hey fellas, how did you fare in high school and college wrestling?
- Thread starter Uncle Fester Addams
- Start date
I was so nervous! This was, if my memory serves me correctly, not long after Dave won his Olympic gold in 1984. As the tournament announcer announced our names for the upcoming bout he quickly mentioned my name and then went full WWE as he loudly rattled off Dave's accomplishments. All the crowd started celebrating and many people crowded around the mat to watch the soon-to-be slaughter. It is one thing to be dominated by an opponent, but quite another to be dominated in front of a raucous crowd supporting your opponent/larger-than-life hero. I believe I lamely attempted a shot and Dave put me into his famous front head lock, took me down and mercifully pinned me quickly. I was so happy just to get off that mat. : )
Did OK when young until it became obvious that one good cross face to my nose made me bleed. And a lot. I quit because I hated giving up points that way. My uncle wanted to cauterize my nose with one of those old soldering irons. My mom and I said no thanks.
What a cool experience! If I'd been in your situation, I would have walked out and handed Dave Schultz my tee shirt and a Sharpie and asked him to sign it. From what I've heard about him, I'll bet that he would have done it!
Awesome achievement and memory.Started wrestling in 3rd grade. Wrestled every year except 9th when I played basketball. Wrestled 189 in varsity. Wrestled in WPIAL in the same section with very good programs Franklin Regional, Plum and Kiski. Had a tough Junior year (1st year at varsity, 10-18) worked my ass off in the off season and senior year went 18-7. Separated my shoulder in practice the week of the section tournament and ended my season/career. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about not having a chance to make a run for states and I am 43 years old. Love the sport. One of my favorite moments was actually in defeat my sophomore year. I wrestled JV weighing 172. We were wrestling a team that we haven’t beaten in 30+ years. To try to win the dual, my coach put me in at 189 against a pretty tough senior from Penn Hills. I had the keep the match a decision and our starting 189 had to bump up to heavy and win by pin. I was down 8-0 in the third. He was riding me pretty tough, however he got too high and I was able to reverse him and put him on his back. He rolled through with only a 4 count and I cut him...went for the win. The match ended 9-4. Our 189 ended up pinning the heavy and we won the dual.
I never wrestled, but was always a fan. When my son was 4, I took him to an informal youth program in town and he took to it immediately. I became involved, read books, watched instructional tapes, attended camps, and took over the youth program for 10 years. My son had success in high school and was a two year starter for PSU, and an NCAA qualifier, which is why my closet is still half full of PSU wrestling gear. He is presently the head coach at his Alma Mater here in town, and my wife and I are still in the wooden bleachers, but now with seat cushions....
1961 I was in 9th grade and wrestled @ 95lbs. It was the first year of wrestling for the high school and for me. Back then, we had the old canvas mats that were just pushed together with a tarp on top the mats with the ends tucked under the mats. I was ready for my very first match and sprinted out. First step on the mat, the tarp ballooned up, caught my foot and down I went. Got up, walked to the center. Never ran out again in my HS or college years.
My two best friends in hs were wrestlers and cajoled me into it. It was overseas at a DoDDS school, only a few schools to compete with in England. My first meet was at home and a lot of students would come to watch bc it was a dormitory school and there wasn’t much else to do on Saturday afternoons. I got annihilated, still remember spending most of the match on my back, legs desperately dangling over to avoid the pin!
Before the match, I thought this would be a one-and-done kinda deal, just to get my buddies off my back, but I couldn’t walk away with such a bitter taste in my mouth, lol
I was a little jerk anyway, so the aggression helped me get better, thought I was pretty good at the end, didn’t lose at all my last year, but there were only like 8 schools at our final “tournament.”
My fondest wrestling memory was actually in the Marine Corps. We were in the field and our section leader was talking about wrestling in PA, pretty big guy compared to us little 18-19 year-old squirts, eventually turns into him making me go best-of-three takedowns with him. I got the first takedown, he got the next two, but it was so goddamn satisfying to get that first takedown, especially since he was easily (no exaggeration) 4 inches taller and 30 lbs heavier, haha!
Before the match, I thought this would be a one-and-done kinda deal, just to get my buddies off my back, but I couldn’t walk away with such a bitter taste in my mouth, lol
I was a little jerk anyway, so the aggression helped me get better, thought I was pretty good at the end, didn’t lose at all my last year, but there were only like 8 schools at our final “tournament.”
My fondest wrestling memory was actually in the Marine Corps. We were in the field and our section leader was talking about wrestling in PA, pretty big guy compared to us little 18-19 year-old squirts, eventually turns into him making me go best-of-three takedowns with him. I got the first takedown, he got the next two, but it was so goddamn satisfying to get that first takedown, especially since he was easily (no exaggeration) 4 inches taller and 30 lbs heavier, haha!
I was exceptionally average in junior high in the Harrisburg area. Before high school I moved to Lake Lehman school district and joined the wrestling team. After a few weeks of practice I told the coach, Shorty Hitchcock, that I would miss friday’s practice to go on a ski club outing. He told me I could not ski and wrestle, I told him ok, I will ski.
