Solose, John
item
- Player Name
- Solose, John
- Type
- Athlete
- Sport
- Wrestling
- Inducted
- 2009
- Era
- 1900 – 1970
- Description
-
Inducted January 18 2009
Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario on April 6th, 1948, John spent his youth years taking part in the Greater Niagara minor soccer programs and played on a senior school football team. In 1964 John was enrolled at Westlane Secondary School and grade 9 is where he became very interested in wrestling. He started being competitive almost immediately and worked very hard under the guidance of Dave Langhorn, who was the Head of the Physical Education Department at Westlane ; John being the rookie that year and weighing in at 180 pounds, competed in the 183 pound category against much higher and more experienced wrestlers. John then decided to wrestle in the unlimited weight class category which was 183 pounds and higher where he competed against individuals twice his size. Surprisingly, he won a fair share of matches and gained valuable experience and confidence in the wrestling field that year ; By the time John entered grade 11 in the fall of 1966, he had his first SOSSA Zone 1V championship as well as a SOSSA wrestling championship under his belt. That year, under the guidance of Bob Smith, his wrestling coach at the time, John entered a special wrestling competition to qualify for a position in the Ontario Provincial Wrestling Team to compete in the “First Canadian Winter Games” held in Quebec City in February of 1967. The match was held in Kitchener, Ontario where he won his weight division and ended up qualifying for the Winter Games where he would represent his hometown of Niagara Falls, Ontario ;
The “First Canadian Winter Games” was John’s first national competition, where 2,000 athletes across Canada took part in this competition. John placed a respectable fifth place out of the ten provinces and two territories that represented all of Canada ; In John’s Final year at Westlane, John won one more Zone 1V as well as another SOSSA Championship which would complete his wrestling career ; John’s hard work, dedication and great motivation has earned him a spot in the Niagara Falls Sports Wall of Fame ; - Subject
-
Niagara Falls Virtual Sports Wall of Fame
Awards
Portraits - Biographical
Sports - Recreation - Leisure
