Keith Durham
Keith Durham's introduction to wrestling came in 1968, at a small private school in the Central Square section of Cambridge, Charles River Academy. They wrestled against other private schools in the Greater Boston area, traveled up to Bath, Maine to wrestle against the Hyde School and wrestled at the Freestyle Tournaments at the Lawrence and Cambridge YMCAs. In the fall of 1970, Keith went to Fryeburg Academy in Fryeburg, Maine, where he lived on campus and was a resident of Webster Hall. Keith was a two-year member of the football team where he was an offensive and defensive lineman, the team's placekicker, and he was a member of the wrestling team. During Coach Durham's senior year, the football team went 7-1, and won the 1971 Maine Prep School Championship, led by Coach Dan Turner, Dave Woodsome, Ken Brown and Kit Foster. The Fryeburg Academy Wrestling Team was led by Coach David Woodsome (who was also the line coach in football). During that 2-year period, 1970-1972, Fryeburg was a wrestling powerhouse, winning the 1971 Maine Prep Title along with the State Class B Title. In his junior year, Coach Durham's individual record was 16-0, and he won both the Maine Prep Title at 177 and the State Class B Title at 185. During Keith's Senior Year at Fryeburg, the team won the New England Prep Class C title and finished second at the Class B State Tournament. Keith's individual record was 15-3, and he won the State Class B Title at 185. He was a finalist at the New England Class C Tournament. His overall individual record was 31-3. Coach Durham then entered St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in the Fall of 1972 and was a member of the football team, playing on the offensive line for the X-Men. From there, he transferred to Plymouth State College in Plymouth, New Hampshire and wrestled for Plymouth State from 1973-1977. He graduated with a BS in Social Science Secondary Education.
Keith taught in the Special Education and Social Studies Departments in the Boston Public School System for 31 years, and he earned a Master's degree in Education from Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1989. Keith also has a small vending business outside of Fenway Park on Lansdowne Street, abutting the Green Monster, and he has been running it for 35 years and 4 World Series Championships. He has had the good fortune to coach high school wrestling in Massachusetts for 34 years at 4 different schools: Belmont High School, Catholic Memorial, Hingham High School, and Scituate High School. During this time, Coach Durham coached in Divisions I, II and III as well as in the Central, South, and North Sections.
While Coaching at Belmont, along with Warren Farrell, Sam Robinson, and Ted Neil, they were able to start the Belmont Tournament (now the Brendan Grant Tournament). Steve Farrell was the first Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Steve later went onto be a two-time captain at Harvard, finished 3rd in the 1987 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association tournament, and qualified for the Nationals.
At Catholic Memorial, Coach Durham was able to bring back the Catholic Memorial Tournament with the great efforts of Jim O'Connor and Richard Chisholm. During that time period, they had four individual state champions: Adam Fandry (CM's first), Kevin Daly, and 2-time 285-pound champ Steve Berte. Both Fandry and Berte were New England Finalists.
During the Hingham Years, the team won the 2003 South Sectional D-II Championship led by Gregg Khan and Guy Matisis. The Harbormen were Sectional finalists in 2007 led by captains John Beal, Greg Vaughn, along with Garrett Lincoln and Chris Constantine. They had 3 State Champions: Guy Matisis, Greg Vaughn and Mike Mui. Matisis and Mui went onto win the All State Titles, Mui captured that title 3 times. Scituate was the last stop on this 34-year journey. Just like the other 3 schools, the wrestlers were wonderful to work with and very dedicated. The team went from the first year (2012-13), not scoring a single point in the State Tournament, to finishing 6th the next year. In 2014, Scituate added 3 individual Sectional Champions and Rob McDonald won the 126 lb. State Championship.
Coach Durham is very grateful to many people who have helped along the way. First of all his wonderful wife and best friend, Cathy. His high school teachers and coaches: Dave Woodsome, Dan Turner, Maryellen and Ken Brown, James Clifford Hobbins, and Dr. Maynard Weston Dow (PSC). Coaches: Paul Canniff, Tony Bligh, Pat Kelly John Morrisey, Mark Hohmann, Brian Keaty, Kevin King, Guy Matisis, Garrett Lincoln, Billy Hann and Charlie Doyle, Monsignor John McLaughlin and Steve Berte. Opposing Wrestling Coaches and close friends: John Staulo, Larry Tremblay, Tommy Darrin, Joe Lev, Paul Murphy, John Hartunian, George Nichols, and Nick Zachilli. Friends and Family: John, Dolly, Annie, Theresa Staulo, Simon Krush, Lesley Murphy. Their children: Dennis, Andrew, Aimee, PJ, Lou, Louis and Ross. His Uncle and Godfather Don Seager. His dear deceased parents, Paul and Helen Durham.
Awards:
Year
2019
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Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
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Chapter/Region
Massachusetts
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Our Mission: To honor the sport of wrestling by preserving its history, recognizing extraordinary individual achievements, and inspiring future generations