Whenever a Baldwinsville wrestler won his particular bout during the program’s heyday of the late 1970s and early 1980s, he would go off the mat and celebrate by ringing a loud bell, painted red with a white “B” on the front face.
That bell rang a lot.
In fact, for four consecutive seasons, from 1977 to 1981, B’ville never lost to anyone, beat opponents by an average of 58.6 points and finished four straight seasons atop the state rankings, building a legend that drew overflow crowds to home meets and thousands to other meets at other venues.
For that remarkable work, B’ville has received the “Team of Honor” designation from the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, and will be honored along with the eight individuals from the Class of 2017 at the Hall of Fame dinner on Oct. 16 at the OnCenter.
The coach that built the B’ville dynasty, Leo Johnson, who is already a member of the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, attended Monday’s announcement of the Bees’ selection at NBT Bank Stadium along with 13 of the wrestlers who were part of those teams.
It’s great, said Johnson, that the team members got recognized, and not just himself, for what they did together.
“We accomplished something that not many schools could copy, and a lot tried,” said Johnson. “They all aspired to be like B’ville.”
No one could get there – at least not from 1973 to 1982, a period where B’ville had a 144 meets and won 142 of them. So popular were the Bees that larger venues were required, including one memorable meet against Port Jervis in 1979 that drew more than 6,000 to Manley Field House.
To a man, the wrestlers said the secret to their long run of success was hard work and devotion to a system that began with peewee wrestling in grade school.
Mike Conners, who won an individuals state title in 1980 at 177 pounds went on to a 25-year career coaching at one of B’ville’s main rivals, Fulton, said that the family atmosphere from coaches and wrestlers spread to the town.
“We were (dedicated) to the sport, and so was the community,” said Conners. “It was like a giant family.”
Indeed, plenty of brother tandems were part of the dynasty, from Mike and Pat Conners (who had his own long coaching career, mostly at South Jefferson) to the Pickard brothers.
Tom Pickard won a pair of state championships in 1977 (at 132 pounds) and ’78 (at 145 pounds). His brother, John, won a pair of Section III titles, too, and said the intense work done by him and his brother at home in a basement outfitted into a wrestling room led to plenty of mat success.
Pickard added that Johnson “fathered everybody”, meaning that he could keep his wrestlers in line even away from practices and meets, making sure they didn’t stray from the winning formula.
Johnson made sure everyone worked, too. Wrestlers said that practices went at least two hours during the season, five days a week, and on Saturdays they all gave back by teaching the peewee wrestlers, in exchange for having them sit in the front row during home meets.
None of them, said Conners, felt any extra pressure maintaining the Bees’ long unbeaten streak. “All we thought about was the excitement of competition,” he said.
And while the talent in wrestling remains strong, the B’ville team members said that building a similarly dominant program is far more difficult now.
Conners, who now coaches at Oswego High School, pointed out that many these days want instant gratification, the exact opposite of the amount of time and practice it takes to excel at wrestling.
B’ville put in that time – and now its wrestling dynasty has a permanent place in the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame.
