AT 87, BOSSI REMAINS A LOWELL INSTITUTION
Rivals marvel at impact ageless coach has had on sport
He was in Salem, amidst the craziness that is the Massachusetts All-state championship meet, but his voice cuts through the noise like a knife through butter.
“It’s a big part of my life. Wrestling is probably the best sport we have to teach discipline. It’s one-on-one. You can’t hide on a wrestling mat. That makes humble pie out of a lot of people,” said the owner of that booming voice, George Bossi, the legendary Lowell High wrestling coach.
The word legend is thrown around too freely; in Bossi’s case, it applies. The 87-year-old Bossi (he’ll turn 88 in June) is still coaching at Lowell High, like he’s done every winter except for three (when he served as the school’s athletic director) since he was hired in 1964, when the country was still reeling from John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
His longevity is remarkable. His passion for the sport is awe-inspiring. Six days a week during wrestling season, he’ll jump into his car and make the hour-long drive to Lowell from Plum Island, where he’s lived since 1978.
Bossi has guided the Red Raiders to five New England state championships (1970, 1973, 1975, 1987, 2007) and coached 16 of the program’s 17 state champion teams. He has coached generations of Lowell wrestlers.
A Milton native, Bossi was a football player prior to suffering five concussions. His football career over, he enrolled at Springfield College, where he was introduced to wrestling. It was the beginning of a seven-decade love affair.
Later, he was a grad assistant at the University of Illinois, where he worked for the football program in 1958 and 1959. On one recruiting trip, he was sent to scout a prospect, a kid named Dick Butkus. Illinois won the battle for his services and Butkus became one of the greatest linebackers in football history.
Bossi began at Lowell High in 1964 as a coach and physical education teacher. He started coaching wrestling that winter.
Preaching discipline and dedication, Bossi has served as a role model to thousands of wrestlers, creating an atmosphere of loyalty and family few programs can match at an inner-city school where hardships often lurk.
“I’ve saved more lives than a Catholic priest,” he once famously told The Sun.
What he’s given his considerable. What has he received during his remarkable 57-year run?
“A lot of satisfaction. Not money. I’m a poor man,” he said.
He hasn’t always been Lowell’s head coach during his amazing run. He served as an assistant to Tim O’keefe for one stretch. These days he’s listed as the co-head coach with Nick Logan.
Lowell High athletic director Scott Ouellet first met Bossi in second or third grade when Bossi gave a wrestling clinic to Ouellet and his Washington School classmates. Ouellet remembers the thunderous voice. That hasn’t changed. Nor has Bossi’s passion for wrestling.
“Hard work. Discipline. These are high core values,” Ouellet said. “He’s a man of routine. He still makes sure the mats are cleaned up for the next day. He’s still one of the last to leave practice. He still wants the team to be set up to succeed. I still see him being very effective. He has the respect of the kids.”
One of the top tournaments in New England, held at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, now carries Bossi’s name: the George Bossi Holiday Tournament. It’s a nod to his contributions to the sport.
Even pushing 90, Bossi is a formidable force. There’s his thundering voice. Then there’s his vice-like handshake. He works out nearly every day, waging a battle with Father Time he appears to be winning.
“You have to stay active. You have to have a hobby or two,” he said. “I gave up golf for fishing. A lot less aggravation. If you’re not breaking a sweat, you’re going through the motions.”
Bossi has no plans to stop coaching. He expects to coach year No. 58 next winter.
“As long as I can make kids listen,” he said. “I’m not the same athlete I was, but I can still get around. I have a good voice and I can still make them listen.”
To get an inside view of what makes Bossi tick, The Sun interviewed 10 area wrestling coaches. They all speak of his commitment to the LHS program and to the sport in general. They all marvel at his longevity and passion for the sport.
He is unique. He is George Bossi.
