For several years, the final day of the wrestling state championships has included a parade honoring previous inductees into the Georgia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, as well as its newest members.
Kell coach Steve Lattizori has been in attendance for many of these parades and often times wondered if he would ever get the chance to stand in front the audience.
In February, he got that chance.
Lattizori was informed last year that he would be inducted as part of the hall’s six-member class of 2016.
“I’ve sat there at the tournament the last few years, when they’d induct people into the hall of fame, and I think to myself, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty cool,’ or, ‘I’ve coached against him,’” Lattizori said. “And watching these people, I’ve always felt like they were older people.
“So I guess I’m one of them now. I’m thinking, ‘How did that happen?’”
Lattizori will receive the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award for his contributions to wrestling, and he will be formally inducted May 1 during a banquet at the Marietta Hilton Hotel and Conference Center.
“It’s a cool experience and an honor, but then you start thinking about it, and it’s kind of a humbling experience to be grouped in with the greats,” Lattizori said. “The people that are in the Georgia chapter are guys that, coming up when I first started coaching, I almost idolized, wanting to see what they were doing and to be in that group with them.
“There are great coaches and referees and wrestlers that have been inducted, so it’s just a neat fraternity.”
Lattizori’s career spans 32 years, including three years as the coach at Pace Academy, 13 years at Wheeler and 14 at Kell. He was an assistant coach at Pace for two seasons.
A four-time Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year, Lattizori has coached 20 individual state champions and numerous state-placers. He led two Wheeler teams to state runner-up finishes and guided two Pace Academy teams to third-place showings at the state meet. He has had two Kell teams finish among the top six.
Lattizori has been a clinician at several wrestling camps through the years, and he was twice named the Georgia High School Physical Education Teacher of the Year.
“It’s a badge of honor to be associated with him,” said Rich Brothers, Lattizori’s longtime assistant coach at Kell. “We’ve had a lot of fun over the years watching these kids grow and helping them. This award has been a long time coming because he deserves it. I couldn’t be more thrilled and happy for him.”
Overall, the 55-year-old Lattizori has 504 career dual match victories — including 127 at Wheeler and 42 at Pace — but there was a time when he didn’t think he would earn induction into the hall of fame.
Lattizori battled throat cancer roughly five years ago, losing a lot of weight and his hair as an effect of the treatments.
“It’s definitely everything I imagined it would be,” Lattizori said. “I didn’t know I’d be inducted in because I never had a state championship team. That was one of the things that I always looked at. I look at it as something we strive for every year. Some years, you have a team you know where you don’t have the horses to do it. And then, other times, you do. If you get the right breaks and a little luck here and there, it could happen.
“When I was at Wheeler, we finished second twice. We tried. We came close, and I thought that might keep me out, but that’s part of coaching. That’s the challenge, and it’s nice to be challenged.
“So, when I did get the information (of the hall of fame induction), I had to check the envelope twice to make sure it was addressed to me. Then, when I got that call, it was pretty sweet.”
Lattizori joins Cobb County coaching mainstays Jeff Wheeler (2008) and Steve Day (2009) among recent inductees.
“I’m ecstatic for Steve after all he’s been through,” said Wheeler, the former Marietta coach and current president of the hall of fame’s Georgia chapter. “It’s a feather in his cap. (Lattizori), Day and I have known each other for years, and I’m proud we’ll be able to wear our (hall of fame) jackets around.”
Lattizori said he is thankful for how Day and Wheeler have been so helpful over the years.
“Jeff’s just a good coach and all-around great guy. We were all in the same region with him, Day and myself,” Lattizori said. “We’d go to the seeding meeting and hang out afterwards. The knowledge that they possess was awesome, being a young coach and hanging around those guys — not that they’re a lot older than me — and then I always enjoyed wrestling against Marietta.
“Now, Steve, when he was there at Lassiter, we had battles. By the time the match ended, I was exhausted because there was so much gamesmanship and strategy and everything else that you had to totally focus the whole way. But it was fun. That’s the neat part of wrestling, when you’re up against coaches it’s like a chess match. We both had great teams and great kids.”
Reprinted from the Marietta Daily Journal, April 9, 2016. Written by Carlton D. White.
