Frank Mielnicki passed away on January 4, 2021 at the age of 88.  He was inducted into the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011 for Lifetime Service. Prior to that, he had been inducted into the Section 5 and City-Catholic League Halls of Fame.  A look at his career shows that he truly deserved those honors.

Frank came to the upstate New York area from Massachusetts after serving in the army during the Korean War and graduating from Springfield College. He brought with him his Boston accent and his love for wrestling. Both of those stayed with him for his entire lifetime. He started coaching in the late 1950’s at Spencerport High, achieving an outstanding record for a three year period. He then moved to Edison Tech in the city of Rochester where he spent the rest of his career coaching in the City Interscholastic League and its successor the City-Catholic League. Over his career his teams had 261 wins and he coached numerous Sectional champions and State place winners.

There was more to Frank Mielnicki than coaching success. Coaching wrestling in the City of Rochester was a challenge and at Edison Tech, which was at the time an all boys school. There was an additional element because for many years, to get into the school’s technical program, students had to pass an entrance exam. The school attracted young men who were more interested in getting part time jobs that would lead to full time careers. The Co-Op programs conflicted with practice time. In spite of obstacles, Frank always had competitive teams, filled the weight classes and produced many outstanding wrestlers. One of his former wrestlers described his ability to convince kids to wrestle as “amazing.”

He was a demanding coach and his wrestlers loved and respected him. They were enthusiastic when they were asked to write letters of recommendation for his Hall of Fame nomination and wrote them.  Here are some of the quotes from those letters: “a great teacher”, “a man who treated everybody with respect,” “a man who coached his wrestlers personally and was interested in them as individuals including their problems, goals and aspirations,” “a father figure, a counselor and a confident,”  “always calm and cool,” “ a man of integrity”.  Frank was shocked that so many of his early Spencerport and Edison wrestlers were present to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction but when you look at those quotes, it is obvious they had great respect for him. His former wrestlers and his family were more excited than he was about his Hall of Fame honor.

Frank is survived by his wife Marie, who was his number 1 cheerleader during his entire coaching career, three daughters and several grand and great grandchildren as well as countless former wrestlers who thought of him as another father.  He brought a lot of dignity to our sport and he will be sorely missed.