Chris Piscione
“Like most people in the wrestling community, I have wrestled against him as an athlete and coach. Both are and were difficult. His voice definitely resonates through the gym, and when he talks everyone listens. Something I got from coach Bossi is he is always telling his kids, ‘You gotta get tough.’ I agree with him 100 percent and tell my kids the same thing. Bossi coaching at Lowell has been one of the best things for Chelmsford High because we know that we need to be working hard otherwise our neighbors are going to kick our butts.”
NOTE >> Piscione is in his fourth season as Chelmsford’s coach.
Bruce Rich Sr.
“George Bossi has been an outstanding coach and role model for hundreds of wrestlers for over six decades.
I remember many of the Lowell, Chelmsford matches were wrestled in front of a packed gym. It was a very intense atmosphere and the league championship was often determined that night. If we won, George would be the first one to come across the mat and give that great handshake. Whenever you ask him how his team was doing, he would say, ‘We’re building character.’ That’s what George does, he teaches kids how to compete and deal with adversity.”
NOTE >> Rich coached at Chelmsford for 41 years. He’s currently the Bishop Fenwick/northeast coach.
Bruce Rich Jr.
“I grew up watching him go against my father in the early 1990s. It was always Lowell-chelmsford competing for a league title. My dad in my eyes was always cool, calm and collected. Then you had coach Bossi on the other side getting into the faces of his kids before a match. It’s intimidating. Within the match he was calm. When I took over Westford Academy we go every year over to Lowell’s wrestling room. It was eye-opening. The kids were crammed in. Kids listened to him. They didn’t talk back to him. It’s a respect thing. I give him credit. It’s a family atmosphere. Once a Lowell wrestler, always a Lowell wrestler. He’s still got it.”
NOTE >> Rich, who wrestled at Chelmsford from 200004, is in his ninth season as Westford Academy’s coach.
Steve Kasprzak
“No one could ever question Lowell High’s greatness in terms of wrestling or argue who’s the best the area has ever seen, because it’s a slam dunk. George Bossi runs away with that title. Our league, the Merrimack Valley, is the best in the state bar none, and George Bossi is the measuring stick.
What I admire most about coach Bossi is his willingness to mentor and grow the sport. As a young coach, coach Bossi would always speak to me as if I was his equal (far from it), and he would give little bits and pieces of advice/wisdom that are woven into the fabric of what we do here in Tewksbury. Although our talks and interactions were small compared to some, coach Bossi was a mentor to me, and I made sure I soaked up any bit of advice or knowledge he threw my way. Coach Bossi was always about the sport and making the sport better. What I love most about him is that he loves competition. Coach Bossi is not afraid to wrestle anyone. I know for certain he wanted the best possible version of Tewksbury when Lowell stepped on the mat with us. Coach Bossi wants to compete, and he wants his competition to be the best possible.
It’s very evident to me that coach Bossi values two things above all when it comes to this sport. No. 1, the kids of Lowell. And No. 2, competition and its ability to bring out the best in people.”
NOTE >> Kasprzak has coached at Tewksbury since 2012, the last four as head coach.
Bill Corr
“My first handshake with coach Bossi was in 1963 as a member of the Westford Academy wrestling team that wrestled at Winnacunnet HS with head coach Bossi. Coach Chet Steele’s team beat coach Bossi that day and since then having wrestled against, coached against and coached with coach Bossi, I have been shaking his hand for over 60 years. Coach Steele and coach Bossi come from the old school of wrestling, which I learned early in my career and have tried to follow their example in my coaching. Having coached and traveled with George to many USA Junior National Championships and to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in 1989, I learned that he loves Hawaiian-style pizza and don’t get him started on fishing.”
NOTE >> Corr has been Nashoba Tech’s coach since 2015. He wrestled at Westford Academy from 1961-65 and served as Westford’s head coach from 1983-2005.
