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Pa. Dominance: Wrestling invented long before 2011...Clarion 1973..

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Psugo823

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Aug 17, 2021
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Did you know: In 1973 the CLARION STATE Golden Eagles had THREE NCAA CHAMPIONS?
134 Rohn
158 Schalles
167 Simpson

Yes folks, Pennsylvania has been the Mecca for wrestling for a very long time, and the main reason it took Penn State so long to wake up as the sleeping giant, was because we lacked the right coach. Our rightful place, for decades, was disturbed by IN STATE parity:
Clarion
Lock Haven
Wilkes
Pitt
Edinboro
East Stroudsburg
Penn
Lehigh

And many more. Folks, I am deeply sorry but Koll, Lorenzo, Fritz, Sunderland, etc were not the answers....It is about Cael AND its about our great state. It took both.
 
Very interesting! I knew Clarion had some outstanding wrestlers through the years, but never knew they had 3 in one year.....amazing!

Surprising though that with 3 champs they didn't place in the top ten team scoring.

Also, as I looked through the placings in 1973, there was a much more diverse crop of AA's from different schools. As much as I love love PSU's dominance, I miss that parity and seeing guys AA from a variety of small schools. Tampa, BYU, College of NJ, Seattle Pacific, San Jose State, SIU Carbondale, Ball State, as well as a better mix of large schools. I guess the small school representation is because NCAA D2 could qualify back in the day?
 
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I believe they were Div II at the time and not eligible for /div I placement. If I recall correctly They would have had enough points to place third. SI had a big article on them that year. I believe it was called "When Eagles Roared".
 
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Psugo823 said:
Did you know: In 1973 the CLARION STATE Golden Eagles had THREE NCAA CHAMPIONS?
134 Rohn
158 Schalles
167 Simpson

Yes folks, Pennsylvania has been the Mecca for wrestling for a very long time, and the main reason it took Penn State so long to wake up as the sleeping giant, was because we lacked the right coach. Our rightful place, for decades, was disturbed by IN STATE parity:
Clarion
Lock Haven
Wilkes
Pitt
Edinboro
East Stroudsburg
Penn
Lehigh

And many more. Folks, I am deeply sorry but Koll, Lorenzo, Fritz, Sunderland, etc were not the answers....It is about Cael AND its about our great state. It took both.
Click to expand...
Don't forget Bloomsburg in the 1980s. They finished top ten in nationals 1985(10th), 1986(7th) , 1987(5th).
Ricky Bonomo one year scored 25.5 team points in Nationals which was the record for individual scoring. Not sure if he still has the record.
 
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Callthestall said:
Don't forget Bloomsburg in the 1980s. They finished top ten in nationals 1985(10th), 1986(7th) , 1987(5th).
Ricky Bonomo one year scored 25.5 team points in Nationals which was the record for individual scoring. Not sure if he still has the record.
Click to expand...
Many of the coaches involved in the infamous "sleeping giant" conversation were from the smaller pa. Schools that for decades kept Penn State from assuming it's rightful place.
 
Callthestall said:
Don't forget Bloomsburg in the 1980s. They finished top ten in nationals 1985(10th), 1986(7th) , 1987(5th).
Ricky Bonomo one year scored 25.5 team points in Nationals which was the record for individual scoring. Not sure if he still has the record.
Click to expand...
Cael’s 4 OW years at Nationals:

Fr - 27
Soph - 28
Jun - 26
Senior - 28.5

THE GOAT for a reason
 
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Callthestall said:
Don't forget Bloomsburg in the 1980s. They finished top ten in nationals 1985(10th), 1986(7th) , 1987(5th).
Ricky Bonomo one year scored 25.5 team points in Nationals which was the record for individual scoring. Not sure if he still has the record.
Click to expand...
That score has been topped 21x since Cael came to PSU:
3x: Stieber
2x: Zain, Jason, Ruth, Taylor, Bo
1x: Burroughs, Lord Spencer, McDonough, Gadson, Dake, Oliver, Jenkins, Dieringer
 
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It's not an accident that the Lehighs, Clarion, Edinboro's, Rider's, Penn, etc...have all dipped slightly downwards in these past 13 years since the dynasty began...it was representative of how those exact schools, NOT the Iowa's or Oklahoma State's, were the reasons Penn State never woke up from its deep hibernation.

Cael changed all that. For good.
 
Remember it well. My senior year of high school and the last year of single class PA championships. We were so proud of Clarion. A little state school with three NCAA champs!

D2 and then D3 were also allowed into the tournament.
 
