by Brent Hovey
Reporter
At the Ohio high school state wrestling championships March 1 in Columbus, Mark Osgood, an assistant coach at Aurora High School and a teacher in the Hudson schools, was inducted into the Ohio Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The honor recognized his contributions to the sport of wrestling off the mat over the course of 31 years.
"Every coach dreams of being recognized by their peers with such an honor," Osgood said. "I was practically speechless when I received the phone call.
"As days past leading up to the ceremony, I got more and more excited and realized how special the honor was."
The induction ceremony took place just before the state finals began in front of a packed house at Value City Arena. Osgood called it "incredible."
"It's quite an honor and humbling experience to be recognized with coaches and wrestlers that I idolized my whole life growing up in the sport," Osgood said.
His high school coach, Ray Steely, made the trip to see him being honored.
"He's the reason I became a teacher and coach," Osgood said about Steely. "He's the reason I became a teacher and coach. Without his influence and support, I'm not sure what I'd be doing today."
Osgood's brothers and family also attended. Osgood said making the event even more special was the good showing Aurora had at the competition.
As a team, the Greenmen took eighth place in Division II. Ty Mitch won the state title at 103 pounds, Johnny Papesh took third at 119 and Billy Painter finished off the podium, but won a couple of matches.
OSGOOD HAS spent the last six years as an assistant at Aurora under Hall of Fame coach Dick Bliss.
Osgood is a 1972 graduate of Rogers High School, where he was an Ohio high school state champion as a senior.
He also placed fifth in the Junior National Freestyle Tournament and wrestled for the USA junior freestyle team in Rome, Italy.
Accepting a scholarship to continue his career at Kent State University, Osgood was a team captain his last two years.
He won a Mid-American Conference championship and made two trips to the NCAA Division I tournament.
Following his collegiate career, Osgood took up teaching and coaching at the high school and university level.
During the past 31 years, he has guided numerous state and national qualifiers. He led teams to a 123-29-1 mark during his nine-year collegiate coaching career.
Osgood is a six-time conference coach of the year and has guided teams to fourth-, sixth- and eighth-place finishes in the Division II national tournament.
He also was named Division II coach of the year in 1985. During his tenure, 26 All-Americans in college and 25 high school place winners received honors.
As a year-round coach in wrestling, Osgood coached teams at the National Cadet Freestyle Tournament, High School German-American meet and Ohio-Michigan all-star meet.
Osgood holds two master's degrees in education and has authored books and numerous articles about wrestling. He is in the Ashland University and Rogers High School athletic halls of fame.
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