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Coach Strobel

...he was an outstanding wrestler who carried over his enthusiasm for the sport to a very successful career as a head coach ...
... he was a genuine friend to all who knew him...
 
This is really sad news. Coach Strobel was a great wrestler, a great coach and an even better person. At the 2016 Pac 12 wrestling tournament, there was a special presentation made for the all time Pac 12 team and Strobel was one of the guys who was selected. As I was walking in the front door, he saw me wearing a Penn State shirt and came over to talk to me. He had nothing but good things to say about the Penn State program. Later, I saw him with Les Gutches and Stephen Neal. I wish I had taken a photo of the three of them together. Another once in a lifetime opportunity missed.
 
Special man.
-- As a college wrestler, 3 AA finishes and two individual championships.
-- 14 year head coach at Lehigh, winning nearly 70% of duals, 6 top-10 NCAA finishes

His wife, Donna, passed away this past January, sadly. The stats and records don't tell the backstories to all the young men he impacted.
 
I would occasionally see Coach Strobel at High School matches and tournaments. Always very friendly. I only talked to him once in depth. It was the early 2000s and Northampton and Nazareth were 2 of the better teams in the country. I commented that the Don Rohn coached Concrete Kids were much more entertaining with their big move attitude than the Nunamaker technical Blue Eagles.
Coach Strobel just said the attitude was in coaching styles
A few years later oddly enough a Nazareth Grad, Rob Rohn hit a cement mixer to win NCAA title for Lehigh when he was losing by 10+ points. That was the move that Northampton boys thrived on. Most notably the Eckloff brothers.
He was also one the key reasons that the Olympics reinstated wrestling.
A good article was written about him. I would recommend the read.
 
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I would occasionally see Coach Strobel at High School matches and tournaments. Always very friendly. I only talked to him once in depth. It was the early 2000s and Northampton and Nazareth were 2 of the better teams in the country. I commented that the Don Rohn coached Concrete Kids were much more entertaining with their big move attitude than the Nunamaker technical Blue Eagles.
Coach Strobel just said the attitude was in coaching styles
A few years later oddly enough a Nazareth Grad, Rob Rohn hit a cement mixer to win NCAA title for Lehigh when he was losing by 10+ points. That was the move that Northampton boys thrived on. Most notably the Eckloff brothers.
He was also one the key reasons that the Olympics reinstated wrestling.
A good article was written about him. I would recommend the read.
Callthestall, Thank you for linking to that awesome article. He sounded like such a great man. It is humbling to see how many people he positively influenced in his life. I loved this quote in the article:

Karam saw his style and his passion close-up.

“One of the most memorable moments came two years ago when he was fighting cancer,” Karam said. “He walked in a little late, and said. ‘Sorry, my chemotherapy ran overtime’. That is what commitment was all about.”

Reading that article reinforced my belief that the important things we accomplish in life rarely involve the vaporous pursuit of wealth, fame or power, but are those eternal qualities of love, compassion, friendship, faithfulness and kindness, which Greg Strobel had in abundance.
 
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