A 1969 graduate of Rancocas Valley Regional High School, Coach Minuto wrestled varsity for 3 years, winning the 123-pound District 26 championship as a senior. Achieving a 32-18 record wrestling for 3 years at Kutztown University, he graduated in 1973. He honed his skills during 10 years as Asst. Coach to Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Sam Evangelista at Lenape High School, Medford, NJ, before taking over the head coaching position. During his 21 years as Head Coach at Lenape his teams compiled a 303-57-2 record to rank 9th in South Jersey history. They also won 13 district, 13 league, and 3 SJ Sectional Group 4 championships, plus 7 holiday, 5 Neptune Classic and 15 Burlington County titles. His teams appeared in sectional playoffs 18 times. Minuto coached 76 district, 30 regional & 60 holiday tournament individual champs & 20 State place winners, including a 2-time State champ. Also a referee & member of the S. Jersey Officials Association. Russ also coached softballand taught Spanish. He retired as Head Coach in 2004. A 6-time district Coach of the Year, he was selected 3 times Region 7 Coach of the Year & was selected National Federation of Coaches Assn. Coach of the Year in 2003, & NJ State Interscholastic Athletic Assn. Coach of the Year in 2004 (Wilfred E. Cann Award). The Philadelphia Inquirer named him Coach of the year in 1986, while the Burlington County Times has given him the COY 4 times (87, 89, 94, and 04). In addition the Trentonian named Minuto All-Area Coach of the Year in 2004. He is honored with induction into many Halls of Fame, including S. Jersey Athletic HOF, Rancocas Valley H.S. HOF, S. Jersey Coaches Wrestlers HOF & NJ State Athletic Assn. HOF. Greg Bauer, who wrestled for Minuto, was his Asst. Coach and later Head Coach elsewhere, praised him. "Remarkable was the way he touched the lives of so many student-athletes he worked with. Russ did so much more than coach wrestling. He instilled in so many of his charges the importance of goal setting & working hard relentlessly to achieve those goals. He showed his wrestlers that, with enough hard work, anything can be accomplished. He taught kids to have the desire, the dedication & the commitment to succeed, not only in wrestling, but also in life as well. He got his boys to believe in themselves, often pushing them to have much more success than they ever imagined. He made average wrestlers good, and good wrestlers great. The lessons Coach Minuto taught in his wrestling program helped young people to reach their goals in wrestling and in their lives." Click for a video interview with Russell at his induction to the NJ NWHOF.