Peter Domarchuk inducted into Guelph Gryphons Athletic Hall of Fame

Former Niagara-on-the-Lake resident Peter Domarchuk is a proud graduate of Guelph University, and the institution that granted him his degree in business in 1984 is returning that pride. 

The real estate agent, high school teacher and former varsity wrestler is being inducted into the Guelph Gryphons Athletic Hall of Fame on June 21 with three other athletes, four teams and a former women’s basketball coach. 

“I feel really flattered, humbled,” Domarchuk tells The Local about receiving the honour. “I never wanted the spotlight on me. That’s not what it was ever about. But to have that university, with their worldwide status, and what they do year after year, to have them recognize me this way is incredible.”

Born in LaSalle, Ontario to parents Stan and Anne, Domarchuk took up wrestling in Grade 9 at the urging of a couple of friends who were on the team. He credits his coach Geoff Owen, who also coached the school’s football team, for believing in him right from the start, providing the inspiration Domarchuk needed to succeed. 

He says he wasn’t immediately dedicated to his training, but Domarchuk found early success on the mat, pushing him to work harder. By the time he was a senior, he was a dominant force in his 150-pound (68 kg) weight class. He won the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) title in Grades 12 and 13. 

American universities came calling with scholarship offers. Domarchuk eschewed them in favour of the University of Guelph, a Canadian wrestling powerhouse at the time and the reigning national championship team. 

In 1981, his first year with the Gryphons Domarchuk won the prestigious Guelph Open and Queen’s University Open tournaments. He also earned a chance to represent Canada at the World Junior Freestyle Wrestling Championships. But after being defeated in wrestle-offs, he didn’t earn a spot on the Guelph team to wrestle in the provincial and national championships those first two years. 

He kept fighting, though, to become the second-ranked university wrestler in his class in the country, behind only Brock University’s Ken Bradford. Echoing Domarchuk’s progression as a wrestler in high school, he went undefeated and became the national champion in his final two years at university, 1983 and 1984. That earned him a spot on the senior national team. 

Domarchuk soon found himself in Los Angeles for the 1984 Summer Olympics as an alternate for Dave McKay. Though Domarchuk had beaten McKay in the past, the Winnipeg native who went on to coach wrestling at Simon Fraser University held onto his spot by winning the Olympic team trials. 

“In my weight class, Dave won every tournament around the world that we went to,” Domarchuk, recalls. “And Pat Sullivan was third in the world. It was tough competition. But I was still on the national team, I still had the chance to compete all over the world.”

Along the way, Domarchuk’s younger brother Joe followed in his wrestling footsteps. Joe was attending Brock University, where he was a member of a Badgers wrestling program soon to displace Guelph as the sport’s premiere team under fellow Guelph grad coach Richard DesChatelets. Peter followed Joe to St. Catharines, became an assistant coach with the Brock team, and enrolled in teacher’s college there, inspired by his high school coach Owen. 

Domarchuk’s first teaching job was at Laura Secord Secondary School, where he was hired to teach science and math. Of course, he also coached wrestling. Principal Ray Jeffries eventually enlisted him for the school’s cooperative education program. In 1998, he moved to Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School where he continues as the co-op program leader.

Along the way, he met his future wife, Mary, through mutual friends. They were early fans of John Hawley’s new urban concept The Village and bought a home there. Domarchuk insists their elder son Sullivan was the first child born in the development.

Domarchuk earned his real estate license in 2006 and formed relationships with several local builders who were focusing on Net Zero and Energy Plus sustainable construction. He became a staunch advocate for the concept, organizing and delivering presentations on the subject at Brock and the NOTL Public Library. He continues to work with Royal LePage NRC Realty on Queen Street in NOTL.

As much as all the gold medals and national titles, or the fact that he travelled to Japan, Hungary, Switzerland, France and Cuba with Canada’s senior national team, may have earned him this latest recognition (he was named most improved wrestler in1983 and earned varsity letters in 1983 and 1984) from his alma mater, Domarchuk insists his post-graduate efforts to inspire students and help homeowners realize their dreams were just as important.

“It’s about the contribution to the community,” Domarchuk avers. “Facilitating research mentorship opportunities at Brock University and supporting apprenticeship efforts for my students, coaching sports, volunteering at the NOTL Legion, my support of local artists, sustainable building. It all supports the University of Guelph culture of excellence.”

Domarchuk says his four years at Guelph shaped his attitude and drive to succeed and to give back. Though he wasn’t an ‘Aggie’, he was in awe of the school’s work in the agricultural and veterinary fields that continues today. 

“It was an enriched environment,” he says. “That university anticipates the needs and they follow through. And there were cultural opportunities while I was there, too. I saw Dizzy Gillespie play there. It was a great experience that way.”

At 62 years old, Domarchuk looks fit enough to step back onto a wrestling mat today. He credits that to his routine of heading up Glenridge Hill to the Brock pool from his family’s new nearby renovation project to swim laps.

That will surely be noticed by those who attend the university’s June 21 induction ceremony, at which he will be joined by Mary, Sullivan and their younger son Justice. He is eagerly looking forward to his return to campus.

“Guelph provided me with such an enriched experience over and over again,” Domarchuk says. “It’s about excellence, and I put that into my work in real estate and teaching. Those positive experiences that Guelph and sport gave me, I look for those in everything I do.”