Richard Morton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education in l980 from Ithaca College, and received a Masters of Education degree from St. Bonaventure University in l984. Rich has been a PE teacher and Coach at Salamanca High School since l980, and is the current Director of Physical Education and Athletic Director at SHS. Rich continues to inspire students and athletes, being selected "Teacher of the Year" by the student national honor society in June of 2009. When people speak about leaders in the sport of wrestling in Western New York, the name Richard Morton is always in the forefront. Rich's accomplishments and contributions to wrestling are remarkable. He began his wrestling career at Olean High School, then went on to wrestle for Ithaca College where he was a two-time Division III NCAA National qualifier, and placed 5th in the 167 lb. weight class at the New York State Collegiate Championships. Rich has been coaching wrestling for 36 years, and has been recognized extensively for his contributions. The Olean Times Herald chose Rich as the Sportsperson of the Year early on in his career. He has been inducted into the Cattaraugus County Sports Hall of Fame (2010), as well as the Western New York Wrestling Hall of Fame (2015). Under Rich's leadership, The Salamanca Warriors wrestling team has been league champions, class and sectional champions, and in 2003-04 were Section VI champions. Rich has developed sixty one individual class and league champions, twenty one Section VI champions, and fifteen NYS place winners. In addition, Rich has coached two 2-time individual NYS champions. Kane Smith, who won the NYS championships at 189 lbs. in both 2004 and 2005, and Ben Haas, who won the NYS championships at 145 lbs. (2011), and 152 lbs. in 2012. Ben currently wrestles for Lehigh University. After being selected as the Southern Tier League Coach of the Year several times, Rich was selected as the Big 30 Coach of the Year in 2001/2002. In 2003, Coach Morton was selected Post Journal Coach of the Year, and Western New York Coaches Association/Section VI Coach of the Year. To promote and advocate the sport of wrestling, Rich organized and ran the Salamanca Invitational Wrestling Tournament for decades, and directed numerous Salamanca summer wrestling camps throughout his tenure. As extraordinary as his accomplishments in wrestling, as a football coach, Rich Morton attained outstanding success on the football field. He led the Salamanca Warriors to three un-defeated regular seasons from l999 - 2001, with a record 24 - 0. He led his team to the NYS finals in l999, and the NYS semi-finals in 2001. Coach Morton's football accolades include: The NFL and Buffalo Bills Coach of the Week in 2000, and both the Big 30 Football Coach of the Year, and Western New York Coach of the Year in 2001. As a two time cancer survivor, Rich Morton was chosen to be featured in an inspirational book written by former Buffalo Sabers player Pat La Fontaine, entitled- Companions in Courage. An entire chapter is devoted to Morton's courage and triumph as he battled cancer, and came back to coach a championship football team. Robert Breidenstein, Superintendent of the Salamanca School district said the following about Morton, "Simply and aptly put, Rich cares about each student, every athlete, and every family as if they were his own." What more can be said about an individual and future National Wrestling Hall of Famer.