The same year I didn't go out for wrestling the Green Berets came to our school. I was so impressed by them I told my mom i wanted to join them after high school and college. She asked me if I was crazy, told me they send those guys to the absolute worst places in conflicts, then said you're also afraid of heights. I agreed with her and came up with new goals. If you don't want to get on a roller coaster ( those damn things aren't safe! I saw a 20/20 report about the lack of safety standards at amusement parks that same year.) you probably don't want to jump out of airplanes.
My Wrestling Background Is…
- Thread starter mcpat
- Start date
Ymca and jcc tournaments until hs. Did pretty well. Too short for bb. Joined team, learned some actual moves. First meet wrestled up 2 weights. Regular guy didn't make weight. Borrowed someone's else's shoes. My keds seemed lacking, put on the singlet. Jfc. Went out and got pinned first period, exactly what the coach told me not to do. That kid went on to take state for what it's worth. Won a few after that, at my natural weight. Went skiing that winter, saw Linda Lovelace movie in Denver. Twisted my knee at a- basin. While recovering learned what a bowl full was. Naturally my love of cutting weight was impacted and my journey to find linda' s younger sister was on. Roomed with a guy who wrestled for Iowa. No it wasn't vhs. then again maybe it was. Dropped out of college, got a good job ,had a kid, got divorced. Read a story about cael going to penn st. Joined rivals and jumped on the bandwagon. I
wrestled jv in 10th grade, starter at my weifght (112 lbs) was three time state champ and went to olympic trials. Also, was on the gymnastics team, both winter sports, so a pretty tough schedule. Eventually had to choose one, and went with gymnastics.
Was a walk on room guy at PSU gymnastics. Saw a few meets when guys were injured. My best contribution to the team was my gpa, since a lot of the guys on the team back then didn't always have the grades we see in current athletes.. Won the national championship in 1976, none of which had any contribution from me. Was a great experience though. Gene Wettstone was a great coach and great person.
Was a walk on room guy at PSU gymnastics. Saw a few meets when guys were injured. My best contribution to the team was my gpa, since a lot of the guys on the team back then didn't always have the grades we see in current athletes.. Won the national championship in 1976, none of which had any contribution from me. Was a great experience though. Gene Wettstone was a great coach and great person.
I wrestled in elementary and Junior High. Dave Kanaski was my JH coach, his brother Ron was a longtime successful coach at Danville. I hit a growth spurt and loved playing bball too. Switched to bball in 9th grade, but always followed my friends on the wrestling team.
Our family was always huge PSU fans. Mostly football and wrestling. I followed local Montoursville girl Kelly Mazzante when she played for the lady lions. I was in Rec Hall to see Cary Kolat, J Manotti, Kerry McCoy, Andy Matter, Clyde Frantz and a few others. Was at Thomas field house in Lock Haven U to see PSU wrestle twice also. I remember in 2010 watching PSU wrestle Bloomburg on TV and seeing DT, ER and FM put on a show and I was hooked. Got season tickets the next year! Been a great ride, and I joined the PSWC and have attended their awesome banquets. It's been an honor to meet so many of the great wrestlers that I root for too.
Our family was always huge PSU fans. Mostly football and wrestling. I followed local Montoursville girl Kelly Mazzante when she played for the lady lions. I was in Rec Hall to see Cary Kolat, J Manotti, Kerry McCoy, Andy Matter, Clyde Frantz and a few others. Was at Thomas field house in Lock Haven U to see PSU wrestle twice also. I remember in 2010 watching PSU wrestle Bloomburg on TV and seeing DT, ER and FM put on a show and I was hooked. Got season tickets the next year! Been a great ride, and I joined the PSWC and have attended their awesome banquets. It's been an honor to meet so many of the great wrestlers that I root for too.
Already did one of these in another thread a while back, but I’ll do the cliff notes version this go around lol.
Started wrestling in 8th grade. Played basketball up until that point. Lord knows why, I was terrible. Had a decent first year, stayed down in JH my freshman year (which was unheard of back then). Got my a$$ kicked sophomore year in a loaded section as 3/4 of the placewinners in my weight made it to states. Junior year, I lost in the AAA district semis and consi semis. Senior year, I made it to the region consi semis before losing to an old teammate. I still believe I would’ve beaten the D9 champ if the brackets had fallen differently. I had already beaten the 4th and 2nd place finishers from D9 that tournament.
Fast forward to college, I wrestled at PSU DuBois. Had good success and beat 2 state finalists, one from Georgia (pin in 1:19) and the other a 2x finalist from Maryland (7-3 decision). Ended up qualifying for NCWA nationals twice and being named All Conference twice as well.
Started coaching with my step dad as a volunteer varsity coach right out of college. Took over as the head youth coach of the program in 2017, stayed there until 2021 and took a year off. Had to reset mentally. I was burned out and needed the break to reassess everything about my coaching. Took a JH coaching job on a whim and helped build a small group of 5 mostly inexperienced and underachieving kids into a team of 15 mostly solid kids as of this year. All told, I’ve coached 3 PJW state finalists and one PJW state champion overall which is pretty cool. I also helped unearth a lot of the program’s history along the way. Sadly, the school district voted to close our school after this year so I’m likely going to move on in hopes of taking over my own program.
Started wrestling in 8th grade. Played basketball up until that point. Lord knows why, I was terrible. Had a decent first year, stayed down in JH my freshman year (which was unheard of back then). Got my a$$ kicked sophomore year in a loaded section as 3/4 of the placewinners in my weight made it to states. Junior year, I lost in the AAA district semis and consi semis. Senior year, I made it to the region consi semis before losing to an old teammate. I still believe I would’ve beaten the D9 champ if the brackets had fallen differently. I had already beaten the 4th and 2nd place finishers from D9 that tournament.
Fast forward to college, I wrestled at PSU DuBois. Had good success and beat 2 state finalists, one from Georgia (pin in 1:19) and the other a 2x finalist from Maryland (7-3 decision). Ended up qualifying for NCWA nationals twice and being named All Conference twice as well.
Started coaching with my step dad as a volunteer varsity coach right out of college. Took over as the head youth coach of the program in 2017, stayed there until 2021 and took a year off. Had to reset mentally. I was burned out and needed the break to reassess everything about my coaching. Took a JH coaching job on a whim and helped build a small group of 5 mostly inexperienced and underachieving kids into a team of 15 mostly solid kids as of this year. All told, I’ve coached 3 PJW state finalists and one PJW state champion overall which is pretty cool. I also helped unearth a lot of the program’s history along the way. Sadly, the school district voted to close our school after this year so I’m likely going to move on in hopes of taking over my own program.
