For a quarter-of-a-century, Don Quinn has been coaching the wrestling and football squads of tiny East Rochester High against the Goliaths of their athletic conferences. And for most of those years, the Quinn-led Bombers have toppled the opposition. In over 21 years as wrestling coach, Quinn has directed East Rochester to an amazing 16 league championships, eight East-West crowns, seven consecutive sectional titles, and, in 1983-84, the top spot among all the wrestling teams of New York State. His grapplers have posted a combined record of 306-43-7. Quinn has been named New York State Wrestling Coach of the Year on five different occasions.
Quinn's record on the gridiron has been equally impressive. In 25 football campaigns, he has coached the Bombers to an overall mark of 147-59-6 and seven league championships. In 1978, East Rochester went 10-0-0 winning the Class A Championship and earning Quinn the New York State Football Coach of the Year honors. "It's a real challenge to work here at East Rochester, " noted Quinn, the school's athletic director. "It's very satisfying to be able to motivate our players to give 100 percent so that we cannot only compete against schools much larger than we are, but be able to beat them consistently."
The Rochester Catholic Layman of the Year in 1979, Quinn attributes his overwhelming success to "hard work and the Good Lord." He attends Mass each morning. "It's the only way to start the day. That's where I get my strength."
A native of Hamburg, N.Y., Quinn attended local schools there before coming to Cortland in the autumn of 1951. Quinn played junior varsity baseball for two seasons, wrestled for two years, and competed in lacrosse for two seasons. He co-captained the latter as a senior. But admittedly his best sport was football, which he played for all four years while earning a trio of letters.
"I feel that Cortland had one of the best educational programs in the country," said Quinn. "The entrance exam consisting of skills tests helped to select the better incoming freshman. The instructors demanded the best out of you not only academically but in physical skills. The skills courses and classes were outstanding with teachers like Pete Corey, "Chugger" Davis, "Prof." Holloway and Dave Miller." Quinn credits Miller, his Red Dragon wrestling coach, with instilling in him the importance of teaching the fundamentals of a sport. "Dave was a real stickler on fundamentals," Quinn recalled. "In my areas, wrestling and football, you're not going to win consistently if you're not strong in the basics."
In 1955 , Quinn earned a B.S. in physical education from Cortland. He earned a master's degree from Brockport State in 1964, and received Director's and Administrative Certification from Ithaca College. After graduation from Cortland, Quinn wedged a stint in the U.S. Army between teaching at Bath (N.Y.) Middle School from 1955 to 1958.
