Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = East Carolina

East Carolina Pirate wrestling only lasted Twenty seasons. 1961-1962 to 1980-1981.  When you take into account that the wrestling team operated on a shoestring budget & that head coach John Welborn also taught full time as well as coached golf & soccer, it's truly astounding what the program was able to accomplish with so little.  To give you an idea of how scarce the dollars were for the program, Coach Welborn once had to ask for a sponsorship from a local business to rent a station wagon to haul his wrestlers to a tournament.

Despite these challenges, East Carolina was still able to dominate the Southern Conference during their time there.  They won team titles in 1972, 73',74', 75' & 76' finishing as the runner up in 77'.   The next four seasons I'm not sure where East Carolina wrestled. Whether it was another conference or a regional.   What I do know is that Athletic Director Ken Karr decided to ax the program after the 1980-1981 season stating a desire to be compliant with Title IX.

Bill Hill
177 lbs

Bill Hill had an outstanding career for the Pirates, winning four Southern Conference titles putting together a career record of 122-15.  As a senior in 1974 he captured fifth place at the NCAA tournament.

Glen Baker
118, 126 lbs

A three time Southern Conference champion, Baker won titles in 72', 73' & 74'.

Don Monroe
126 lbs 

Another three time Southern Conference champ, Monroe won titles in 71', 72' & 73'.

Tom Marriott
142, 150 lbs

From New York, where he finished second in the state for Herkimer High School, Tom Marriott had an outstanding career for the Pirates.  A 127-18 career record, he won four Southern Conference titles & finished a match shy of All American honors.

Post college he went back to New York to coach at Mohawk High school where he won eight league titles and took his team to a record of 261-79.

Phil Mueller

Phil Mueller was a two time Southern Conference champion, winning titles in 1976 & 1977.  He was named the Outstanding wrestler of the 1977 championships, the only time a Pirate was awarded this honor.  Post college, he coached high school wrestling and taught auto mechanics. 

To this day he still helps out with East Carolina's NCWA club program. 

Willie Bryant
HWT

Also a member of the Pirate football team where he was all Southern Conference with 47 tackles, Bryant won two Southern Conference titles in 1974 & 1975.