The Bears of SUNY-Potsdam were a respectable SUNY-Athletic Conference team that had success at an individual level at both the NCAA Division II & Division III level. They may have won more, but I know they were the SUNY-AC team champions in 1973. They dropped wrestling after the 1990-1991 season.
 |
Rich Molbury
190 lbs |
From Carey High school, Rich Molbury had an outstanding career for the Bears going 94-17, including a 28-0, with 15 falls record as a junior win he captured the 1974 NCAA Division III championship. He ended his career as a three time SUNY-AC champion & became an engineer that also officiated and coached wrestling in Massachusetts. He passed of a heart attack earlier this year.
 |
Bob Johnston
167 lbs |
Bob Johnston had an outstanding season for the Maroon and Gray in 1972 when he finished in fifth place at the 1972 NCAA Division II tournament with a 33-2 record. Ironic as it may be humorous to others, post his wrestling career one of Johnston's favorite activities? Pickup basketball.
|
Joe Galea
167 lbs |
Galea made the NCAA Division III finals in 1975.
|
Tom McCue
177 lbs |
Tom McCue was unable to crack the varsity lineup as a freshman & had to bounce around the weight classes as a sophomore to find opportunities to start. Yet he kept focus & soon found himself full time varsity as he won his first of what would be two SUNY-AC titles in 1974. As a senior in 1975, all the hard work paid off when he made the NCAA Division III finals. Post college McCue got into Insurance & owned his own agency before passing away in a car accident a few years later.
 |
Tony Peraza
150 lbs |
Sporting a 3.0 GPA during his time as a Bear, Peraza had immediate success making the SUNY-AC finals as a freshman. He'd repeat as the SUNY-AC runner-up his sophomore season, winning titles his junior and senior seasons of 1975 & 1976. At the NCAA Division III level, Peraza finished as the runner-up in 1975 & and was crowned champion in 1976. He finished his career with a 96-19 record & later coached at Ithaca College as well as at the high school level.
To this day Peraza still competes in wrestling. He won a Veterans World Gold medal within recent years.
Just a few corrections. Tom McCue was killed in a car accident in the early '80s. At 167, his name is Joe Galea. Rich Molbury died of a heart attack last year.
ReplyDeleteThe name change has been corrected.
DeleteWhat a pleasant surprise seeing something about Potsdam State wrestling! I wrestled there until 1987. Wish you could have gotten pics, and covered more of the all-time greats. If you need more material, please let me know.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't able to find a whole lot of information & pictures are especially difficult to come by. It's why I do this series to begin with. There is so little information about these former programs. I'm trying to provide a home where there's at least something.
DeleteYou have pictures, send them my way. I'll use them.