When people hear the word Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame some think of Olympic Gold medalist Kurt Angle, or the Shultz brothers, Mark and Dave.
Delta College now has a name to into the circle.
Athletic Director, Daryl Arroyo, recently honored into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (NWHOF) via Connecticut’s state chapter on April 16 in Prospect, Connecticut thanks to his illustrious coaching career at Springfield Connecticut.
“It was great. It was a real fun time. I got to be back in Connecticut”, said Arroyo. “Saw a lot of family, friends, former wrestlers I coached, former wrestlers I wrestled with, officials I knew coaches that I knew, close to about 500 people at the event. So it was real nice.”
According to the Delta College website, Arroyo spent 21 years at Springfield wrestling team, picking up 303-167-6 record, while guiding 70 national qualifiers, 27 NCAA All-Americans, 67 Scholar All-Americans and 45 conference champions. He was named NEWA Coach of the Year five times, as well as being named the NCAA Division II Northeast Region Coach of the Year in 1991.
Don’t think height stopped the 5’3” Connecticut native. He captured the 1980 Connecticut High School Wrestling State Championship at Jonathan Law High School.
Attending Springfield College (Massachusetts) and was captain of the 1984 wrestling team and three-time national championship qualifier. Daryl placed sixth in the 118-pound weight class at the 1984 NCAA Division II Championships and earned All-American honors.
When it was time to receive the honor at the podium, Arroyo reflected on his career.
“I made a video. All the inductees made a video. I worked with my wife on that. It was more of a slide show of pictures of my career, that ran for ten minutes,” said Arroyo. “Then I came up (to the stage) and gave a five minute speech.”
Arroyo received a plaque from the NWHOF that he plans to hang in his office in Budd, a certificate, a plaque from the Connecticut chapter and a green jacket that was placed on him at the end to welcome his induction.
He is also in the NCAA Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame, and is a New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Hall of Fame member.
While many continue to coach well into their late ages, Daryl believes he got out at the right time.
“The recruiting and the travel were starting to wear on me a little bit. AD job is busy, but you have a little bit more free time than you did as a coach. You don’t have that crazy six-month season where it’s madness.”