fame
Welcome!
Welcome to the home of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. The Connecticut Chapter is a direct extension of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Chapter and Museum in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The Connecticut Chapter provides outreach and support for the National Hall. Our chapter was formed to honor committed coaches, officials, contributors and other deserving individuals from Connecticut.
Nominations
Any person may nominate an individual for induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame by the Connecticut Chapter. Please complete and submit the nomination form below.
For any questions regarding nominations and submission of information, please contact Mark Cammisa, Vice President, Nominations by e-mail at markcammisa@comcast.net
3. A commitment to the community and the youth in it
Outstanding American
1. Integrity
2. Former wrestler at some point in their life
3. Highly successful in their profession or nationally famous for their work
4. Used the disciplines learned in wrestling to reach those levels
Medal of Courage
1. A current or former wrestler who has overcome exceptional challenges
The Connecticut chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame has selected two outstanding student athletes to receive $750 college scholarships in 2012. New Milford’s Conor Kirkegard has been selected to receive the Career Achievement scholarship while Griswold’s Brandon Walsh has been chosen to receive the Scholar Athlete scholarship.
Click on the link below for more information on the two scholarship winners.
Six Connecticut men inducted into National Hall of Fame
In front of 500 people, six Connecticut men were recognized Saturday night at the MGM Grand Hotel at Foxwoods for their accomplishments in wrestling with inductions into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame by the Connecticut chapter of the HOF. The men are:
n John Chacho, the former coach at Staples High in Westport and former official
n Frank Chaves, the former coach at Simsbury High and a current official
n Ken DeStefanis, the former coach at Central Connecticut State University and current youth wrestling club coach in Southington
n Staff Sergeant Joseph Kapacziewski, a former wrestler at Bristol Eastern High, who is currently an Army Ranger. He has been on multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
n Bernard Nasser, a long-time official and former coach at Fitch High in Groton
n Ricky Shook, the coach at Danbury High School
Chaco, Chaves, DeStefanis, Nasser and Shook will receive a Lifetime Achievement award for coaches, officials, media or contributors with at least 20 years of service. Kapacziewski is being honored with a Medal of Courage, an award for a wrestler or former wrestler who has overcome insurmountable challenges.
Each manrecipient will be permanently recognized in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (Stillwater, Oklahoma) with an embossed name plaque, They also receive a plaque and jacket. These six joined 29 other inductees from Connecticut in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
An initiative is underway by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame to recognize men and women in the wrestling community who have served our country as part of the armed forces. The Connecticut chapter is looking to assist by compiling a list of Connecticut wrestlers, coaches and officials that are currently serving in the military or served in the past. Here is the information we’re looking for:
nFormer wrestlers – Name; high school; year of graduation; years wrestled; branch of military; years served in military; current hometown
nCurrent or former coaches – Name; schools coached at; coaching title; years coached; branch of military; years served in military; current hometown
nCurrent or former officials – Name; years served as an official; branch of the military; years served in military; current hometown
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and its Connecticut chapter would like to recognize the brave men and women who put their lives on the line each day to protect our freedom and our country. Please e-mail your information and/or questions to Gerry deSimas at CTwrestling7@yahoo.com, Nick Grosso at raiders818075@yahoo.com or any other member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. http://ctwrestling7.homestead.com/HallofFame.html
