John Ordiway was an official with the WCOA of Section 5 during the 1960’s. Throughout Section 5 he was a well known sports enthusiast as the head football coach for Pittsford and as a wrestling official. His personality, his concern for young people and his style of officiating made him one of the most popular and respected officials in the area. The coaches and wrestlers loved to have him referee their matches and his fellow officials loved working with him. In 1968 he tragically lost his battle with leukemia.

He was such an outstanding man his officiating colleagues wanted to be sure that he would never be forgotten. The WOA of Section 5 decided to honor him by naming the Outstanding Wrestler Award after him. This award is presented to the Outstanding Wrester in the Section 5 NY State Wrestling Tournament qualifier. The award was first presented in 1969 to Mike Duffy of East Rochester. In the 2003-2004 season the NY State tournament divided in to two tournaments crowning champions representing large schools (Division 1) and small schools (Division 2). Following suit the Section 5 NY State qualifying tournament broke into two tournaments and thus the WOA presented two awards one each in Division 1 and Division 2. The selection are based on the votes of the WOA officials who are present at the tournament.