Lyndonville wrestling tournament Saturday to honor memory of Coach Fred Large

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 6 December 2018 at 8:32 am

Contributed Photo – Lyndonville wrestling program founder Coach Fred Large is shown here with two of his sons, Bob, left, and Ron in this 1985 photo. The Tigers tournament on Saturday will honor his memory.

The Lyndonville High wrestling team will honor the memory of the program’s founder in a very special way Saturday as the Tigers host the inaugural Fred Large Memorial Invitational Tournament.

The JV and Varsity tournament will get underway at 9 a.m. with three mats being used in each of the two gyms. The Middle School gym in fact is named in honor of Large.

A total of 10 teams are entered in the Varsity Division including Holley, Medina, Akron, Livonia, Pavilion, Byron-Bergen, CSAT, Gow, Gilead and the host Tigers. In addition, the JV Division will also have wrestlers from St. Joe’s, Geneva and Greece.

Large came to Lyndonville in 1963 to teach science and in short order got the Tigers wrestling program going. He guided the Tigers for 15 years during which time they captured no less than nine Genesee Region League titles and one Section V title while compiling an impressive 226-60-4 record. That record included 47 match win streak at one point.

Large returned to mat side after a brief two year retirement and coached the Tigers for five more years and another Section V title. He finished his 20 years of coaching with over 250 career victories.

Large, who was inducted into the Section V Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005, coached, and coached with, two of his sons, Bob and Ron.

On the occasion of his Hall of Fame induction Large’s long-time teaching and coaching partner Mark Hughes paid tribute to him when he said, “Fred is one of the most enthusiastic men I’ve ever met and not only for wrestling but for teaching. He just loves working with kids. He was a great coach. He really knew his stuff and he was a tremendous motivator. The kids really gravitated to him and he had the ability to get the best out of the kids. He was a real difference maker in a lot of kids lives.”