PREP EXTRA : CITY SECTION REPORT : Stadium to Be Named for Wilson’s Cuccia

Vic Cuccia, former football coach at Wilson High, will be honored Friday night when the school’s football stadium is named in his honor during a ceremony at halftime of the game between Wilson and Alhambra.

Cuccia, 72, is in his 44th year as a teacher at Wilson.

“I’ve been in this community all of my life and I’m probably going to retire after next year, so this is a great honor, a great ending,” said Cuccia, who played on Wilson’s first football league championship team in 1944 and played college football at St. Mary’s and Occidental.

Cuccia began teaching at Wilson in 1955 and coached the B team before taking over the varsity in 1956. He compiled a 151-42-6 record in 21 years as Wilson’s head coach. With his son, Ron, at quarterback, Cuccia guided the Mules to three consecutive City 3-A championships from 1975-77. The Mules also won the title in 1978.

“We were from the Eastside, but Coach Cuccia made us feel we could play with anybody,” said Eddie Martinez, who played for Cuccia in 1975-77 and is in his sixth season as the Mules’ head coach. “We never had the biggest team, physically, but we knew how to compete. He set the standard.”

The football field at Wilson will continue to be known as Paul Barthel Field, dedicated in the 1970s in honor of a former Wilson teacher.

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The City Section has changed the name of the lower of its two playoff divisions.

The tournament in all sports formerly known as the City Division will be called the City Invitational, the Interscholastic Athletics Committee determined earlier this week.

The City Championship tournaments include teams ranked first through 16th at the end of the regular season. The Invitational will include teams seeded 17th through 32nd.

The finals of both tournaments in each sport will continue to be held at the same locations.

A proposal to do away with the Invitational will be considered in May.