Stories told by retired Penn State Professor, Mickey Bergstein, ‘43, ‘50g - For many years the EIWA was the centerpiece of the Penn State Wrestling program. There were great rivalries, within the league. Penn State’s dual meet with Pitt, Navy and Army were important meets on the Nittany Lion wrestling schedule, but none of these opponents were at the same rivalry level as Lehigh. The dual meets with Lehigh, either in Rec Hall or Grace Hall, on the Lehigh campus, drew maximum crowds since this rivalry was always a highlight of the Lion wrestling season. Lehigh was a hotbed of wrestling interest, not only on campus, but in the community of Bethlehem as well.
The wrestling league, the EIWA, ended the season with the annual tournament and individual wrestlers, from both schools, had a chance to resume their dual meet rivalries in the tournament, which drew record crowds, especially in Rec Hall and at Lehigh. Through the years Charlie Speidel and Lehigh fans had developed a rather intense rivalry, which was fed by Charlie’s bantering with the Lehigh fans during individual bouts. Much of the rivalry was intense, but there also were instances of good humor on both sides. One action of Charlie fueled a semi-annual ritual when the meet was on the Lehigh campus.
In earlier years, the Lehigh home wrestling meet were held on campus of Lehigh, in a small wrestling gymnasium, Grace Hall. I’m not sure of the capacity of Grace Hall, but I’m certain that wrestling crowds at Lehigh couldn’t have exceeded 2,500 or so and the fans really packed the Hall. Many fans sat on the floor, in front of the bleachers and they were crowded almost to the edge of the wrestling mat. By the time the Penn State team took the floor, there was barely enough room for the Lions bench and Charlie’s chair was right in the middle of the Lehigh crowd, which all during the meet exchanged banter with the Penn State coach.
If Charlie wanted to go to his team bench to talk to one of the wrestlers, he had to step over Lehigh fans to reach the bench. After several years of fighting through the Lehigh crowd and being taunted by Lehigh fans, Charlie came up with his own solution to the problem. He pretended to trip over the mat and in regaining his balance, he kicked over the team’s water bucket and all of the water in the bucket. The water drenched the fans, who, because they were packed so tightly on the floor, had no place to go to keep their trousers from getting a lap full of cold Nittany Lion water. With a straight face Charlie apologized to the crowd and pretended it was an accident.
Every other year, after that the Penn State/Lehigh match was scheduled for Grace Hall and its overflowing crowd. When the Penn State team came out to their bench, followed by Charlie, he smiled at the Lehigh students, who were now well back from the edge of the mat. As Charlie walked to the bench, he was greeted with OK, guys, move back….this guy will kick over the water bucket, if you get too close! This became an event every time Penn State wrestled at Grace Hall. The crowd moved back and if it didn’t, Charlie would pick up the bucket and pretend to empty it on the mat side crowd. After Charlie retired, Lehigh built a new larger wrestling facility(Stabler Arena) and the annual cry of “Here comes the kick over the bucket guy!”, hasn’t been heard since. My guess is that the water bucket threat was enjoyed as much by the Lehigh students as by Charlie.
