Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Hartnell

Located near downtown Salinas, California, the Panthers of Hartnell at one time had a wrestling program. 

Ron Tate
HWT

Tate had a very successful career while at Hartnell.  He won conference titles in both 1971 & 1972, taking fourth at the 1972 CCCAA tournament. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Long Beach City

 The final season for varsity wrestling at Long Beach City was 1980-1981.  Long Beach State soon followed after dropping their program after the 1983-1984 season, ending collegiate wrestling in the community.  As to Viking wrestling, I wasn't able to find much beyond a few names and a few accomplishments. 

Mike Bertetto at 134 lbs was 4th at the 1973 CCCAA

John Leifer at 158 lbs was fifth in 1973 & runner-up in 1974 CCCAA

Art Straus at 158 lbs was crowned the Vikings final place-winner with a sixth place CCCAA finish in 1981. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Merritt

 Located in Oakland, California, I was only able to find a few last names concerning the former Thunderbird wrestling program. 

Teasley who was 4th @ 147 in 1965 CCCAA
Hodges who was 3rd @ 137 in 1965 CCCAA
Ownen who was 4th @ 177 in 1969 CCCAA 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Imperial Valley

 Located in the desert along the border of Mexico, the Arabs of Imperial Valley at one time had a wrestling program.  It was discontinued after the 1981-1982 season. 

Manger 
137 lbs 

Unable to find a first name, Manger made the CCCAA finals in 1964. 

Keith Smith
190 lbs  

Smith took third at the 1971 CCCAA's. He later started the wrestling program at Calipatria High School. 

Gary Taunet
126 lbs 

Taunet took back to back CCCAA third place honors in 1972 & 1973. 

Randy Huerta
HWT 

Huerta took third at the 1972 CCCAA championships, winning a CCCAA title in 1973. 

Tony DePaoli
177 lbs  

Many claim that the greatest senior season of anyone in the history of high school wrestling in this country belonged to that of the late Dave Schultz? Who did he beat to win the California high school state title that season?  Tony DePaoli, who would go on to make the CCCAA finals for the Arabs in 1979.  He then transferred to San Diego State, before finishing up his collegiate career at Cal State Fullerton.  

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Merced

 I wasn't able to gather much about Merced Blue Devil wrestling other than a few last names of those who placed at the CCCAA tournament. 

Job 4th in 1966 @ 152 

Hobson 6th in 1966 @ 1967

Perez 4th in 1966 & 4th in 1967 @ HWT

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Williamette

 Located in Salem Oregon, the Bearcats of Williamette at one time had a wrestling program. 

Ian Fulp 

Fulp was very competitive during his four year varsity career at Williamette.  As as freshman in 1965 he took third place at the Northwest Conference (NWC) tournament.  He'd go on to win the NWC as a sophomore in 1966, taking runner-up honors in 1967, coming back to claim a second NWC title in 1969.  

Post college he moved to Alaska and took over the Kodiac High School program.  He late became director of Kodiac Parks & Recreation. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = SUNY-Rockland

 Located about an hour north of New York City, SUNY-Rockland at one time had a wrestling program. 

Carl Svensson

Svensson was an NJCAA All American for the Fighting Hawks in 1961. 

Joseph Romano

Romano was a Regional runner-up in 1962 & he took third place at Regionals in 1963.  He later went on to coach at Goshen High School, taking his team to a dual record of 110-10. 

Richard "Dickie" Johnston 

A graduate of Suffern High, Johnston made the NJCAA finals in 1967.  Also a member of the Fighting Hawks cross country team, Johnston won a Regional Championship.  He then transferred to Arizona State to finish up his collegiate career. 

William "Gibby" Sweet

Sweet won a state title for Pearl River High school in 1968 before coming to SUNY-Rockland. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = SUNY-West Chester

 Not to be confused with the NCAA Division II school West Chester in Pennsylvania, SUNY-West Chester is a NJCAA school an hour north of New York City.  

Frank Chousa 

While competing for the Vikings, Chousa was also a member of the 1971 conference championship football team.  After graduating from SUNY-West Chester, Chousa continued his wrestling career for Central Connecticut State.  He later taught P.E. in New York. 

Bob Ciccarelli

Ciccarelli was a two time NJCAA qualifier for the Vikings who later took his career to SUNY-Brockport.  After his collegiate wrestling days were over he became an assistant coach at Bacon High School. 

Nils Strandskov

A two time NJCAA qualifier, Strandskov transferred to the University of Florida where he made the SEC finals & finished his final season with a 17-9 record.  He later owned his own insurance company. 

Todd Sumpter 

Sumpter was probably the best wrestler that SUNY-West Chester ever produced.  As a freshman he won a Regional title & finished as the NJCAA runner-up. As a sophomore he was the Regional runner up but ended up winning the NJCAA title.  

