The lone wrestling honoree in this year’s class, he truly stood out as one as one of area’s top wrestling coaches in the Mahoning Valley.
Born January 20, 1938, he is a 1956 graduate of Howland High School and between 1956-67, despite being drafted into the U.S. Army, attended both Ohio State and Youngstown State University’s, going on to earn both his undergraduate and MA degrees from OSU.
Credited with starting the Brookfield High School wrestling program in 1968, he stayed with the Warriors’ program through 1975 then moved over to Liberty High School where he worked his magic once again, putting his knowledge to work by starting the Leopards’ mat program.
He led the Leopards to multiple league championships, remaining with the program through the 1993 campaign yet when he turned over the reins to the new coaching staff, he continued to attend practices and happily lent a helping hand to the new regime that had taken over.
A coach who believed in scheduling up in competition and not down, he won more dual meets than he lost – he is angry at himself for not keeping better dual meet records – and felt that the better competition made his team better wrestlers while preparing them for the upcoming post-season tournament.
He was selected ‘Wrestling Coach of the Year’ on numerous occasions by the Warren Tribune-Chronicle, noting with tongue in cheek that his school principal was fond of saying, “Well, Lott, the kids made you look good again” when they defeated a team they weren’t supposed to.
A member of the charter class of Liberty High School’s Athletics Hall of Fame, he was also named to the initial class of the EOWL (Eastern Ohio Wrestling League) Hall of Fame as well.
Along with trusted assistant coaches Tom Blake, Jim Hideg and Tom Cornicelli, they coached several state tournament placers including David Lucas, the 1981 heavyweight runner-up, Laszko Szalay, 1984 runner-up at 175 pounds, Brian Demidovich, who took third-place in 1986 at 138 pounds and the 1991 state heavyweight champion, John Delgarbino.
He helped mold 16 other wrestlers into state qualifiers with several grapplers going on to place either fifth or sixth at state.
He still attends practices and enjoys teaching the finer points of the game, noting “There are ways to help the unteachable, then watch them smile when they can do a Liberty lip-flip.”
He adds, “When I see older kids that I have coached, I thank them for helping me cheat getting old!”
He is most proud of the fact that many team members went on to successful careers outside the mat, going on to become doctors, attorney’s, judges and teachers, among other white collar professions.
He is married to the former Ellen O’Shanic and they are the proud parents of three children, son Dr. Brian Lott, MD. (Rosemarie), and daughters Kathleen and Dr. Monica (Justin Leigh) Lott, PhD.
They have two grandchildren, Evelyn Leigh and Andrew Leigh and they reside in Orangeville, Ohio.
