High School Wrestling Room to Be Named For Longtime Coach, Mentor

ENFIELD, CT — Ben Aleks has provided major contributions in many ways to the high school and youth wrestling programs of Enfield over the past 36 years. Now, the 2016 inductee of the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame will be permanently celebrated for his decades of volunteerism and generosity.

At its Monday night meeting, the Enfield Town Council unanimously approved a resolution to name the old band room at the former Enrico Fermi High School building the "Ben Aleks Wrestling Center."

Over the past two years, the room has been transformed into a space exclusively dedicated to the sport of wrestling. It is the practice facility for Enfield High School's grapplers, as well as the Enfield Eagles youth wrestling program.

Enfield and Fermi high schools consolidated in 2016, but a $103 million renovation of the Enfield High School building did not provide space for the wrestling program, necessitating athletes to travel to the closed high school building to practice.

Aleks was instrumental in making his longtime dream a reality, providing ample resources and labor to create a practice facility for the town's scholastic and youth wrestling programs.

A dedication ceremony for the new room was held on May 2. Now, another celebration will be planned to unveil the official naming of the wrestling center in Aleks' honor.

When reached Tuesday in Ireland, where he is traveling with his wife Candace, the ever-humble Aleks simply said repeatedly, "I am just overwhelmed by this honor. Stunned and overwhelmed."

Ben Aleks, right, chats with 1982 State Open champion Bob Andreana during the wrestling room's dedication in May. (Photo credit: Tim Jensen/Patch Media Corp.)