The name Leo Palacio is synonymous with Long Beach Wrestling. Palacio and his brothers were the cornerstones of the rise of the program under Hall of Fame coaches Paul Gillespie and Reggie Jones. Leo and his brothers Al and Luis moved to Long Beach from Medellin, Colombia in the late 1970’s. While attending the Long Beach Middle School, Coach Richie Sedlik convinced the boys to wrestle and as they say, the rest is history. For the last 45 years, Leo Palacio has been a mainstay of the Long Beach wrestling program. The impact he has had on the youth of Long Beach not only with the wrestling program is immeasurable. 

Leo wrestled for Long Beach High School from 1979-1982. During that time, Long Beach Wrestling skyrocketed from mediocrity to the top of New York State. Leo was a 4x All-County wrestler for the Marines and he won the 1981 Nassau County Championship at 126 lbs. His brother Al was a three-time New York State Champion and four-time Nassau County Champion. Younger brother Luis was also a Nassau County Champion and placed third in New York State. In 1982 Long Beach won the New York State Wrestling Tournament in Syracuse, NY. Highlighted by his brother Al winning a state title. This was an accomplishment for the program paved by the hard work and dedication of Leo and his teammates that included state finalist Sylvester Lake, Herbie Valentin and Mike Leonard. `Upon graduating, Leo took his skills to the University of North Carolina where he wrestled for Coach Bill Lam and played soccer for the Tar Heels. 

Upon his return to Long Beach, he started coaching with Coach Gillespie and Jones. Leo served as the middle school wrestling coach and assistant varsity coach from 1985-1996 for them. During that tenure, Long Beach won 17 Nassau County titles and won the 1987 New York State Championship. Richard Santana and James “Scotty” Graham each won state titles. In 1993 he helped Aldy Teran become the sixth state champion in program history. In 1997, Kevin Haggerty became the seventh New York State Champion for Long Beach and Head Coach Damian Garcia.

Palacio was instrumental in developing Haggerty. Since the 1998 season, Palacio has been assisting Ray Adams with the Long Beach Marines. During that span, Long Beach has continued to achieve great things. The program won two state dual meet titles in 2016 and 2017 and was awarded the Pascal Perri Cup twice by the Friends of Long Island Wrestling as the #1 ranked team in New York State. He also helped the Marines win five more county titles and bring home ten more state champions during this span. Eduardo Delgado (2006), P.J. Gillespie (2007), Elijah Rodriguez (2018), Dunia Sibomana (2022) and the first 5X New York State Champion in Long Island history Jacori Teemer (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018).

Perhaps the most satisfying state title was when his son Dylan Palacio won the 2012 New York State title at 160 lb. weight class. Dylan then went on to win the NHSCA Senior National Championship and become a 2X Division One All-American at Cornell University. During his career, Leo Palacio has been awarded the Nassau County Coaches Assistant Coach of the Year Award and he was also the recipient of the NWCA New York State Assistant Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2017. Due to his lifetime of service to the sport of wrestling and the Long Beach Community, Leo Palacio is deserving of his induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.