Bio

John Scanlan was a two-year member of the wrestling team.

As a freshman, he forged an unblemished 30-0 record en route to the national championship in the 126-pound weight class. He capped his campaign by pinning Dave Turner of Northern Oklahoma in 3:10. He received the Earnest B. Gould Award as the National Junior College Athletic Association's outstanding wrestler in 1970 and was named a first-team NJCAA Wrestling All-American. That year, he led the team in wins, pins and points scored. His sophomore season started out with a tournament title and MVP selection before a knee injury cut short his season and essentially curtailed his career.

Scanlan was a standout high school wrestler at Pearl River High School. He won county and sectional wrestling titles in each of his four seasons on the mat and earned two Most Outstanding Wrestler honors at the sectional meet. He placed fourth in the New York State championships twice (at 106 pounds as a freshman and 123 pounds as a junior) and was state runner-up at 123 pounds as a senior. He suffered just eight losses in his high school career, with six coming at the state tournaments and none occurring during the regular seasons of his junior and senior campaigns.

Scanlan, who was introduced to wrestling by coach Julius D Agostino, was inducted into the Rockland County Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and was a member of the inaugural class of the Pearl River High School Hall of Fame in 1997. Scanlan and his wife, Karen, have four children: Shannon, Sean, Alexandria, and Veronica, as well as two granddaughters, Kaylee and Addison.