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My daughter was a wrestling cheerleader at Clarion, 85&6. Didn't return her sr. yr.
 
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matter7172 said:
Remember it well. My senior year of high school and the last year of single class PA championships. We were so proud of Clarion. A little state school with three NCAA champs!

D2 and then D3 were also allowed into the tournament.
Click to expand...
Good place to mention Carlton Haselrig.

He won a PIAA wrestling title when he attended Johnstown High, though the school did not have a wrestling team.
And then in college at Pitt-Johnstown, Haselrig won 3 National titles in D-2 and 3 National titles in D-1 wrestling during the years from 1987 to 1989.

Haselrig capped his amazing athletic career with 6 years in the NFL as an O-Lineman with the Steelers (including a Pro Bowl season) and Jets.
 
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Callthestall said:
Don't forget Bloomsburg in the 1980s. They finished top ten in nationals 1985(10th), 1986(7th) , 1987(5th).
Ricky Bonomo one year scored 25.5 team points in Nationals which was the record for individual scoring. Not sure if he still has the record.
Click to expand...

Bonomo never had the D1 individual scoring record. (Maybe a high for a particular year, but several, such as Dan Gable, had higher scores before him.)
 
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Cali_Nittany said:
Bonomo never had the D1 individual scoring record. (Maybe a high for a particular year, but several, such as Dan Gable, had higher scores before him.)
Click to expand...
I saw it posted on his Bloomsburg Hall of Fame post. I truly didn't research it. I actually was surprised to read it. I thought maybe scoring system and bracket rounds created a difference from today's situation.
 
Below was what is posted on National Wrestling Hall of Fame Bio.

Ricky Bonomo

The National Wrestling Hall Of Fame
nwhof.org

His 74.75 points set an EWL record for career NCAA scoring, and his 25.5 points in the 1985 national tournament set the league single season record. Overall, he went 18-2 in the NCAA and holds the EWL record with 16 consecutive wins. Making the records all the sweeter, his brother Rocky also won three EWL titles and twice earned All-America honors.
 
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Callthestall said:
Below was what is posted on National Wrestling Hall of Fame Bio.

His 74.75 points set an EWL record for career NCAA scoring, and his 25.5 points in the 1985 national tournament set the league single season record. Overall, he went 18-2 in the NCAA and holds the EWL record with 16 consecutive wins. Making the records all the sweeter, his brother Rocky also won three EWL titles and twice earned All-America honors.
Click to expand...

League (EWL) single season record.
 
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Callthestall said:
Below was what is posted on National Wrestling Hall of Fame Bio.

Ricky Bonomo

The National Wrestling Hall Of Fame
nwhof.org

His 74.75 points set an EWL record for career NCAA scoring, and his 25.5 points in the 1985 national tournament set the league single season record. Overall, he went 18-2 in the NCAA and holds the EWL record with 16 consecutive wins. Making the records all the sweeter, his brother Rocky also won three EWL titles and twice earned All-America honors.
Click to expand...
And, more importantly, tied my t-shirt into a ninja mask at LHU wrestling camp in the 90s.
 
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Ricky weight cutting was legendary at Bloomsburg. Those days are no longer allowed.
He probably wouldn't even certify by body mass guidelines for 118.
 
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Psugo823 said:
Did you know: In 1973 the CLARION STATE Golden Eagles had THREE NCAA CHAMPIONS?
134 Rohn
158 Schalles
167 Simpson

Yes folks, Pennsylvania has been the Mecca for wrestling for a very long time, and the main reason it took Penn State so long to wake up as the sleeping giant, was because we lacked the right coach. Our rightful place, for decades, was disturbed by IN STATE parity:
Clarion
Lock Haven
Wilkes
Pitt
Edinboro
East Stroudsburg
Penn
Lehigh

And many more. Folks, I am deeply sorry but Koll, Lorenzo, Fritz, Sunderland, etc were not the answers....It is about Cael AND its about our great state. It took both.
Click to expand...
What was Simpsons first name?
 
