Retiring Hawks wrestling coach to be honored

Contributed Story Posted 8 January 2019 at 2:47 pm

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Retiring Holley-Kendall wrestling Coach John Grillo will be honored at the teams’s annual Senior Night on January 15.

The Holley-Kendall wrestling team’s Senior Night on Tuesday, January 15 will feature a special recognition ceremony for retiring Coach John Grillo.

The ceremonies will be held at 5:30 p.m. with the Holley-Kendall seniors being recognized first, with Grillo being honored for his 44 years of coaching immediately afterwards.

The match will commence following these ceremonies with Holley-Kendall competing against Lyndonville and St. Mary’s High Schools.

Grillo has more than 780 wins in his coaching career, which has spanned more than 30 years at Holley and 12 years at Pavilion.

In 2016, he held the record for the most wins in New York State. He was named a National Coach of the Year finalist, and he has been Genesee Region Coach of the Year 16 times and Section V Coach of the Year six times.

Grillo was a wrestling coach during his entire teaching career, and he has continued to coach after retiring from Holley in 2017. His wrestlers have won 22 Genesee Region League titles and 12 Section V Championships.  He also coached two state champions.

Many members of past Holley wrestling teams will be present at this event as well.