Seated in a doctor’s office, Joey Hada’s heart was destroyed. Then a junior on the Heidelberg wrestling team, Hada absorbed the crushing news that the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee was torn. His season was over. His wrestling career was in jeopardy. Seated next to him, his father, Joe H ada, had a solution. “Well,” he suggested to the doctor, “can I give him my ACL then?” That’s one of the many stories of Joe Hada wanting to give of himself to make someone else’s life better. A legendary wrestling coach on the high school and college level, as well as an inductee into multiple athletic halls of fame, Hada died on Friday, March 21, after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 75. “Dad passed way on Friday, but he made sure he could attend Betsy’s softball game on Tuesday,” daughter Julie said of Betsy’s job as Harvey’s head softball coach. “No matter what, he was there for us. He always supported his children.” Choking back tears, Betsy said, “He approached cancer like everything else. … He was going to fight it ’til the very end.” A graduate of Harvey, Hada dedicated his life to education and coaching as well as being a family man. He wrestled collegiately at Heidelberg, where he was a four-year letterwinner and team captain, as well as an NCAA tournament qualifier in 1970. After graduating with degrees in political science and education, Hada entered the realm of teaching and coaching. Joe Hada Sr., center, was inducted into the Ohio Chapter of the National Wrestling Association’s Hall of Fame in 2022. He is shown with, from left, daughter Betsy, wife Mary, Joe Jr. and daughter Julie. (Submitted) After a year at Leetonia, Hada returned to Lake County, where he spent 26 years at Mentor — assisting from 1974-1990 before serving as head coach from 1990-1999. He accumulated a 217-61-7 record as the Cardinals’ head coach. “I wrestled for him and then I coached with him,” said Ken Skilton, a multi-sport coach at Mentor. “He was a great coach and a great man. He helped prepare me to be a head coach. He was a big part of helping me get hired at Mentor.” In 1999, Hada returned to Harvey as a volunteer assistant coach. There he got the opportunity to coach his son and other Red Raiders. “Dad innovated wrestling,” Joey Hada said. “We were doing a tilt series before anyone in the nation was doing it, and now they advertise it on TV.” Skilton agreed, noting, “(Joey) had the elbow-knee tilt the Mentor kids hit a lot. We continue that move today. That’s a big part of wrestling, the tilts. We continued it when we took over the program.” Hada then took his coaching talents to the college level at Heidelberg, where he was a volunteer assistant coach from 2003-2015. During his tenure there, he helped the team win 10 Ohio Athletic Conference championships, coached 25 OAC champions, 40 national qualifiers and nine all-Americans. Upon hearing the news of Hada’s death, the college released a heartfelt tribute. As part of the tribute, associate athletic director (and former Heidelberg head coach) Jason Miller said, “Coach Hada is synonymous with Heidelberg Wrestling. His passion, loyalty, and devotion for wrestling, Heidelberg, and his family was unparalleled. He was a great mentor and friend.” Current Heidelberg coach Tony Patrizi, a Perry alum, was a Heidelberg teammate of Joey Hada’s and has known the Hada family for a number of years. He credited the Hada patriarch for his guidance and assistance when he took over the wrestling program. “When it comes to wrestling in Ohio, Joe’s impact on Lake County wrestling through Harvey, his years at Mentor and his ability to produce athletes and community members is immeasurable,” Patrizi said. “He encompasses everything I want to be as a coach. I’m lucky I had the opportunity to spend as much time with him as I did. He meant the world to Heidelberg wrestling and always will.” Hada was inducted into the Harvey and Mentor athletic halls of fame. Most recently, Hada was inducted into the Ohio Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2022. He had more than 50 years involved with the sport whether it be as an athlete, coach or official. Through it all, his first love was his family — his wife Mary and their three children, Julie, Joey and Betsy. “Being a teacher, Dad had summers off,” Julie said. “He’d take us fishing on Fairport’s pier, dragged a cooler into the (Municipal) Stadium for doubleheaders… he loved baseball as much as wrestling.” When he was coaching at Heidelberg, Julie said, he cut out a large life-sized figure of himself out of foam to put it in the bed next to his wife back in Painesville. “It was so she’d never be without him,” Julie said. Over the past two days, Mary Hada said the outpouring of support has touched her heart and the hearts of her family. “We started dating when I was 21,” she said. “We were married six months later. Forty-six years later and here we are. “Joe really believed in respecting people. He always tried to make positive comments; never talked about about anyone. His legacy of helping kids become men, helping people get a good education and doing what’s right is his biggest tribute.” Calling hours will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, March 28, at Spear-Mulqueeny Funeral Home, 667 Mentor Ave., Painesville. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 29, at First Church Congregational, 22 Liberty St., Painesville. ...read more read less