A Brock University head wrestling coach wants to honour the legacy of two people he says made significant contributions to the school’s program, including one with long ties to Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Coach Marty Calder plans to establish an athletic and academic scholarship for students entering the wrestling program in honour of the late Kekoo Gatta, a NOTL-based homebuilder who died in September 2024 after an accidental drowning in the Niagara River, as well as Michelle Fazzari.
Calder said the recipient will be an incoming wrestler. He said he does not yet know the scholarship amount but hopes to award it by the start of the next school year.
Zubin Gatta, Kekoo Gatta’s son and an assistant coach with the Junior Brock Badger Wrestling Club, said he is touched by the tribute.
“He gave so much to the wrestling world in Niagara,” he said. “You could ask hundreds of kids who are now older how much of an impact he had on their life. I know my three best friends, they looked up to him, in almost the same way I did as a dad, as a mentor.”
Calder said he came up with the idea to honour Fazzari and Gatta after their deaths within days of each other in 2024. Gatta was 60 years old when he died. Fazzari died of cancer at 37.
Gatta worked as a fundraiser at Brock and ran the Junior Brock Badger Wrestling Club. He also owned Gatta Homes, a custom home-building company based in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he lived.
“These were two huge losses for our organization,” Calder said.
He said he coached Fazzari and wrestled Gatta when they were in high school. Gatta once won a silver medal at the Canadian Nationals tournament.
Calder and Gatta reconnected when Gatta became more involved with the Junior Brock Badger program as his children took up wrestling.
“He grew it from nothing,” Zubin said, noting his father began coaching about 25 years ago.
Calder praised Gatta’s work ethic in wrestling and business: “It’s crazy how much work he did.”
Zubin also spoke about his father’s character.
“He was one of the best mentors a kid could have,” he said.
