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Wrestlers from 1970s and later
dominate all-time team
January 13, 2008
By Gary R. Blockus | Of The Morning Call
They said it couldn't be done. Or, more appropriately,
that no one would be dumb enough to do it.
So when I was approached late last year about picking an all-time, all-area wrestling team, my less than Mensa-like
brain snapped up the idea like a District 2 wrestler walking into a cement job.
Ouch.
Thus I undertook a two-month long project to figure out exactly who was the best of the best in an area rich in
wrestling history. Former colleague Ted Meixell broke into an hysterical laugh when I asked him for sage wisdom,
then announced he was heading south for Florida the next day.
So, armed with ''The History of the PIAA State Wrestling Championships'' by Norm Palovcsik and Mike Smith and ''Wrestling
Country'' by Scott Barr, as well as my latest copy of the PIAA Wrestling Championships Program, our Merlin search
engine here at The Morning Call and my knowledge gained over my 27-year history here, I began to undertake a task
that many in the wrestling community feel is an invitation to get buried in nasty e-mails.
The result is The Morning Call's All-Time All-Area Scholastic Wrestling Team, a squad selected solely on high school
accomplishments. And those laurels are many, as every one of these elite 15 has at least two state championships.
But it wasn't easy to pick.
One of the more problematic situations that kept occurring was trying to find someone who could talk about the
wrestlers from the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Then, only district champions advanced to the state tournament in a single-elimination
format.
The single-elimination format was in effect from 1938 until 1973, when runners-up were allowed to advance to states.
Later, other lower place-winners were allowed to advance from districts to regionals and from regionals to states.
In 1974, the championships split into two classifications based on enrollment. It took until 1981 for the state
tournament to offer a more complete wrestle-back situation and expand from four places to six, and finally to its
current eight to mimic the NCAA Championship's All-American podiums.
After going through the list of state champions from our District 11, District One and District 3 teams, a pattern
quickly emerged: until Don Rohn won PIAA titles in 1970 and 1971, no other area wrestler had ever won more than
one, and Rohn was the first area sophomore to win as well.
In addition, as advocated by Meixell and former sports editor Paul Reinhard, the year 1976 was more or less the
coming out party for Lehigh Valley wrestling as we crowned an unprecedented seven individual PIAA Class 3A champions.
Three of those so-called ''Magnificent Seven'' are included on our all-time team.
Area wrestlers brought back seven individual titles again in 2002 -- albeit a combined total among Class 2A and
3A wrestlers, and seven more again in 2006.
As the information was organized in different
lists -- by year, by weight class, by class year, by multiple PIAA champions -- it became clear that wrestlers
from the 1970s and later were far more successful than the pioneers from the '40s, '50s and '60s.
In fact, 37 PIAA titles have been won by the 15 wrestlers on the list (today's current 14 weights plus the defunct
98-pound class). Five of those are three-time champs, and one -- Matt Gerhard -- is a four-time champ.
While many wrestling fans with memories longer than mine will bemoan the lack of wrestlers from the 1940s, '50s
and '60s on the all-time team, take a look at the numbers.
From 1940 when Bethlehem's Peter Cicchine (135) and William Unangst (155) became the first area wrestlers to win
PIAA titles through the 1960s, the Lehigh Valley produced just 26 champions.
Wrestlers from the 1970s came back to the area with 31 state championships. That number rose to 43 titles in the
1980s, dropped a bit to 38 in the 1990s and already is at 48 and likely climbing in the first decade of the 21st
century.
And, while wrestling switched to big school and small school state champions in 1974, the area schools in the larger
classification produced 21 champions from 1974 through 1979, 26 champions in the 1980s, 25 in the 1990s and 35
so far in the 2000s.
Today's wrestlers are slicker, in better
shape, subscribe to healthier eating habits and smarter, year-round conditioning programs than wrestlers from even
the 1970s, which saw the advent of year-round training, wrestling and weightlifting. They are not only proving
themselves on the local and state stage, but on the national scene at tournaments such as the Beast of the East
in Delaware and the Reno (Nev.) Tournament of Champions.
Because the all-time team is based on high school career only, NCAA champions such as Rob Rohn (Nazareth), Mike
and Mark Lieberman (Blair Academy by way of the Parkland area) and three-time NCAA champion/one-time world champion
Stan Dziedzic aren't included, nor is Wilson's Brett Werkheiser (140), who won one PIAA title as a junior in 1992
and became the first area wrestler to win a National High School Coaches Association National Championship in 1993.
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This would be the ultimate wrestling room
By Gary R. Blockus | Of The Morning Call
January 13, 2008
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No wrestler reaches the pinnacle of success without training partners who can
push him to the limit and test not only his skills, but his conditioning. While The Morning Call's All-Time All-Area
Scholastic Wrestling Team is certainly a room unto itself, there are enough great wrestlers in the area's rich
history that each weight class is worthy of producing its own ''room'' of training partners.