Mike Donovan
“I’ve been coaching for six years now, but my dad and uncle (Al and Mark Donovan) coached Tewksbury and Shawsheen Tech, respectively, my entire life, so they often competed against Lowell, and I competed against Lowell when I was in high school at Tewksbury. So I’ve competed against George both as a wrestler and a coach. Whenever you wrestled Lowell, you knew you were in for a fight. George has always gotten the most of his wrestlers whether it’s by technique or maximizing their toughness. There is always an aura there when wrestling a George Bossi-coached team. The handshake is legendary too, even still at his age he still crushes your hand. I’ve had kids shake his hand after a wrestling match, not knowing about the legendary handshake and they come back like, ‘That old guy just crushed my hand.’ “
NOTE >> Donovan is in his sixth season as Tyngsboro/dracut’s coach.
Tom Cassidy
“He’s definitely a great guy. He’s a great ambassador for our sport. When you compete against his teams you know they’re going to be in shape. He’s pushing 90 and he’s still getting out there. He’s still sharp as a tack. God love him. He’s done a lot for kids. It’s great to see him at the tournaments. Everyone respects him. I wrestled for him at Lowell High in 198586. He was the same. He was very hard on us. He made sure we were all in shape. He preached hard work. He would go the extra mile as a coach. You’re going to get a work ethic out of that guy. I hope he goes forever.”
NOTE >> Cassidy wrestled one season at Lowell under Bossi and has coached 30 seasons at Greater Lowell Tech, the last 28 as head coach.
Victor De Jesus
“I’m not going to put that time in, I’ll tell you that (laughs). He’s the reason I wrestled in college. I have a lot of respect for Bossi and for what he’s done for me. My junior season (Tim) O’keefe hurt his ankle and Bossi took over. We got the more mild-mannered version of him if you hear a lot of stories from the older guys. His handshake is crazy. You have to understand the handshake to beat it. If you don’t he’ll crunch it. It’s genuine, though. I’ve been to his place on Plum Island. He loves fishing. His voicemail says it all: ‘The tide’s in and I’m out.’ “
NOTE >> De Jesus wrestled at Lowell from 2005-09 and is in his third season as Billerica’s coach.
Doug Pratt
“He still has the interaction with the kids and the knowledge. It’s amazing to watch. Let me tell you something, when you’re with coach Bossi at a tournament meeting or a seeding meeting, people stop to listen when he speaks. We’ve learned so much from him through the years. He’d say, ‘Listen to me, if you want to be the best you have to wrestle the best. Chase losses.’ He’s respected among coaches. (The late) Mark Donovan idolized George Bossi. I was with George Bossi for two and a half hours earlier this week. He is THE legend. No question. There’s no one even close to him. His handshake is still a vice. He’s one of the most successful coaches to ever walk the earth.”
NOTE >> Pratt, an assistant coach to Donovan at Shawsheen Tech for 30 years, is in his third season as ST’S head coach.
Kevin Riley
“Not only is he still doing his thing, but he commands the respect of the room still. When he walks in you know the guy is special. He was the guy. The brass ring. Two things come to mind when I think of him. One, I went to Shawsheen Tech and it was Mark Donovan’s third year. We were still building and went to the Lowell Holiday Tournament. I wrestled a Lowell kid. I beat the kid and I’ll never forget the look on Bossi’s face. He said, ‘You lost to a Tech kid?’ I felt sorry for the kid. That’s when I knew I did something special. Beating a Lowell kid for the first time meant a lot to me.
The second thing is later I became an assistant at Salem in the late ’90s. We had three kids who were state champs. One day we went up to Lowell to practice. We broke off into groups. I was a big guy and even though I was 10 years older I had a young face. Bossi looked at me and said, ‘Get over there’ with the heavyweights. I got the crap kicked out of me that day and I should have told him I was a coach, but it was better than talking back to Bossi. He has that look. You can tell exactly where you stand with him. There’s not enough words to say what kind of impact he’s had on our sport.”
NOTE >> Riley is in his second season coaching Wilmington.