SOMERS, N.Y. - Mahopac first-year wrestling coach Dennis DiSanto joined a select group recently when he recorded his 300th win as the Indians beat Beacon.
DiSanto, who spent his first 27 years at Somers where he amassed 295 victories, is one of three Section 1 wrestling coaches with 300 or more wins. Fox Lanes Joe Amuso, who hit 400, Tuesday, is first and Sleepy Hollow coach Brian Tompkins also has more than 300.
Joe and Brian have always been role models for me and I have always looked up to them so to stand with a few select coaches puts me in some pretty good company, said DiSanto, who is Guidance Counselor at Mahopac High School.
Following his milestone win, DiSanto was greeted by his wrestlers with a poster proclaiming, 300 Wins!
The wrestlers were coming up to me, one by one, and congratulating me and I had one of the parents tell me his son was not feeling well but would not consider missing the match because he wanted to be part of Section 1 history.
DiSanto said it was a struggle, when he first began coaching at Somers, to get kids into wrestling. Once he developed a youth program in Somers, it began to feed into the modified and then the varsity.
Everything came together in the late 90s, DiSanto said. From 97 to the present, Somers went on a roll, consistently developing good teams and great wrestlers.
I have always had great assistants, from my brother Ron, to the late Scott Hauser, to Chad Brenneman to Rory Tobias and currently, Rob Mifsud. I became a better coach, as time went on, and learned from all of my assistants.
As I spent more time in coaching, I learned its not about wins and losses, but the relationships you have with your wrestlers and the positive influence you have on their lives.
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