Psugo823 said:
Did you know: In 1973 the CLARION STATE Golden Eagles had THREE NCAA CHAMPIONS?
134 Rohn
158 Schalles
167 Simpson

Yes folks, Pennsylvania has been the Mecca for wrestling for a very long time, and the main reason it took Penn State so long to wake up as the sleeping giant, was because we lacked the right coach. Our rightful place, for decades, was disturbed by IN STATE parity:
Clarion
Lock Haven
Wilkes
Pitt
Edinboro
East Stroudsburg
Penn
Lehigh

And many more. Folks, I am deeply sorry but Koll, Lorenzo, Fritz, Sunderland, etc were not the answers....It is about Cael AND its about our great state. It took both.
Click to expand...
Just did a little research on Clarion National Champs. The year before they had 3 champs (1973) Garry Barton won their first National Championship at 134 pounds. His career record was 46-25-1. He obviously improved during his years at Clarion
 
Our high school coach was a teammate of Wade at Clarion...and I have probably a half dozen incredible Schalles stories that I think I will keep private, but might let a couple loose. As many of you know, Wade is my third favorite wrestler ever, Cael 2nd. And my all time hero was the Great Gentle Giant Chris Taylor, who was the nicest kindest man I ever met associated with wrestling ❤️
 
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Someone mentioned above that DII wrestlers wrestled in the D1 championships. In the '60s, I think only college division (what they called DII back then.) finalists were qualified to wrestle in the University division tournament. I had two teammates who qualified for the University division by making the finals in the College division. (One also made the finals of the University division)

The college wrestling scene in PA in the '60s was loaded with talent, not much of which attended PSU. I saw several PSU duals when in HS and they were a fine team, just no better than Lehigh or Pitt or Syracuse or Navy or Army; all solid teams capable of beating each other one year to the next. And there was East Stroudsburg and Clarion and West Chester and Bloomsburg and Lock Haven siphoning off their share of studs. There was no Cael to hog all the great wrestlers.

I remember a fraternity brother of my brother's at Lehigh, who was an NCAA champ laughing about wrestling at Bloomsburg and getting decked by a leg cradle in a dual!
You don't see a lot of that going on today.

Now that I think about it, didn't Clarion have 2 champs the year prior to '73, the year that started this thread? One was of course Shalles, but one was Barton; Clarion had 4 different guys win 5 titles in two years. Not bad for kids from the sticks.
 
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oldcougar65 said:
Now that I think about it, didn't Clarion have 2 champs the year prior to '73, the year that started this thread? One was of course Shalles, but one was Barton; Clarion had 4 different guys win 5 titles in two years. Not bad for kids from the sticks.
Click to expand...
Yes, Barton at 134 and Schalles at 150 in 1972.

Andy Matter won his second title that year, but PSU had only 26.5 points for 8th place as a team.

 
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oldcougar65 said:
Someone mentioned above that DII wrestlers wrestled in the D1 championships. In the '60s, I think only college division (what they called DII back then.) finalists were qualified to wrestle in the University division tournament. I had two teammates who qualified for the University division by making the finals in the College division. (One also made the finals of the University division)

The college wrestling scene in PA in the '60s was loaded with talent, not much of which attended PSU. I saw several PSU duals when in HS and they were a fine team, just no better than Lehigh or Pitt or Syracuse or Navy or Army; all solid teams capable of beating each other one year to the next. And there was East Stroudsburg and Clarion and West Chester and Bloomsburg and Lock Haven siphoning off their share of studs. There was no Cael to hog all the great wrestlers.

I remember a fraternity brother of my brother's at Lehigh, who was an NCAA champ laughing about wrestling at Bloomsburg and getting decked by a leg cradle in a dual!
You don't see a lot of that going on today.

Now that I think about it, didn't Clarion have 2 champs the year prior to '73, the year that started this thread? One was of course Shalles, but one was Barton; Clarion had 4 different guys win 5 titles in two years. Not bad for kids from the sticks.
Click to expand...
NCAA should still allow all div champs to wrestler at the big match!
 
tullfan68 said:
not to mention the NCAA screw Schalles out of one yr! he could have been a 3 timer!
Click to expand...
Not "could". "Would". Didn't Schalles go up a weight in '74 for the PSAC championships and deck Shorty Hitchcock? And 2 weeks later, Hitchcock was OW at the NCAA tourney.
 
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Agoodnap said:
Do you have any proof?
Click to expand...
Yeah. Math. They were ineligible for team scoring because they were division 2. They would have finished 3rd as is. You take the points they trailed by and add 3 wrestlers making it perhaps to blood rounds or placing and go from there. Stop reaching dude, someone else on this thread posted the same thing I did.
 
tullfan68 said:
not to mention the NCAA screw Schalles out of one yr! he could have been a 3 timer!
Click to expand...
True story: Wade showed Jerry White a move during a drinking party at my Dad's house to use on AL Fricke, who was ALSO at the party, and later that season White used the move on AL lol. Those parties were like who's who in Pennsylvania wrestling...Dave Becker, the Packer Brothers, AL Fisher, Bill Bertrand, Ashley Swift, Mike Frick, Randy Cathcart...on and on
 
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