Six former wrestlers inducted into the EIWA Hall of Fame on Saturday evening

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John Fuller (TheMat.com)
03/08/2003


Six former EIWA wrestling stars were inducted into the EIWA Hall of Fame during the 99th EIWA Championships in Ithaca, N.Y. on Saturday evening. The six are Frank Russell, Yale; Chris Catalfo and John Janiak, Syracuse; Paul Diekel, Lehigh; and Thomas Boak and Glenn Stafford, Cornell.     The ceremony took place prior to the final round of the tournament on Saturday evening.    Here are brief biographical sketches for the honorees:     * FRANK RUSSELL was our league's sixth wrestler to win three EIWA championships, while wrestling for Yale at 175 pounds from 1924-1926. Through local news coverage of his senior championship, he would likely have been selected Most Outstanding Wrestler had the award been initiated that early. He was president and chairman of the board of the Cerro de Pasco Copper Company during the 1940's and 1950's. He served as a director of the Bank of Manhatten, National Aviation Corporation, Otis Elevator Company, and Union Sulphur & Oil Corporation.     * CHRIS CATALFO was a 3-time EIWA champion for Syracuse at 150 and 158 pounds from 1981-1983. A top five seed at Nationals three different times, he was ranked as high as second in the nation and competed in the 1982 East-West All-Star Classic. Catalfo placed fifth at the NCAA tournament in both 1982 and 1983, to become one of eleven multiple Orangeman All-Americans. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team in 1984 and finished seventh at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He resides in Orlando, FL.     * JOHN JANIAK was a 3-time EIWA champion for Syracuse University at 158 pounds, also placing third as a freshman at 150 lbs in 1974. Seeded top four at the NCAAs three different times, he was a two-time All-American, placing second and third in the nation in his sophomore and senior seasons, in 1975 and 1978. He was the Orangemen's fifth two-time All-American. As a sophomore, he reached the NCAA finals with a dramatic 11-8 semifinals win over 3-time All-American and number one seed, Larry Zilverberg, who retired with only four career losses-2nd best in the history of University of Minnesota wrestling. Janiak's finals loss was his only defeat that season. He was the winner of the Fletcher Award in 1978. He resides in Camillus, New York.     * PAUL DIEKEL transferred to Lehigh from the University of Oklahoma and became a 3-time EIWA champion. He also became one of Lehigh's 12 three-time All-Americans, while competing at 190 pounds from 1984-86. His NCAA places were 3rd, 5th and 6th and he earned career wins over three wrestlers from Oklahoma, Michigan and Iowa State who became national champions. Diekel had a career mark of 38-3 in dual meets and he was 49-1 against Eastern competition, winning the EIWA Fletcher Award in 1986. He runs his own practice as a Chiropractor in Casleton, New York.     * THOMAS BOAK, Cornell Class of '14 was a three-time EIWA champion from 1912-14 at 115 and 125 pounds. Considered one of the finest technical wrestlers in the first half century, he never lost a bout in three years, led his team to three league titles and was team captain as a senior. A member of the executive committee on Cornell's board of trustees, he died in 1969, before he was selected as a charter member of the Cornell University Hall of Fame in 1978. He had three sons who graduated from Cornell in 1939, 1941, and 1950 and a grandson in the class of 1969. Boak worked as manager of Winchester Repeating Arms Co., in New Haven, Conn.     * GLENN DEWEY STAFFORD, Cornell Class of '30 was the only Eastern wrestler in the first three NCAA Tournaments to earn a national title, winning at 175-lbs as a senior in 1929. He captured two EIWA titles, winning at heavyweight in 1928 and at 175 pounds in 1929, also placing second at 175 in 1927. He compiled a dual match record of 15-1 during his three-year varsity career and was crowned National AAU champion in 1929. Stafford died in 1971 after a career as a teacher in Cortland County, four years as a professional wrestler, two years as director of the Works Progress Administration in New York City and a decade with the U.S. Postal Service. He was a member of the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and was inducted posthumously into the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981.