Coach locks up honour
HALL OF FAME CEREMONY: Since his parents didn't have enough money for him to play hockey, Tom Mastantuono turned to wrestling and fell in love with the sport
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Twenty-five years ago, when Tom Mastantuono started high school wrestling, he never imagined it would begin a path to the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame.
Mastantuono said last night at the 14th induction ceremony at the Ambassador Conference Resort that he was just combining the things he loved to do -- wrestling and coaching.
"If you told me six months ago I would be (going into the hall of fame), I would said, 'No way.' I didn't even think of this stuff," Mastantuono, one of six people inducted last night, said.
"I was doing it because I loved the kids. I loved the fact I was coaching wrestling."
Three of the newest inductees, Leonard Coyle, Bill Fitsell and Mastantuono, were recognized in the builders category.
Mary Skeggs and Sean Reade were inducted for their athletic accomplishments, while Aldo Popazzi, who played soccer and now continues to coach, entered as an athlete/builder.
"I am very honoured to be amongst some of these legends that I've seen in the past," said Mastantuono, 53, who was born in Tufo, Italy.
He said he turned to wrestling in his youth because his parents couldn't afford to enrol him in hockey.
"When I got to wrestling I said, 'Hey, this sport is for me.' I saw that the harder I worked, the more opportunities it might get to win medals," Mastantuono said.
It was that same hard-work approach Mastantuono, a teacher for 25 years at Regiopolis- Notre Dame, handed to his wrestlers. He founded the Regi wrestling team in 1984 and over the tears his athletes won 20 Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association titles.
"Some of those kids who weren't big enough or maybe tall enough to play other sports really fit in well with our program," Mastantuono said.
"Some of them grew to become stronger and went on to excel in other sports."
Mastantuono founded the Kingston and Area Olympic Wrestling Club in 1985 and out of it would come Olympic wrester Paul Ragusa and Canadian university champions Cleopas Ncube and Terri McNutt.
"Tonight, I'm thinking about a lot of those kids. This honour has given me an opportunity to pause and reflect (on) the 25 years I spent with some of these great kids,'' he said.
"There were kids too that maybe weren't great athletes, but just great kids. Those are the kids I admire very much."
Reade, a high school track and football star at Sydenham High School 20 years ago, returned for his induction from Houston, where he now works in the gas and oil industry.
Reade, 35, was in awe walking around reading the stories of the athletes and builders already in the Kingston Sports Hall of Fame.
"To go around the room and see all those inductees, it really is an hour to be amongst them," Reade said.
"There are a lot of individual memories that are coming back. I remember the high school football championships and the 1994 championship (Vanier Cup) with Western.
Hockey historian W. J. (Bill) Fitsell said coming to Kingston in 1953 from his native Lindsay and working as a reporter forThe Kingston Whig-Standardallowed him to seek and unravel the roots of hockey.
"A scribe going into the hall with real athletes and builders," said Fitsell, who made a pitch for some forgotten Kingston athletes to be included in the hall in the near future.
The historian also showed his knowledge of current events when he pointed out two proud hall members who were key builders for the Kingston Kimco Voyageurs, Scotty Martin and Bill Reason.
With the Vees headed off to the RBC Cup Canadian junior A championship in Victoria, Fitsell led more than 300 people in attendance in a special shout-out.
Instead of the signature thumbs up of Don Cherry, another hall of fame member, Fitsell asked for a 'double Vee' salute from peoples' hands.
"Go Vees Go," he said, adding, "that's to prove historians aren't always in the past."
Copyright © 2009 The Whig Standard
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Article in the May 2, 2009 Whig Standard, written by Doug Graham
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