Late Berlin Coach Elected to CHSCA Hall of Fame

BERLIN, CT — A longtime coach at Berlin High School is one of nine individuals who will be inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame at its 42nd annual ceremony Nov. 15 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.

The late Jim Day started coaching wrestling at Berlin High School in 1981 and went on to win nine state championships, 20 conference titles and coached four New England champions. He had a career coaching record of 445-132-3. He coached four All-American wrestlers and 10 State Open titlists. He developed the criteria for seeding wrestlers in the state tournaments and started the Academic All-State wrestling team. He was also the head of the school's special education program and was one of two founders of Berlin Unified Sports. He has been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Connecticut Chapter.

Other honorees will be:

• Michele D. Cordeau, Wolcott cheerleading
• Gilbert Paul LaPointe, Norwich Free Academy cross country/tennis
• Richard Bertram Medve, Ridgefield/Newtown cross country/track
• George S. Taterosian, Trumbull swimming
• Harold Freedman, Amity tennis
• Howard K. Gura, Shelton girls basketball
• Ralph J. DeSantis, Jr., Bethel football (posthumously)
• Marc Allard, media

Tickets for the dinner are $46 and available in advance by contacting the CHSCA office at P.O. Box 632, Southington, CT 06487 or by calling 860-628-4122 or e-mailing John Fontana at jfontana01@snet.net. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Story courtesy of Connecticut High School Coaches Association
Photo credit: Robert Mayer

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