Coach Anastasio (Left) Inducts Adam Cohen (right) into
Riordan’s Hall of Fame and also retired his Singlet
Adam Cohen ’81
Riordan Athletic Hall of Fame – Inducted 1991
Not many sports teams can be traced back to one individual, but Riordan Wrestling started with a bang created by Adam Cohen. In 1978 he and his family had just moved to San Francisco from Ohio and Adam entered Riordan as a Sophomore who had middle school wrestling experience but had not yet wrestled at the high school level. He decided to work out with some local high schools and give the sport a shot. Next thing you know he enters some tournaments and beats everyone. His only loss was in the finals at the Mid Cal Championships which was happened to be the first year that the tournament began. Yes, MidCals and Riordan are the same age and it is the only tournament that the team has participated in every single season. Adam petitions to compete in the CCS and he wins it. California had just moved to a new one State Championships format and he places 3rd. His only loss was in the Semi Finals to Tim Vanni. Vanni went on to become a three time Olympian. Adam became quite the known celebrity in wrestling circles as being able to place high in the State as a sophomore and not even officially being on a team.
Riordan High School decided to start a team and build it around State Placer, Adam Cohen. As a sophomore Adam placed in the 95lb weight class which doesn’t exist anymore. He grew a lot and as a Junior and Senior he became a middleweight and the competition was much more fierce. He has close to undefeated seasons both junior and senior year. He took third in the CCS as a Junior and a Champ his senior year. He took 2nd at Mid-Cals three years in a row. He was not able to place in the state again.
Adam went to Arizona State as a joined the wrestling team as a walk-on. By his junior year, he was one of the top starting wrestlers in the top 10 ranked Division I wrestling programs. He was the team captain his senior year 1986 and he became an All-American as he took second in the 142-pound weight class at the NCAA Championships. He lost a close match in the finals to a University of Iowa wrestler he had beaten earlier in the season at the Midlands Championships.
After college Adam tried to make the Olympic team and came close by taking third in the Olympic Trials and was a Maccabiah Games Champion.
It is fitting that Riordan’s for wrestler, Adam Cohen, is the first wrestler to be inducted into the Riordan Hall of Fame.
Rob Ynzunza’s Famous Switch. At CCS his junior year – After going out of bounds the clock stopped with only 3 seconds left in the match with him down by 1 and being on the bottom. He hit his switch to score 2 points and win his first CCS medal becoming Riordan’s first homegrown CCS Placer.
Robert Ynzunza ’86
Riordan Athletic Hall of Fame – Inducted 2006
Robert Ynzunza became the schools first homegrown league champion and CCS Placer. He won the NPL as a Sophomore and a Junior while place 6th in the CCS. His Senior year he was nearly unbeatable and the top Ranked Wrestler in the WCAL, CCA, and a contender for a State Medal but he dislocated his elbow two weeks before the first ever WCAL Finals Tournament.
Robert wrestled for a year at San Francisco State University but had a career ending injury. He came back to help coach as an assistant to Coach Vittorio Anastasio and he led the freshman team to contend for a league title and created a very skilled set of competitors who went on to excel later on including Donny Bendo Sr. and John Devine.
Vittorio Anastasio ’84 and Vince Anastasio ’89 at the 2006 Archbishop Riordan Hall of Fame Induction.
Vittorio Anastasio ’84 &
Vince Anastasio ’89
Riordan Athletic All of Fame Inducted 2008
Vittorio Anastasio ’84 became the first ever wrestling coach to be inducted into the Archbishop Riordan High School Athletic Hall of Fame and he was honored to do so along side his younger brother Vince Anastasio ’89 who was also inducted as a wrestler into the Archbishop Riordan High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Vittorio was an assistant coach during Vince’s first two years in high school and was the head coach for Vince’s upper class years. Vittorio is the winningest coach in Riordan and San Francisco History while Vince is the winningest career wrestler in Riordan and San Francisco history. Vince is the first Riordan and WCAL three time Champion as the league started his sophomore year. Vince is a two time CCS Placer/State Qualifier and has school record 160 Career Varsity Wins.
