Evan Galvin of East Aurora (East Aurora Middle School) 

Matthew Hassenfratz of Orchard Park (St. John Vianney School) 

Petros Kollidas of Clarence (Elmwood Franklin School) 

Henry Richards of Buffalo (City Honors Middle School) 

Ryan Stravino of Grand Island (Connor Middle School) 

Patrick Sullivan of Orchard Park (Orchard Park Middle School)

* * * 

Making Mr. Canisius:
The 2024 finalists with faculty members who made an impact

* * *

The Mr. Canisius Award is presented annually to the graduating senior who, in the estimation of his peers, epitomizes all that Canisius stands for.

Typically, the winner is a student who has used his heart, spirit, strength and mind to an exceptional degree in service to others and love for God. Mr. Canisius possesses and lives up to each of these characteristics.

The six finalists have written reflections about their time at Canisius and what it means to be a candidate for this award (see links above).

The entire student body, with senior ballots carrying the most weight, votes for this award. The voting will occur next week and the winner will be announced at the Senior Awards on May 21.

This is the 63rd edition of Mr. Canisius, which has been awarded since 1962.

Mr. Canisius award winners

1962 Jerry Best

1963 Tom Haney

1964 Jeff Woeppel

1965 Tom Lombardo

1966 Robert Reger

1967 Tim Harmon

1968 Greg Pratt

1969 Larry Chojecki

1970 Mike Connolly

1971 Peter Curtin

1972 Mark McNamara

1973 Scott Barry

1974 Gary Pollock

1975 Kevin Curran

1976 Bryan Tenney

1977 Patrick Plunkett

1978 Paul Gregory

1979 Mark Fitzgerald

1980 Rick Divalerio

1981 Larry Hokaj

1982 Mike O’Neill

1983 Ken Crosta

1984 John McCarthy

1985 Mike Naughton

1986 Hank Nowak

1987 Salvatore LaDuca

1988 Timothy Rine

1989 Ben Batory

1990 Thomas Enstice

1991 Brendan Malley

1992 James Swartz, Jr.

1993 Harvey Young

1994 Carlos Perez

1995 Noel Sutton

1996 Thaddeus Kresse

1997 Paul Cumbo

1998 Brian Lysiak

1999 Martin LaFalce

2000 Timothy Leary

2001 Timothy Short

2002 Joshua Birdsall

2003 Michael Fitzgerald

2004 Stanley Pietrak III

2005 Theophilus Ossei-Anto

2006 Timothy Keating

2007 Cosimo Polino

2008 Stephen Brenner

2009 John Urschel

2010 Cameron Walsh

2011 Gordon Lyons

2012 Russell Fiorella

2013 John “Jack” Sardinia

2014 Kevin Driscoll

2015 Frank Fialkiewicz III

2016 Christopher “C.J.” Wild

2017 Caleb Blodgett

2018 George Burnett

2019 Joel Nicholas

2020 Daniel Sippel

2021 Eric Geisler

2022 Victor Mazzara

2023 Patrick Nettina