The team did not miss me, they were State Champs my senior year with three individual champs from my graduating class, the Bonomo brothers as well as Mike Leskowski at heavy.
The team did not miss me, they were State Champs my senior year with three individual champs from my graduating class, the Bonomo brothers as well as Mike Leskowski at heavy.
I wrestled in junior high and high school. I liked wrestling, but I wasn't very good and my lifetime HS record is decidedly negative. Somehow, I was recruited to wrestle D3 in college anyway, but when I got there, the thought of cutting weight and training (and not partying in particular) was very unappealing, so I never went out for the team. Apparently, there were a bunch of recruits like me in my class who never went out and after my sophomore year, the program folded. A couple of guys who really wanted to wrestle in college took the initiative to restart the program themselves as a club sport in my senior year, and since I felt a tiny bit of guilt that it folded, I agreed to join to help fill out a full lineup. At that point, I hadn't wrestled for 4 years (although I did play rugby in college, which is not an easy sport), and they had made a full schedule of D3 teams for us to wrestle. My college results were:
1. Did not win a match
2. Did not get pinned even once
3. Lost at least one point for stalling in every match
I'll leave it to the reader to envision my wrestling style in those matches, but the guys who were organizing the club were able to fill out a full lineup for every match, which is pretty impressive starting from nothing with almost no support from the athletic department. I don't think we won any dual matches, but we had a couple guys who were decent in the lineup, so we were definitely competitive in most of them.
1. Did not win a match
2. Did not get pinned even once
3. Lost at least one point for stalling in every match
I'll leave it to the reader to envision my wrestling style in those matches, but the guys who were organizing the club were able to fill out a full lineup for every match, which is pretty impressive starting from nothing with almost no support from the athletic department. I don't think we won any dual matches, but we had a couple guys who were decent in the lineup, so we were definitely competitive in most of them.
Mat types were in transition when I wrestled. Haverford College had a xmas tourney in the 50's-60's. They were the first in our area to have Resolite mats. They brought some guy out with a step ladder who went to the top and dropped an egg on the mat to demostrate its resiliance. But Resolite mats really stunk back then! The worst thing about the old canvas mats was: MAT BURNS. They really sucked.We never practiced in short sleeves or short pants because you always got mat-burned if you did. My HS bought Resolite mats the year AFTER I graduated. That's the story of my life in a nutshell.
I wrestled in one of the better (best?) public school conferences in IL. Started wrestling my sophomore year, was Varsity my junior year. Had a winning record, and weighed in under 135, naturally, while wrestling that weight. Because I was such a newb, I literally didn't understand that people were cutting weight to wrestle against me. Or, that I could have wrestled 125 and probably done very, very well for myself at that weight. The guy we had at that weight was a state qualifier (placer?) and, at least from a purely offensive standpoint, I was better than him. My coach always wanted me to stick around for freestyle each spring those two years, but that was track season. He was a super nice guy, which is perhaps why he didn't push me to cut any weight.
Then I decided to focus on track. Didn't wrestle my senior year of HS. Ended up being a walk-on at a B1G school. Ran a boat load of miles. Saw true talent. Got hurt. Became a cyclist, did a lot of racing on the road, and saw world class talent there, too. Guys who would race in Europe, and a guy who would go on to win the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain; like the Tour de France).
Later on, switched to mountain bike racing, and became a "pro" MTB racer. "Pro", as in I pay more money in entry fees to get my teeth kicked in by legit pros, to finish mid-field.
Kind of cool to see national/world level talent in multiple sports in my life. But, as much as it pains me to say this now, I'm guessing that my physical attributes would have been best applied to wrestling.
Then I decided to focus on track. Didn't wrestle my senior year of HS. Ended up being a walk-on at a B1G school. Ran a boat load of miles. Saw true talent. Got hurt. Became a cyclist, did a lot of racing on the road, and saw world class talent there, too. Guys who would race in Europe, and a guy who would go on to win the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain; like the Tour de France).
Later on, switched to mountain bike racing, and became a "pro" MTB racer. "Pro", as in I pay more money in entry fees to get my teeth kicked in by legit pros, to finish mid-field.
Kind of cool to see national/world level talent in multiple sports in my life. But, as much as it pains me to say this now, I'm guessing that my physical attributes would have been best applied to wrestling.
Last edited:
Not sure why my comment didn’t post, but might you be referring to Chris Horner? Dude did a ton of domestic racing before heading to Europe to race with the big boys eventually winning a Vuelta?
Yep. Horner was otherworldly. Probably still is.
It's one thing to be in a break with the plow horses, you know, the guys who are 6'4", 185lbs but create a draft like a Mack truck. It's another thing to be in a break with a guy like Horner. A guy who is 5'11" but is made out of sinew and bone. Just pure, unadulterated power.
