John Leone is a 1983 graduate of Penfield High School where he was a two-time Section V champion and the winner of numerous high school wrestling tournaments in the area. Those tourneys include the Robert Bradshaw Memorial wrestling tournament and the Monroe County League wrestling tournament, where he also was named the Outstanding Wrestler.

Additionally, he was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the Penfield Holiday Tournament. In the 1979-80 season, John would win his first Section V title and then follow that up with a 4th and 2nd place finish. He then finished his career with another Section V title.

John went on to wrestle at Brockport State under legendary coach, Don Murray. While at Brockport State, John was a four-time Division III All-American. Furthermore, in his senior year, he captured the NCAA Division III title at the 158-pound weight class for the Golden Eagles. The previous year Coach Leone was a runner-up and had served notice that he had more work to do. Additionally, Leone was a three-time SUNYAC champion, a New York State Collegiate champion, and served as the captain of his team for the two years that Brockport was the runner-up in the NCAA Division III wrestling championships. John earned a degree in physical education from Brockport and became an assistant coach for Murray following his graduation.

Ensuing working for Brockport, Coach Leone worked as an assistant coach at Spencerport High School under Bill Jacoutot. At Spencerport, their teams were considered the best in Section V and in the state. John would go on from Spenceport to Greece Arcadia for one year, and then he would return to his alma mater, Penfield, and building the Patriots into one of the most feared teams in Section V. His record at Penfield was a lofty 295-53 and, in the 2009-2010 season, his Patriot grapplers would capture a sectional championship. While at Penfield, John started the Titan Wrestling Club and was instrumental in developing the Takedown Cancer Wrestling Duals. The duals raised well over $40,000 for the benefit of Camp Good Days and Special Times. In addition, one of Coach Leone's significant accomplishments at Penfield was the coaching of four-time NYSPHSAA wrestling champion Frankie Gissendaner.

Neil Cook, wrestling coach at Webster Thomas High School, had this to say about Coach Leone: "What amazes me is John's ability to teach wrestling to any age group. I have seen many excellent teachers of the sport over the past 30 years. Without a doubt John is probably the best that I have seen. He can break down a technique and can motivate a wrestler to work harder than they have ever thought possible." Coach Leone has been a model for all coaches to emulate.

Coach Mickey Marlowe, coach at Rush-Henrietta, had these words to say about Coach Leone: "When John first took over they struggled but in a short time he made Penfield very relevant in Section V. He is a wrestling guru, a big fan. He studies the sport, and he would get the best out of his guys who maybe weren't your superstars." Statements like this can be heard from all the coaches, wrestlers, and fans of wrestling in Section V.

His achievements are many and include two-time (1996, 1997) USA Wrestling Northeast Regional Developmental Coach of the Year, NWCA Assistant Coach of the Year in NYS (1995), Head Coach, USA Wrestling Cadet World Team to Bulgaria (1997), U.S. Olympic Committee Developmental Coach of the Year (1997). Furthermore, he has been selected to the Section V Hall of Fame, Brockport State Athletic Hall of Fame, and was awarded the Terry Robert Justice Memorial Award for outstanding service to high school wrestling. The Chapter acknowledges the many accomplishments of Coach Leone and welcomes him into the Upstate New York Chapter's Hall of Fame for his contributions to wrestling throughout the state. Along with the other inductees, he will be enshrined in the State Chapter Room of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.