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Harbor Creek Wrestling Legend Jeff Catrabone’s Kids Are the New Stars

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Harbor Creek Wrestling Legend Jeff Catrabone’s Kids Are the New Stars

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Jeff Catrabone’s dream came true on October 26, 2021.

That’s when his oldest son, Cameron, committed to wrestle at the University of Michigan.

Choosing his father’s alma mater wasn’t a surprise to Cameron, one of the most decorated high school wrestlers in Western New York history. But it was as much a dream come true for his son as it was for his father.

Wrestling has dominated Jeff Catrabone’s life since his days at Harbor Creek High School. It brought him to Michigan, allowed him to meet his wife and helped him pursue a career in business.

The two-time PIAA wrestling champion and three-time NCAA All-American, however, is no longer the star. Cameron Catrabone is.

Cameron graduated from Williamsville North High School and was a two-time New York State wrestling champion. Most notably, he is the only six-time sectional champion—equivalent to Pennsylvania districts—in Western New York wrestling history.

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But the problem with Jeff Catrabone’s five kids is that Cameron might not even be the best athlete.

Jeff and his wife, Amy, raise a team of elite athletes in their suburban Buffalo home. Some jump, some swing, and some wrestle.

They are building a legacy that Jeff Catrabone hopes will surpass the one he left at the Hall of Fame in northwestern Pennsylvania.

“I hope (Cameron) can break all my records,” said Jeff Catrabone, a 1998 Michigan graduate and the program’s all-time leader in wrestling wins. “As a father, you want your son to do a lot better than you. What a dream come true for both of us.”

Continuing the legacy of struggle

Jeff Catrabone met his wife, Amy, while coaching wrestling at Cathedral Prep.

Amy’s brother, Jeff Wozniak, wrestled for Prep during Catrabone’s tenure from 2000-2005. Jeff Catrabone was later retired to Western New York.

The struggle was of course to blame.

Catrabone, a 1993 Harbor Creek graduate, left Prep to become a coach at the University at Buffalo. He also found work at Erie-based Braendel Services, Inc.

Jeff Catrabone met Dennis Braendel while the latter was a student at Harbor Creek. Braendel offered to coach Catrabone’s young son in wrestling, and over time the two became close.

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Jeff and Amy Catrabone moved to Buffalo in 2005 and opened a Braendel Services location shortly after. Jeff remained on staff at the University at Buffalo until 2012.

This is when he really started building his army.

Building an army of athletes

Cameron Catrabone’s hand was raised on February 3 at Jamestown High School in Jamestown, NY.

A first-period fall earned him the Class AA Section 6 wrestling title at 152 pounds, the sixth section crown of his career.

No one else has done that in Section 6 history. With two state titles, 227 career wins and 146 falls, Cameron is among the best recent wrestlers in New York, which allows seventh- and eighth-graders to participate in varsity sports.

Cameron is not the only accomplished Catrabone, however.

Aria Catrabone, a rising junior at Williamsville North, is a Level 10 gymnast. However, she switched to track and field less than two years ago and immediately won a NYSPHSAA medal in the triple jump.

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Tanner Catrabone, a 2024-25 freshman, is already a Section 6 wrestling champion and wrestled in the NYSPHSAA tournament as an eighth-grader. Raylee Catrabone, 12, is a Level 8 gymnast and Aja Catrabone, 9, is a Level 6 gymnast and already has a solid golf swing.

“When they were 3 or 4 months old, I would sit them on my lap, grab a ball, and have them do a backstroke to catch the ball,” Catrabone says. “That would give them an hour of core work every day.”

That was just the beginning.

Jeff Catrabone built a playground at home that looks like it came straight out of the American Ninja Warrior TV series. Monkey bars, pegboards and climbing ropes provided the rhythm for his kids’ playtime.

“Now their bodies are so strong that they can compete in any sport they want,” he said.

For Cameron Catrabone, hockey was almost the choice. He played it while wrestling at ages 7 and 8, but he knew he would have to make a choice.

Jeff Catrabone waited anxiously one night as Cameron considered his decision, knowing he would support his son no matter what. The next morning at breakfast, Cameron chose to fight.

Ten years later, he is a Wolverine.

“I have five kids and my goal is to get all five of them into the University of Michigan,” Jeff Catrabone said. “I have one that’s a standout and all Aria has to do is take a few more steps and she’s recruitable.”

A life of struggle

Jeff Catrabone has been a wrestling coach at Williamsville North High School since 2018, when Cameron was in 7th grade. He also coaches at the Revolution Elite youth club in Lockport, New York, and has worked closely with dozens of young wrestlers over the past decade.

Recent winters have been filled with trips to Erie, where wrestlers from Ohio, Pittsburgh and Buffalo have gathered for high-level youth tournaments. Whether in New York, Pennsylvania or elsewhere, the Catrabones have continued to wrestle.

“Just open the kids clubs every day of the week so they can come,” Jeff Catrabone said. “One day you can have five kids, and the next day you can have 40. It’s huge – the doors were open for kids to come.”

The Braendel Services facility in western New York, founded by Jeff Catrabone with two painters and a truck, now has about 40 employees. Its two managers are, unsurprisingly, former wrestlers.

Dan Bishop wrestled for Jeff Catrabone at the University of Buffalo. Kellen Devlin, a North Carolina State alumnus who holds three NYSPHSAA titles, worked closely with Cameron Catrabone when Cameron was in the No. 8 position.th and 9th grade.

Devlin, according to Jeff Catrabone, is the source of Cameron’s success. He is now one of Jeff’s best employees.

Jeff Catrabone plans to travel to Michigan whenever Cameron fights, joking that he’ll need a “fast pass” to get into Canada for his frequent trips. In the meantime, he’ll continue to take Tanner to wrestling while Amy—the real hero of the Catrabone family, according to Jeff—takes care of gymnastics, homework and a hundred other responsibilities.

It’s a wrestling family, an athletic family, a Michigan family.

“Wrestling has been the highlight of my life,” Jeff Catrabone said. “I would never have gone to the University of Michigan if it wasn’t for wrestling. There’s not one artery or vein in my entire life that isn’t tied to wrestling.”

Contact Jeff Uveino at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @realjuveino.

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