John Devine – June 5th, 2010
John Devine ’96
Riordan Athletic Hall of Fame – Inducted 2010
John Devine entered Riordan with no prior wrestling experience. John quickly learned the sport and by his sophomore year he was the MVP for the Varsity Team. He was a very disciplined and highly technical wrestler. Polite of the mat and fierce as a competitor is what made John loved and respected by his peers and coaches. John won the WCAL twice, Placed in CCS twice and finished in the top 12 in the State while compiling a 48-8 season record which makes him the winningest wrestler in a season for Riordan and all of San Francisco wrestling.
After Riordan, John Devine went to Skyline College and placed fourth in the State as a freshman. He spent his sophomore year wrestling at the University of Missouri and then he transferred to Cal State Bakersfield to work out with Assistant Coach Stephen Neil who was the reigning World Champion and two time NCAA Division one Champion. John placed in the Pac-10 Championships twice in the Top 4 and making it to the NCAA Championships two years in a row. He was the first grad since Adam Cohen to make it to the NCAA Tournament and he won two matches. After College John had a successful MMA Career which included two fights on Showtime and a winning professional record of 10-2 before retiring to raise a family.
Coach Anastasio at the California Wrestling Hall of Fame induction with Bobby Gonzales, Tony Tran, Jose Herrera, Vince Anastasio, John Contreras, Keith Spataro, Juan Zumbado, Joe Conti, John Devine, Mike Guingona, Gary Whitehouse, and Reginald Grayson
Vic Anastasio’84
California Wrestling Hall of Fame Life Time Achievement – Inducted 2016
On May 2016 Coach Vittorio Anastasio received the high honor of being inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame with a Life Time Achievement award. Below is the introduction read for his induction.
Vic Anastasio’s roots in Bay Area wrestling began during his high school years at Archbishop
Riordan and later at Skyline College. While wrestling at Skyline, he became an assistant
wrestling coach at Riordan. When Riordan’s head coach, Steve Swanson, became terminally ill, Vic took over as the head coach at the age of twenty years old. He then went on to coach at Riordan for a total of 27 seasons, with 24 seasons as the head coach.
Vic is the most successful high school wrestling coach in the history of the City and County of
San Francisco. His career in coaching and Catholic education spans over 30 years, currently
working as the proud Crusader Principal his alma mater, Archbishop Riordan High School. With each role that Vic took on in serving Riordan and the wrestling community, his guiding
philosophy has yet remained unchanged: give back to others what he had received from the
sport and the school. Vic ran BAWA, cultural exchange teams, started the SF Elite wrestling
club and has always been there to help run a tournament.
Vic is truly humbled by this honor, and he firmly believes that Hall of Fame recognition is not his alone to receive. Rather, Vic is convinced that the honor should be shared with the many
wrestlers, coaches and mentors who have worked alongside him through the years to make his career so rewarding and successful. Vic considers himself extremely blessed to have had the support of his alma mater Archbishop Riordan High School, the BAWA community, and many talented assistant coaches who have served his programs with heart and soul.
Vic would like to especially acknowledge his gratitude for three inspirational people in his life
who have passed on, but are always present in spirit. The first two are his former coaches Lee
Allen and Steve Swanson. The third is his long-time friend and former assistant coach for ten
years, Abram Ostrovskiy– California’s well known “imported Russian referee.” From Vic’s
perspective, they too share in this great honor with him, and he wishes them peace in their
eternal rest.
Finally and most of all he appreciates all the support and heart felt love from his family. His
generous and supporting parents and brother. His lovely wife Susan Anastasio and his dear
twins Marisa and Gia for putting up with all of the demands and embracing the sport of wrestling as part of their family too.
His long time assistant coach and best friend John Contreras is a stand-out among a long list of great assistants who is presenting him with his hall of fame award.