“Take Top” has become synonymous with Mitch Clark, and it’s a philosophy that led him to tremendous success … and now into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Upstate New York Chapter, for Lifetime Service to Wrestling.

Clark grew up in a wrestling household in Canton, New York, as his father John was a national championship head coach at St. Lawrence University.

“My dad introduced me to the sport at a very young age, but he didn’t have me competing a lot,” Clark said. “I really liked his approach. I did a handful of local pee wee tournaments and the local rec program twice a week in the winter. But because it wasn’t pushed on me, I fell in love with wrestling by the time I was in seventh grade.” 

Although he didn’t do too much competing at tournaments, family battles were legendary. “My dad stopped wrestling me when I was in ninth grade,” Clark said. “He knew exactly when I could beat him and that was it. He was a smart man - he never let me get the joy of beating him. Then, I started wrestling my younger brother Johnny. The rule was that I couldn’t use my hands or arms. It sounds goofy, but it’s where I learned to use my legs almost as arms. It provided so much dexterity in my legs. The two things I was most known for on the mat were leg wrestling, especially on top, and scrambling. A lot of that came from those battles.” 

He also credited Gene Mills for developing those skills - although they didn’t work together directly. Clark said his dad went to clinics Mills ran and came back and taught him everything he saw. 

Clark planned to use all the things he learned to reach a goal no one had before. “Section 10 is unique - there were only seven schools,” Clark said. “Some Sections have 60-80 schools. There hadn’t ever been a Section 10 state champ and I made it my goal. I put it up on the wall in my room. It was my mission. I was focused on it from age 12.” Clark never became a NYSPHSAA champion!

However, at Ohio State he started his senior season rolling right off the bat, winning the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas and Midlands. He earned a victory over #2 John Van Doren of Lehigh in the All-Star meet, a win that was extra special since it took place in Upstate New York. Clark had a single loss in the regular season as a senior - in his last dual meet against Jevon Herman of Illinois. “It was a wake up call,” Clark said. “I’m a big believer that going into the NCAA tournament undefeated can be a curse. It helped take some pressure off.” 

Two weeks later, Clark avenged the loss in the Big 10 finals and earned the #1 seed for Nationals. He returned to the finals, looking to end as a champion. “I didn’t want to be the bridesmaid again,” he said. “Granted, I won the high school nationals, but that wasn’t my goal. I wanted to be Section 10’s first state champ and an NCAA champ and I was 0-3 in those. I had a dream the night before - a nightmare, really, that I lost. The feeling I had when I woke up from that nightmare - it was that feeling I had when I lost in the finals before. I forgot how awful it was. I decided I was not losing again. I would throw every weapon I had - the kitchen sink - to win.” 

The kitchen sink, indeed. About midway through the first period, with double unders he hit a modified foot sweep and took his opponent, Vertus Jones of West Virginia, to his back for a 5-0 lead. While Jones fought off the pin, Clark was just getting started. He then turned Jones for three points, and then did it again . . . and again. It was 14-0 when the wrestlers went out of bounds with 13 seconds left in the opening stanza. “I was thinking it was a bummer there was so little time left in the period,” Clark said. “I figured he would take neutral and we may have to go seven minutes. But then, after the restart, he tried to Granby, and I snuck the leg in and hit my figure four turn one more time as time expired to get the tech fall. I have to give credit to Mark Coleman. He was my mentor for that figure four technique with the legs. He taught it to me, or you could say he abused me with it as he taught me, at Ohio State.” Mitch became the first national champion via a first period technical fall.

After eight years, Clark received a call from John Murray offering him a commercial sales rep position and the opportunity to remain involved in wrestling as a club coach in Ithaca. Interestingly, that town already had an important role in Clark’s life. When wrestling for Ohio State, he attended a tournament at Cornell where he met a manager for the University of Nebraska team - his future wife, Kristin. “It’s crazy that we met at Cornell and a decade later we would live in Ithaca,” he said. “[Murray’s] offer was a no brainer all around - doing exactly what I was meant to do. I really enjoy sales and I’m able to do weekend camps across the country.” 

Numerous Cornell wrestlers have benefitted as well. Clark still goes live with some Big Red upperweights during RTC time, including All-American Ben Darmstadt. He spent a lot of time with All-Americans Ben Honis, Jerry Rinaldi and NCAA champ Steve Bosak. In fact, Clark recalled receiving a text at 2 a.m. after Bosak defeated Penn State’s Quentin Wright in the national finals in 2012 thanking him for preparing him so well that “[Bosak] knew what Wright was going to do before he did it.”

When it comes to his children (Clark has a son Owen and two daughters Annie and Kylie), Clark wants to take the same approach as his father did. “My son comes to camps, goes to practices but doesn’t compete a lot,” Clark said. “I don’t want to push it on him - in my life I learned organically to love the sport.”

Some of those who helped in that journey will be present to see Clark honored for his stellar career. “My high school coach Neal Riggs, who is a legend in the North Country, and my college coach Russ Hellickson will be there. So will my father, who coached me throughout my career, and my boss and mentor John Murray,” Clark said. “It will be the first time where all four of my mentors will be in one location and I’m very much looking forward to paying tribute to the people who molded me as a wrestler and a man.”

They molded him as a wrestler, a man and now, a Hall of Famer.