One specific memory from when he was racing for Astana in 2009. We were in a break, until we weren't. I remember telling myself not to overdo it; he's a WT pro about to fly back to Europe, you're just a CAT1. He didn't even attack to get rid of me. Just shifted down a gear, started pedaling a little bit faster, and hugged the curb a little bit closer with a bit of a crosswind. Poof. I was gone.
The thing that always impressed me about that level of talent wasn't necessarily their high end (which is still amazing) but how long they can hold 90%, or how many times they can hit the front, hard.
Last edited:
NJ State Champion in 1983 @ 170lbs.
East Coast Conference Champion/NCAA qualifier @ 167 while wrestling for Rider College.
East Coast Conference Champion/NCAA qualifier @ 167 while wrestling for Rider College.
I can attest to the accuracy of your name. Neck still stiff
Only wrestled in jr and sr. high. Never wrestled varsity just some jv and exhibition. I was awful!!😞. But I excelled at letting the janitorial staff know what gym lights needed replaced!😁
Our old coach put a sign on the ceiling of the wreslting room: "If you can read this, you're pinned!"
One of the things I liked best was seeing the progression of wrestlers. I started wrestling in 10th grade after playing basketball before. Had a decent JV season that year (think I lost once) and got to get murdered on varsity after the guy at my weight class got injured. Junior year I did passably well on varsity and placed in a holiday tournament. Senior year I was one of the best guys in the area. I had a teammate go from a whipping boy as a freshman to getting 4th in PIAA AAA his senior year.
When I coached junior high, I had plenty of kids start out really bad and wind up being good, a couple even placed in states in high school. One kid was a total disaster in junior high - always got pinned and he was a real behavioral issue in practice, really tried my patience. But he never got discouraged and wound up being a high school starter who won about 1/2 of his matches as a senior. No great shakes, but I considered him a big success, considering where he started.
When I coached junior high, I had plenty of kids start out really bad and wind up being good, a couple even placed in states in high school. One kid was a total disaster in junior high - always got pinned and he was a real behavioral issue in practice, really tried my patience. But he never got discouraged and wound up being a high school starter who won about 1/2 of his matches as a senior. No great shakes, but I considered him a big success, considering where he started.
I coerced a friend’s little brother into wrestling. First practice, I showed him everything I knew. After, I was like “Damn, that was way too much information!”
He used almost every move in his first match and apologized to me for not using everything after he tech’d the previous year’s runner-up! 😂
I have long said I wrestled just enough to appreciate wrestling. I won a couple of youth tournaments and was "recruited by our H.S. coach. My sophomore year he came into our class (he did not teach our class), went to the front of the class and called me out, saying he had a physical form that he wanted filled out and I should be at practice the following Monday.
I had mixed results splitting time on JV and varsity years. As a H.S. senior, coming off football season, I had a less than stellar outing in a scrimmage. As I recall, I was the only one to get a two page report on what I had done wrong! During eliminations the coach announced who he wanted to see win elimination and I was not one of them. I won the elimination bout and never returned ( I still regret it).
I admit that baseball was my passion and it lead to playing baseball at PSU and a trip to the College Baseball World series in 1973. As a health and physical education major I also had the pleasure of having a wrestling class with Bill Koll as well as a class with Rich Lorenzo.....what a treat!!
Today, I am a die hard wrestling fan and rarely watch any baseball. My wife and I had gone to the NCAAs a few years before having children and have been fortunate to go to them all but one year since Cael became coach.
I had mixed results splitting time on JV and varsity years. As a H.S. senior, coming off football season, I had a less than stellar outing in a scrimmage. As I recall, I was the only one to get a two page report on what I had done wrong! During eliminations the coach announced who he wanted to see win elimination and I was not one of them. I won the elimination bout and never returned ( I still regret it).
I admit that baseball was my passion and it lead to playing baseball at PSU and a trip to the College Baseball World series in 1973. As a health and physical education major I also had the pleasure of having a wrestling class with Bill Koll as well as a class with Rich Lorenzo.....what a treat!!
Today, I am a die hard wrestling fan and rarely watch any baseball. My wife and I had gone to the NCAAs a few years before having children and have been fortunate to go to them all but one year since Cael became coach.
Cool I try and get over to watch Rider wrestle a few times a year since it is only 20 min from where I am
I graduated from German Twp in Fayette Co Pa in 1966. Not to brag but I only lost 4 matches in my entire varsity career. (Of course I only won 2 but you're not supposed to ask) I lost to White from Trinity, Brady from West Greene, Broadwater from Jefferson Morgan and Corrall from Uniontown. My 2 wins were against the same kid from Laurel Highlands but I don't remember his name. I've always enjoyed the sport, I just wasn't very good at it. I was strong and smart and fast but I was afraid of trying something and making a mistake and losing so I didn't try and I lost.
My advice--be aggressively cautious or in other words, try but don't be stupid.
My advice--be aggressively cautious or in other words, try but don't be stupid.
Last edited:
