Profile: Peter Michienzi

On Nov.6/03, Pete Michienzi was inducted into the London Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding career as a 52 kg. wrestler. This self-taught grappler, still looking fit enough to go a few rounds, won an astonishing, record-setting 15 Canadian national championships over a period of 12 years. His nearest rival for the crown, Jim Trifunov, had seven. From 1957 to 1969 Pete won 10 freestyle titles and five Greco-Roman gold medals -all but one of them at 52 kg. His unorthodox style baffled everyone who met him for the first time and for most, remained unsolvable even subsequently.

It wasn't always an easy romp for in addition to the hard training after a full day's work running a paper press, Pete had to find facilities and training partners wherever he could - and remember, no coach. Jogging to work provided his much needed endurance exercise while scraping up funds to pay for trips to competition taxed his organizational/financial skills. There were no carded athletes in those days; no government assistance. Still, he overcame the obstacles consistently until he met one that very nearly finished his promising career before it had a chance to blossom. Pete's hand and forearm were crushed in a paper press in 1958. Would he ever compete again? Surgery and many months of rehabilitation exercise followed. Pete, when he was able to go back to work, took a sponge ball with him and at every opportunity stood or sat squeezing the ball in a determined effort to restore sufficient strength in the hand and forearm to enable him to wrestle once again. Despite the indication that his competition days were over, Pete was back on the mats within a year to reestablish his national dominance.

Naturally, one would expect an athlete of this calibre to represent Canada on the international stage and Pete became a member of the Commonwealth Games team in 1962 (silver medal) and 1966 (bronze medal) as well as the Pan-Am team of 1963 and 1967. He also was selected for the 1968 Olympic team where, unfortunately, he suffered a dislocated elbow in training shortly after arrival in Mexico.

After retiring from competition, Pete became a referee and continues his association with the sport as a founding member of the London-Western Wrestling Club in which he serves as treasurer.

Pete Michienzi's induction into the London Sports Hall of Fame is a well-deserved recognition of his skill as an athlete; his dedication to excellence; and his dogged determination in the face of great odds against him. Congratulations!

Profile: Earl McCready

Earl Gray McCready (June 15, 1908 – December 9, 1983) was an amateur wrestler who competed in the U.S. for Oklahoma State University in folkstyle, and as a Canadian freestyle sport wrestler who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics.

He was born in Landsdowne, Ontario and died in Seattle, United States.

In 1928 he finished sixth in the Olympic Freestyle Heavyweight Tournament.

At the 1930 Empire Games he won the gold medal in the heavyweight class.

McCready attracted the attention of Oklahoma State wrestling coaches when he defeated their heavyweight at a 1926 tournament in Canada. McCready came to the Stillwater, Oklahoma college, where he played football and wrestled. In three years of wrestling varsity, the 5'11", 238-pound McCready was 25-0, with all but three of his victories by pin.

As an Oklahoma State Cowboy, McCready won three NCAA heavyweight titles (1928-1930), becoming the first three-time NCAA champion at any weight. He was also the first foreign-born NCAA wrestling champ. He is one of only two collegiate wrestlers with three NCAA titles to win all three of his finals matches by pin (the other being Dan Hodge of the University of Oklahoma, 177-pound champ, 1955-1957). McCready still owns the record fastest fall in an NCAA final, pinning Ralph Freese of the University of Kansas in just nineteen seconds at the very first NCAA wrestling championship in 1928.

Profile: Doug Cox

A four-time senior national champion and four-time gold medalist at the Pan American Junior Championships, Cox was also a gold medalist at the 1987 Pan American Games and represented Canada at the 1988 and 1996 Olympics.

He wrestled for Guelph from 1984 to 1985 and is the current head coach for the Gryphons . He was named OUA Coach of the Year in his first year of coaching and received the title again in 2002. In 2000, he served as the Sydney Olympic Games Greco-Roman head coach.

Profile: Richard Deschatelets

In 2000, DesChatelets was the Canadian Olympic Wrestling Head Coach in Sydney, Australia. In his 26 year coaching career he has had the opportunity to coach such Olympic wrestling greats as Gia Sissouri, Marty Calder, Nick Ugoalah, Aaron Pomeroy, two-time Olympic medalist Tonya Verbeek and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Daniel Igali. In 1981 he started the Niagara Wrestling Club (now known as the Brock Wrestling Club) which has more than 200 members today.

As a wrestler, he also had a very strong resume, as he spent 12 years as a member of Canada’s wrestling team. He captured two gold at the Commonwealth Games (1978, 1982) and two silver and a bronze medals at the Pan-Am Games. In 1979 he finished in fourth place at Sr. World Championships. A year later in 1980, he defeated the Olympic champion (Canada boycotted the Games). In 1973, at the age of 19, he placed third at the Junior World Championships. As a wrestler at the University of Guelph, DesChatelets captured three CIAU gold medals and one silver.

DesChatelets has been inducted into three Hall of Fames. In 1984, he was inducted into the University of Guelph Hall of Fame. In 1993, he was inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame, and in 2002 he was inducted into the West Nipissing Hall of Fame in his hometown of Sturgeon Falls, Ont. He graduated in 1979 with a BSc degree from University of Guelph and in 1986 graduated with a MSc degree in Sports Administration from Canisius College. He has his Level IV Masters Coaching Certification.

"Richard is the winningest coach in CIS wrestling history,"said Adams. "That is well documented. What is not documented however, is the tremendously positive impact he has had on the lives of the scores of athletes that have come through the program."

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