Honoring a legend: Whitman-Hanson names wrestling tournament … – The Boston Globe

In 1979, Bob Gay answered the call for a wrestling coach at Whitman-Hanson, despite having never wrestled. Last weekend, the wrestling triple Hall of Famer (National, Massachusetts, Whitman-Hanson) attended a tournament bearing his own name.

Gary Rabinovitz, Whitman-Hanson’s current wrestling coach, talked with Bob Rodgers, the school’s athletic director, and came up with an idea to rename the Panther Invitational to the Bob Gay Invitational in honor of the man who compiled a 271-60-2 record with the program.

“It’s been coming up for a few years now, and I think the timing was perfect this time around,” said Rabinovitz, referring to Gay’s induction in October into the school’s Hall of Fame.

Rabinovitz surprised Gay at his induction ceremony, keeping him at the podium and announcing the name change.

“The lump in the throat, I was in tears,” Gay said. “I was very humbled that they considered doing that.”

Gay, 70, now coaching at Bristol-Plymouth, saw his Craftsmen finish in third place with 147.5 points, behind first-place Brockton (180.5 points) and runner-up Whitman-Hanson (165.5).

Bristol-Plymouth was led by junior Jacob Bettencourt, a finalist at 132 pounds. Every member of the team received Bob Gay Invitational apparel, courtesy of the man himself.

“All my 15 kids [on the roster], I bought a T-shirt for them,” he said. “I bought one for my wife, my daughter, my son-in-law, my granddaughter, one for me . . . The first time is special, you know.”

Brockton took three championships in their team victory: senior Bubba Winn at 120, classmate Mark Lattimore at 152, and junior Aman Khalil at 170.

“It was exciting for us, especially us older guys, because Bob has been such a great contributor to the sport,” said Brockton coach Deshawn Fentress. “To win it is something I’ll say is always near and dear to my heart.”

Whitman-Hanson crowned five champions, including three senior captains whose fathers wrestled for Gay: Maddox Colclough (285), son of Chris Colclough; Aidan Guiliani (145), son of Chris Giuliani; and Braden Kain (138), son of Shawn Kain.

Sophomores Christian Grimaldi (113) and Charlie Lussier (106) also won. Lussier earned three pins before a technical fall in the finals, improving his season record to 20-0 with 17 pins.

Rabinovitz joked at the Hall of Fame announcement that even though the tournament is named for Gay, he’d still beat his team.

“[Gay has] continued to grow as a coach, he really cares about his kids,” Rabinovitz said. “I think that’s really important, to really care about the kids you’re coaching.”

Added Fentress: “It’s wild to say I know somebody who has a tournament named after him. For me, I’m a fan of the sport, but I’m also a fan of legends like Bob.”

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AJ Traub can be reached at aj.traub@globe.com.