Sachem alum Dan Mayo added the latest honor to his wrestling resume after he was inducted into the Downstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was honored with induction for a lifetime of service to wrestling.
Mayo, an inaugural inductee of the Sachem Athletic Hall of Fame, graduated from Sachem in 1983 as a First Team All-American and national and state champion.
Mayo joins fellow Sachem alum Isaac Ramaswamy and legendary Sachem wrestling coach Jack Mahoney in the Hall.
His journey began as a fifth grader attending high school wrestling practice at Sachem with his older brother Joey. Eventually, Mayo would realize how fortunate he was to have been around one of the nation’s best coaches, Mahoney, at such a young age. This positive experience as a kid paved the way for Mayo to become one of the nation’s most accomplished wrestlers in both folkstyle and freestyle.
During his time at Penn State, Mayo was a two-time Division I All-American, a 1988 NCAA Finalist, and a third-place finisher in 1987. Mayo’s career at PSU ended with him being inducted into the prestigious Eastern Wrestling Hall of Fame as a three-time conference champion, only losing one conference match in his career, which was by medical forfeit.
After his loss to Royce Alger in the 1988 NCAA Finals, Mayo graduated and moved to Washington, D.C., to work on Capitol Hill. Penn State University was his next stop as a graduate assistant, allowing him to begin competing on the senior level as a member of the New York Athletic Club. The NYAC allowed Mayo to compete in major international events, where he made his mark by beating many world medalists and NCAA Champions.
This caught the attention of Olympic Gold Medalist Dave Shultz, who was competing for Team Foxcatcher, where Mayo competed from 1990-96. He earned a spot on Team USA in 1992 and 1994. Defeating World Champion Chris Campbell at the ’91 US Open was an accomplishment not many have ever achieved: Daniel Mayo beat the best wrestler in the world.
As a coach, he produced several All-Americans at Rider University between 1993 and 1998 and spent one year at the College of Mount Saint Vincent from 2018 to 2019.