Upon graduating from Rutgers University, Don Kovalchik returned to his alma mater, Somerville High School in New Jersey, to begin his career as a teacher of English. He also began a coaching career under the wing of his old high school coach, Fred Christ. Don served as assistant coach at Somerville H.S. for ten years. Then, in 1969, he accepted a teaching and coaching position at Norwich High School and began shaking things up in New York's Sections III and IV. For thirty years, beginning in 1971, Don was the head coach at Norwich. His teams compiled a dual meet record of 271-124-5. His 1991 team won the championship of the Southern Tier Athletic Conference (STAC), and six of his teams were STAC Division Champions. (Fourteen times they were runners up, usually to powerhouse Johnson City.) His teams were Class B Sectional Champions six times, and runners up in Section IV three times. Major invitationals won include Windsor, Clyde Cole, Sherburne, Sauquoit and EFA. Don's teams produced twenty-nine individual STAC Champions and 89 runners up. At Class Sectionals (B, A, AA) he coached thirty-seven individual champions and 146 runners-up. Ten of his wrestlers were place winners in the New York State Championships. When not coaching or teaching, Don was busy working for the sport. He used his writing talent in numerous letters to the media, to league officials, administrators and state organizations to promote and advance wrestling. He wrote on rules changes for Wrestling USA. He served for many years on Sectional seeding committees and chaired various committees and groups dedicated to advancing the sport. Products of these efforts include the dual meet tournament for Section IV, recently expanded to twelve teams; and the development of the multi-division format now in use in our State tournament. He worked to improve coach-official relations by improving the evaluation procedure on a committee initially organized by Coach Policare of Vestal. That committee also developed a Sectional ranking system for teams, small school and large school, which has had great promotional value for wrestling in Section IV. That system has since been expanded to include rankings for individual wrestlers. Don started up a Norwich Novice Invitational Tournament, a Norwich Youth Tournament and, recently, a summer clinic at the Norwich YMCA. He hopes to develop a league for youth teams sponsored by YMCAs in New York, similar to what has been accomplished in Pennsylvania. Don says, "As with most of us, I want to continue to pay back a 'debt' to wrestling for what it has done for me." Don is very proud of his wrestlers. He can enumerate their championships and college wrestling successes. But he can also list those who became lawyers, scientists, doctors, businessmen, accountants, law enforcement officers, military, high tech wizards, farmers and educators. He is especially proud of the many coaches and officials among his alumni. In 1991, Don was named Section IV Coach of the Year (Divisions A & B). He was again named Section IV Coach of the Year (Section B) in 1993. The National Federation of Interscholastic Wrestling Coaches honored him with its Distinguished Service Award in 1991. He has twice been inducted into the Somerville (New Jersey) High School Athletic Hall of Fame, as a wrestler and as a coach. And his 1991 team created a Team Yearbook which took third place in a contest sponsored by Wrestling USA Magazine causing his English Teacher's heart to swell a little. Don married Barbara (Stashak) in 1960. They have proudly parented two sons and a daughter.