Fred Pisasale – Omaha

Coach. An all-around athlete at Omaha Central, Fred lettered in football, wrestling and tennis. During those years Central won the state meet in wrestling and tennis for four years and he won the gold medal in his weight class one year. After high school graduation in 1946, he spent two years in the Marine Corps. During his tour of duty with the Corps, he won the All-Pacific wrestling championship and the Marine-Navy singles tennis championship on Guam, plus wrestling four months at the Naval Academy at Annapolis On returning to civilian life, he enrolled at UNO where he lettered four years in tennis, was team captain 3 years, and had a record 143-5 in singles and 49-4 in doubles and was undefeated in 1950. He coached the UNO team for one year while working on his master’s degree. Along with Charlie Mancuso, Fred was instrumental in getting the wrestling program started at UNO. Hired at Omaha Benson, he was there for 38 years, coaching tennis for 35 years, coaching wrestling for five years, plus 20 years of freshman-reserve football coaching. A long time wrestling official, he was elected to the Nebraska Scholastic Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1982. He was also selected to the Nebraska Tennis Hall of fame, Benson High Hall of Fame, Metro Conference Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, Metro Tennis Coaches Hall of Famc, and the UNO Wrestling Hall of Fame. Beyond his high school activity, Fred also ran the city and state tennis tournaments and was Omaha City Tennis Director for 20 years.