The St. Lawrence wrestling team entered the 1988 NCAA Division III championships with five entries and were pitted against teams who had the full complement of wrestlers able to compete and score. Coach Clark entries were John Canty (118), Kevin Bishop (134), Brian Read (142), Dan Keating (150) and Pat Conners (heavyweight). The 1988 Saints were able to place all 5 five wrestler and have one NCAA Champion, Pat Conners, at heavyweight. Conners followed his older brother Mike (2018) who won a national championship in 1984. The team was known as the “Iron Five” and would become the 2nd St. Lawrence University team to win a national championship. The “Iron Five” accomplishments were recognized by St. Lawrence University in 2003 when the team was selected to go into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame. In addition, Coach Clark was selected the 1988 NCAA Division III Coach of the Year for his outstanding achievements. Coach Clark in his distinguished coaching career guided nine wrestlers to Division III NCAA championships – Ron Pelligra, Mitch Brown, Phil Lanzatella, Todd Northrup, Mike Connors, Leland Rogers, Mark Shortsleaves, Pat Connors and Jason Bovenzi. Unfortunately, St Lawrence dropped wrestling in 1995 for financial reasons and has not had a team since. Clark’s son Mitch, who was a NCAA Division I champion for Ohio State, will be inducted into the Upstate New York Chapter’s Hall of Fame in 2021.

John Clark Bio