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Steve Caruso

Class of 2018
New Hartford Spartans
Steve Caruso wrestled at New Hartford High School for Hall of Fame coach Thomas Pauley before graduating in 1991. That year New Hartford placed third at the Section III tournament with three section champions. Steve advanced to the state championships where he ended his high school career with an overtime victory in the finals to win the 132-pound state title. That season he posted a 37-1 record bringing his career total to over one hundred victories. He competed at the NHSCA Senior Nationals where he advanced to the semi-finals before falling to the eventual 135-pound champion from Blair Academy. Steve would wrestle back to finish fifth, earning high school All-American honors.

During high school Steve also wrestled for the Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club. He was a member of a talented team that enjoyed many successes competing across the state, in Canada, Puerto Rico, and Germany.

Steve attended Bucknell University, where he was a three-year letter winner on the Bison wrestling team. He served as a co-captain during his senior season in 1995. That year the Bison were crowned both the ECWA dual meet team champions and ECWA conference tournament champions. At the ECWA tournament Steve defeated the top seed in the finals to win an individual conference championship at 134 pounds. He advanced to the NCAA Division I National Championships, held that year at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa. There he defeated an opponent from Ohio State before being outclassed by a two-time national finalist from Oregon State who defeated Steve by technical fall.

Steve began his coaching career as an assistant at his high school alma mater in 1996. He then took over as the varsity head coach the following year. While struggling to fill a varsity line up during his tenure, New Hartford continued to produce talented individual athletes. In six seasons, New Hartford wrestlers made 18 appearances in the finals of the Class B Section III tournament. Steve's proudest coaching accomplishment was working with Section III Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Dan Perry, who won two consecutive New York State titles, and placed third at the NHSCA Senior Nationals.

Following the birth of his daughter in 2003 Steve stepped down from the New Hartford varsity coaching position and began volunteering with New Hartford's youth wrestling program. Steve currently resides in New Hartford with his wife Stacy and their two children Rebecca and Michael. Since 1996 he has worked at Caruso McLean Investment Advisors where he currently serves as the firm's Chief Investment Officer.