Gary Dolloff brought a different perspective to his second stint as Mountain Valley’s wrestling coach. He coached the Falcons from 2001-11, then stepped away for three years before returning in 2014.

“I came back and I had a great group of kids — we made a run at a state championship (in 2014-15), but I came back with a different mindset,” Dolloff said. “I found myself, and even the referees found I was a little more mellow. It wasn’t because I wasn’t passionate about what I was doing. I was less aggressive with the referees, I guess. That alone: I made better friendships and I wanted to set the tone to my wrestlers that I wanted to teach them more than wrestling — I wanted to teach them about life, life skills and helping people and donating and volunteering.”

Dolloff, who is the executive director of the Greater Rumford Community Center, is stepping away again. He recently got married and wants to spend more time with his wife.

During his 21-year career, Dolloff, who was inducted into the Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame in 2023, coached the Falcons to three Class B state championships, in 2005, 2006, and 2011 — and five runner-up finishes, including his first season back in 2014-15 — and a 335-51 dual meet record. Thirty-two Mountain Valley wrestlers won individual state championships and 73 earned regional titles.

Dolloff also coached at the middle school level prior to his first stint at Mountain Valley.

His impact on wrestling stretches beyond Maine’s state lines. But he also had made an impact that goes beyond the mat.

Mountain Valley athletic director Jeff Pelletier, a 2006 graduate of the school who wrestled for a couple of the Falcons’ state championship teams, said Dolloff has used wrestling to make a huge impact on athletes and the community.

“Obviously, he has a ton of wins under his belt — that kind of speaks for itself. But the big thing with Gary is the connections he made in our area,” Pelletier said. “He really connected well with kids from underprivileged homes and that kind of stuff — or maybe they have troubled family lives and he makes good connections with them, gets them involved (and) to love the sport of wrestling and grow through the sport of wrestling.”

LONG-LASTING CONNECTIONS

Dolloff said creating moments was one of his most important objectives while coaching wrestlers.

“My motto to my kids is ‘let’s make some memories,'” Dolloff said. “Sometimes you aren’t going to know who came second in the Wells tournament in 2020, you know? You are going to remember, ‘Hey, remember the trip we had where we did this on the bus?’ It was about the kids making memories.

“My favorite is the way they come and wish me luck … I’ve had letters, I’ve had phone calls, and it’s been amazing that I have been in contact with kids I coached a long time ago and hold me in high regards.”

Edward Little coach Ben Madigan, who won the 130-pound state championship for Mountain Valley in 2002, said Dolloff cared for his wrestlers beyond teaching them holds and how they performed on the mat.

“He’s a really good guy, a really good coach, excellent motivator,” Madigan said. “He’s one of those coaches who takes pride in his athletes, not just on a performance perspective but also a personal perspective. He was always somebody you can talk to, whether it was athletic-related or personal-related. He’s always there supporting his athletes the best way possible.”

Dolloff’s connection and relationships with his student-athletes didn’t end when they finished high school.

One example, among many, is Mt. Blue wrestling coach Michael Hansen, a 2004 Mountain Valley graduate whom Dolloff assisted during Hansen’s professional mixed martial arts career.

“I had him as one of my cornermen, not because he knew so much about MMA, but his ability to coach and get through to people,” Hansen said. “I remember one of my fights I was in, I was KO’d but the fight wasn’t stopped, and I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear him in the corner coaching me. He said, ‘Weather the storm.’ I was holding onto the guy’s leg, and slowly, my consciousness came back and I was able to continue the fight without it stopping there. He ended up coaching me through it.”

Hansen ended up losing the fight by submission, but Dolloff’s coaching helped Hansen go exceed his initial limit and extend the bout.

COACHING TREE

Hansen and Madigan are two branches of a coaching tree that Dolloff estimates includes at least 20 former athletes coaching at different levels of the sport, in and outside Maine.

“It’s a topic of our conversations. Me and Gary, we will sit down at lunch or something and get talking about the impact he has had on the wrestling community in the entire state, even further, ” Hansen said. “There are guys he coached coaching in other states at youth, middle school and high school level. There are Mountain Valley wrestlers coached by Gary Dolloff coaching very successful wrestling programs and helping reach out to a good group of kids. Just like he did with the group of kids that are now coaches.”

Dolloff gave Hansen his first coaching job, which was helping out with a youth program. At the time, Hansen didn’t anticipate it leading to his own coaching career.

“When I got out of the Army, I started hanging out with Coach Dolloff at the community center, and helping out in the building and whatnot, helping out with youth sports,” Hansen said. “Spending the time around him and learning from him, I coached very similar (to) how he did, and I continued to coach.”

Hansen said he has mimicked some of Dolloff’s values, such as treating athletes with respect and dignity, listening to them, and giving them opportunities to shine in their own ways.

Madigan, who started the Edward Little High School wrestling program this past year, said he also uses many of Dolloff’s coaching principles.

“He had an amazing career, and I was fortunate to be able to have wrestled for him and experience what he brings to the table,” Madigan said. “To be quite honest, a lot of my coaching philosophies are really based on my experience wrestling under him. Anybody who has wrestled for him would share the same sentiment.”

Hansen and Madigan have helped their own wrestlers be successful. Both were named co-coaches of the year in the KVAC this winter, and Hansen’s Cougars won the Class A North championship.

“I watched Ben Madigan at EL, and we got to wrestle them this year, and that was a special moment,” Dolloff said. “My assistant coach, Mike Hansen, at Mt. Blue, and these guys are climbing the ladder to varsity positions — it gives me a tear in my eye. Ben getting coach of the year and Mike winning coach of the year at the KVACs — it’s great I have a piece of that, and they all come back and talk about what they learned from Mountain Valley.

“There’s a piece of Mountain Valley in a lot of these schools, which is pretty cool.”

Pelletier said recently that there haven’t been any interviews yet for the Mountain Valley wrestling coach opening. Dolloff hopes that current Falcons assistant coach Anthony Mazza Sr. gets the opportunity to be his successor.

“I wanted to let my assistant hopefully take over and find his niche in it,” Dolloff said. “He’s a good friend of mine, and I want him to coach in the high school ranks.”

Dolloff may still help out the Mountain Valley wrestling program.

“One thing he’s talked to me about, and we have taken big steps forward in, is expanding girls wrestling in the state, and he wants to help and grow that at Mountain Valley,” Pelletier said. “I think he’s going to take on bringing some girls wrestlers to tournaments that might be on the same day as co-ed tournaments. We ran into that this year where we had to split the coaching staff a couple of times to make sure we were giving everybody the best opportunity. I think he sees an opportunity to help in that regard.”

Dolloff will still coach Mountain Valley’s softball team, as he has since 2020. He said he still has some unfinished business on the diamond.

“Softball is just something I want to hopefully maybe get a (Southern) Maine crown and get these girls on the map,” Dolloff said. “We have worked hard up here, and we have had some not-so-good luck with pitchers transferring or getting hurt. I think we are on the cusp of doing special up here.”