Andy Matter into Delaware County Hall of Fame
- Thread starter El-Jefe
- Start date
Me Too. Sat in Rec Hall for many a match from '71 to '74 watching Andy, Dave Joyner, Charlie Getty, John Fritz, Jerry Velleco et al. But Andy was the best. I always wonder how he would do against our recent crop of middle weights studs (Taylor, Nolf, Cenzo, Hall). Different era, different styles, and with all the club wrestling and national tournaments available to today's youth wrestlers, probably not fair to compare. But I like to think he'd hang in there with them.
A sportswriter once ask Mickey Mantle if he were playing in today's market with Syrawberry getting 4 million how much would Mickey get paid?
Mickey answered probably a couple million. The sports writer qiuzingly looked at him and said just a couple million. Mickey said, "Sure. I am almost 60 you know."
Point being in Mickey's prime Micky was great in his day. In his prime the Mick would have been great in anybody's era. Andy Matter would be great in any era.
According to Bill James original baseball abstract, in his prime....that is measuring his "peak" value rather than "career value" .. Mantle may have been the greatest baseball player ever.
btw....I tied Andy Matter once.
btw....I tied Andy Matter once.
If it weren't for the drainpipe covering in Mantle's rookie year ....
Not many can say that about Matter. That's impressive.
I tied Andy in Gene Wettstone's gymnastics class, tho some guy I dont know got the only A.
I think Wettstone held Andy to a little higher standard than the rest of us.
I think Wettstone held Andy to a little higher standard than the rest of us.
It's ridiculous to think that Andy Matter wasn't in the DelCo HOF 30 years ago. How many NCAA wrestling champs came from Delaware County? Two. (Guess the other to win the washer and dryer)
I can think of only 10 PIAA wrestling champs from DelCo. Andy Matter is long overdo in the Del Co Hall of Fame. At least they correct their obvious oversight.
btw, in high school my little brother went up a weight to wrestle Andy and lost 1-0.
unrelated: Hunter Cafka is the first Sophomore from DelCo to win states. The kid is a moose.
I can think of only 10 PIAA wrestling champs from DelCo. Andy Matter is long overdo in the Del Co Hall of Fame. At least they correct their obvious oversight.
btw, in high school my little brother went up a weight to wrestle Andy and lost 1-0.
unrelated: Hunter Cafka is the first Sophomore from DelCo to win states. The kid is a moose.
That's a tough one about another NCAA champ from Delaware County; maybe from a private school?
...yes, son Brett won the 2000 title for the University of Pennsylvania, finishing off a very successful career during which he won 4 consecutive EIWA titles...
...Brett's older brother - Clinton - also wrestled for Penn - in the late 90's - and was also an EIWA Champion...
...Brett's older brother - Clinton - also wrestled for Penn - in the late 90's - and was also an EIWA Champion...
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Just curious if any of you guys know Andy personally. I'm not a close friend or anything, but I have had some interaction with both Andy and his older brother Kemball and they are a couple of characters. We were all in the same section at the 2011 NCAA tournament, complete with our own private bar. You get a few beers in those guys and they can be pretty entertaining.
The Matter brothers wrestled for Delran High School in NJ. Brett is a youth coach in nearby (to me) in Chatham, Morris County, NJ.
You are right and you are wrong. Dick DiBatista won PIAA states for Lower Merion HS in 1938. Then he went to F&M Academy and won National Preps. Then he went to the Univ of Penna and won NCAA's twice. He was undefeated in high school, prep school and college. He was denied a 3rd NCAA crown by World War II.
Dick went on to become one of the top refs in the East. He reffed at the NCAA's a number of times, I think, did a lot of EIWA meets, and he reffed a bunch of matches that yours truly wrestled in high school. 30 years after winning states, the guy was still slapped together.
Off topic, but Dick is worth talking about.
Thanks, oldcougar. What a great career.
I'll be picky here -- Lower Merion HS is actually in Montgomery County. I looked for some info on Dick and saw a hometown of Ardmore. A portion of Ardmore is in the Lower Merion district and a portion is in the Haverford Twp. district.
oops! Lower Merion has always been in the same league as all of the larger DelCo schools and I forgot they are mostly Montgomery Cty. My bad.
attended Haverford Twp. around that time, and recall the Beacher boys from Springfield wrestling, and Geoff Petrie, who was outstanding in basketball and baseball.
Iirc, Geoff Petrie was co-rookie of the year in the NBA with Dave Cowens. The rest of their careers diverged, however.
correct. Geoff also became GM of the Sacramento Kings
Probably the best athlete to come out of DELCO. I believe he was drafted as a pitcher out of high school & was also heavily recruited as a QB by colleges, but basketball was his favorite sport
royboy, you caught me.
I was talking to Geoff Petrie before he entered the NBA. He was pretty much set for life because of his Princeton contacts. People came out of the woodwork offering him jobs.
Also he led the Ivy League in scoring in basketball and ERA in baseball. And football?I once saw him run out of the pocket to his right and throw the football from our 40 to about 5 yards deep in the end zone for a TD. Don't remember seeing many pros throw it farther or more accurately. He was probably the best athlete I ever saw. He was also President of the Sacremento Kings.and was 2x NBA executive of the year.
ha....thanks for sharing
went to Haverford thru 10th grade; our junior high wrestling coach was Dale Bonsall, who then went on to Haverford HS and West Chester, and Foxcatcher
He was a terrific coach, and I would guess you crossed paths with him