A peek at the training room, listed by weight, leading off with the wrestler selected as our all-time high school
wrestler at that weight:
98 -- Bob Weaver (Easton). A solid cast would join the future Olympic champion in the room: Brad Silimperi (Nazareth)
was a sophomore when he won his 98-pound PIAA title for Nazareth in 1988, and Allentown's scrappy Dick Rushatz
(1959) could show the boys how it's done old-school. Might as well toss Jack Cuvo into this room as well, because
he was never one to shy away from any competition.
103 -- Jack Cuvo (Easton). The 98-pounders could work out here as well, and add a young Matt Gerhard (Catasauqua)
to work with the red-headed ''Cuve.''
112 -- Matt Gerhard (Catasauqua). Matty from Catty is the only District 11 wrestler to win four PIAA championships.
The mighty whiz kid would be pushed in this training room by two-time PIAA champions Rich Santoro (Bethlehem Catholic)
and Don Rohn (Hellertown/Saucon Valley), who won the first of his two PIAA titles at this weight. Santoro won his
first title as a junior at 98, then moved up to 112 to win it here his senior year.
119 -- Don Rohn (Saucon Valley). A two-time champ would get a good go-around with the area's only four-time champ.
Gerhard won his titles at four different weight classes. Also in the room are Easton's Matt Ciasulli and Jordan
Oliver. Counting the 120-pound class, just six area wrestlers have won championships at this weight.
125 -- Matt Ciasulli (Easton). Ciasulli was a three-time champion, Salisbury's Lee Todora a two-time champion,
and they'd push each other even harder with Scott Clymer (Northwestern), Larry Rehrig (Northern Lehigh) and Pat
Sculley (Bethlehem Catholic) in the room.
130 -- Jamar Billman (Easton). In a weight class that included Todora and state champions Ryan Nunamaker (Nazareth),
Ian ''Whitey'' Chlebove (Whitehall/Northampton), Bryan Klass (Wilson), Gino Fortebuono (Easton) and John Rittenhouse
(Quakertown), Billman and Todora rose above the pack as two-time titlists.
135 -- Joe Caramanica (Nazareth). Caramanica and Brian Nesfeder (Salisbury) both won the first of their two titles
at this weight, a class that includes Peter Cicchine of Bethlehem High in the room. Cicchine started the ball rolling
for area wrestlers by bringing home the area's very first PIAA championship (along with 155-pound teammate William
Unangst ) in 1940.
140 -- Scott Hovan (Allen). A two-time titlist, Hovan won his first title at 138. Nesfeder and Billman finished
their careers at this weight. The area has produced just five champions at this weight class. Toss in Palmerton's
Dave Lucykanish, who won a state title despite battling through torn rib cartilage from the quarterfinals on, and
this is one tough room of training partners.
145 -- Tim Darling (Nazareth). As one of just five three-time champions from the area, Darling gets his pick of
weight classes. Toss in two-time champ Mike Miller (Nazareth), Dieruff's Charles Housner, Allen's Scott Schleicher,
Northampton's Sean Finkbeiner, Easton's Moss Grays and Catty's Chris Gerhard, and Darling would get pushed. Coincidentally,
like Darling, Finkbeiner went to Penn State, as did Gerhard's brother, Matt.
152 -- Joey Ecklof (Northampton). The younger of two Ecklof brothers (Jeff won two state crowns) who produced a
total of five state titles between them left many area fans breathless and awaiting an NCAA championship that has
yet to come. Easton's Mike Rogers, Bethlehem's William Unangst, Northern Lehigh's Ryan Hluschak and Saucon Valley's
Joey Killar make this a killer weight.
160 -- Brian Statum (Liberty). The only multiple-time state champion from Liberty
won his titles at 155, and would be joined by Al Rushatz (Allentown) and Chuck Amato (Easton) and young guns James
Sciascia (Pius X) and Brent Fiorito (Upper Perkiomen).
171 -- Jerry Rodriguez (Saucon Valley) was an absolute beast in claiming a pair of PIAA titles at 167 and 185 in
1976 and 1977, and is the only two-time state champ in this weight range. Christian Luciano (Northampton), who
died as the victim of a likely road rage incident earlier this year, was one of the toughest, most-fun-to-watch
wrestlers of all time. He's going at it in the fictional practice room with Easton's Darwin Brodt and Nazareth's
Travis Frick.
189 -- Jon Trenge (Parkland) was a man among boys when he won his two titles, but so was Bethlehem Catholic's Bernie
Brown. Toss in fellow two-time champion Josh Haines (Northampton), Nazareth's Rob Rohn and Quakertown's John Hangey
and no one emerges without a black eye or broken finger.
215 -- Jon Oplinger (Northampton). This has traditionally been a thin weight class for area wrestlers in terms
of success, and Oplinger owns two of the four state titles contested at this weight. He'd get plenty of work with
the guys in the rooms above and below him.
Heavyweight -- George Atiyeh (Dieruff). Toss in brother Dennis Atiyeh and Pen Argyl's big Richie Smith, and the
wrestling room would echo the sounds and vibrations of a major thunderstorm.
gary.blockus@mcall.com | 610-820-6782
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