Of all of the former wrestlers from the Coach John Passarini years, Paul Mangini, Waltham High Class of 1971 and a captain on the first Hawk team, might be the most important wrestler Passarini ever coached.
When you hear the argument for why, it makes sense why Passarini might pick Mangini above all, including some of his all-time greats.
``Back in 1970, I offered to start a wrestling team at the high school. An announcement was made over the loudspeaker that anyone interested in wrestling report to the lower gym after school,'' Passarini recalled. ``So after school, I went to the lower gym - I had wrestling photos, I had my singlet on, and a clip board ready to take down the names of the kids who wanted to try out for the team.'
``But nobody came.
``Then Paul (Mangini) wanders into the gym. He wasn't there for wrestling. He wanted to get in a workout.
``I grabbed him. I showed him a few moves, told him a few things about wrestling, and suggested with his strength and size, he could be a great wrestler.
``Then Paul said, `How can we have a team? I'm the only one here.'
``At that point, Paul's friend, Chris Keene, came into the lower gym looking for Paul to pick him up to go home. They never made it out of the room - I stood in front of the door. A few minutes later, Paul and Chris joined the team and were my first wrestling team captains.''
They're two of the 19 guys in the first team photo on the Web site www.coachpass33.com.
Besides Mangini and Keefe, Passarini coached more than 225 student athletes from 1971 to 1983. The roster includes: Joe DiStefano (1979), Passarini's only three-time sectional champion; Fred Smerlas (1975), a two-time state and New England champion at heavyweight; Gregg Schoener (1977) a state and New England champion; and Kevin Randall (1981), a state champion and New England finalist.
``For me, it was not all about winning and losing,'' Passarini said. ``Sure, I wanted to win, and my guys to win. But it was more important to me that they got the most out of their experiences, win or lose.''
It is amazing to see how many wrestlers joined the program after Mangini and Keene, and, that 23 different families of brothers wrestled for Passarini.
``We're going to talk a lot about this on June 23rd,'' Passarini said of the Coach Pass Years reunion at the Sons of Italy Hall in Waltham. ``Why did so many families have multiple sons on my teams? Freddie and Chuckie Smerlas? Gregg, Brian and Billy Schoener? Rick, David and Timmy Pidgeon? Four Morreale brothers? Four Martin brothers?''
Another reason why Passarini considers the event as much of a family reunion as a team reunion.