He transferred to Appalachian State where he won the Southern Conference title in 1981.  He'd later go on to have international success winning a PAN-American Gold medal.  

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = SUNY-Farmingdale

 Located a half hour west of Long Island, SUNY-Farmingdale won the NJCAA team title in 1972.  Of that handful of names I came across fro Rams wrestling, one was Charles "Bull" Godwin but I was unable to find any details of his wrestling career. 

Fred Snyder 

Snyder wrestled for SUNY-Farmingdale before transferring to WPI where he won a NEIWA (New England Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) title. 

Charlie Gadson 

Gadson won a state title for Huntington High school in 1973 before coming to SUNY-Farmingdale.  He later transferred to Iowa State where he took third at the 1978 NCAA Division I championships.  His brother Ken, was also a standout at SUNY-Farmingdale.  Both Ken & Charlie are the brothers of the late Willie Gadson & the uncle of Kyven Gadson. 

Noel Loban 

A native of the United Kingdom, Loban won a NJCAA title for the Rams in 1977.  He then transferred to Clemson (another program we've lost) where he won back to back ACC titles in 1979 & 1980, winning an NCAA title in 1980. 

He then had an outstanding international career competing for the United Kingdom.  He won a bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic Games, winning Gold at the 1986 Common Wealth Games & Silver at the 1994 Common Wealth Games. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = St. Vincent

 Pennsylvania as of today has more varsity collegiate programs than any other state.  Yet, it still experienced its fair share of dropped programs, one of them being St. Vincent.  The Bearcats are a Division III school located in Latrobe, home of where the banana split was invented. 

Thomas Skolada

Skolada who wrestled for St. Vincent later became a psychologist for a Veterans Administration hospital in Florida.  During his life he was an active swimmer, who swam over 4,000 miles. 

Eugene Oberst 

After competing for St. Vincent, Oberst became an educator in New York. 

Frank Nelson 

Nelson was also a member of the diving team during his time at St. Vincent.  While a wrestler & a diver for the bearcats, Nelson started a weight lifting club for all students on campus.  He later he became the head diving coach at Franklin Regional high school. 

Michael Polechko

After competing for the bearcats, Polechko taught biology courses at St. Vincent. He later took over as head coach of Southmoreland High School.  Throughout his career he was very involved in the Special Olympics. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = SUNY-Cobleskill

 Located a little less than an hour west of Albany, today the Fighting Tigers of SUNY-Cobleskill have a club program that competes in the NCWA. At one time they were a varsity program at the NJCAA level. 

Carlos Dolmo
190, HWT

Also a member of the Fighting Tiger's Cross Country and Baseball teams, Dolmo won Mountain Valley Conference titles in 1996 & 1997. In the same years he earned NJCAA All American status.  He then transferred to SUNY-Oswego where he was  two time NCAA Division III All American placing fifth in 1998 and eighth in 1999.  

Post his collegiate career he coached Yeshiva University as well as Hunter College before taking over as coach at Yeshiva High School, where he lead his team to three conference titles. 

Peter Shaw
145-190 lbs 

Being a team player throughout his days wrestling for SUNY-Cobleskill, Shaw wrestled at any weight where he was needed between 145 & 190 lbs.  As a member of the Fighting Tiger's soccer team he was named All Mountain Valley as a goalie.  On the baseball team he played first base, catcher & all three positions of outfield.   

Later Shaw took a career at the Fire Department in Saratoga Springs, where he eventual made head Chief. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = St. Norbert

 Located in De Pere, Wisconsin, I wasn't able to find out a whole lot about Green Knight's wrestling. 

Tim Houlton 

Houlton who later played football for the Washington Redskins, wrestled HWT for St. Norbert 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = St Mary's University of Minnesota

 

Stanley Duginski

Duginski was a standout football & basketball player during his days at St Mary's.  In four years of varsity football he played all but thirty accumulative minutes of every game.   He started the Cardinal's wrestling program in 1928.  He also coached the Cardinal's hockey team, which had the opportunity to play the United States Hockey team at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

George Stephenson

Going 85-28 during his career, Stephenson won a conference title in 1978 & qualified for the national tournament in 1976, 1977 & 1978.  

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = St John Fisher

 Located in Rochester, New York from what I've been able to gather the Cardinals competed in both the NCAA Division III & the NAIA during their time in wrestling.  The 1973 squad went 10-1 in duals. 

Jerry DeHey
118, 126 lbs 

A native of Brockport, DeHey never saw defeat in dual competition going 22-0. 

Sandy Spero 

Spero qualified for the NCAA Division III championships in his freshman and sophomore years of 1977 & 1978.  As a junior & senior he qualified for the NAIA championships in 1979 & 1980. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = SUNY-Stony Brook

 The seawolves of Stony Brook at one time had a wrestling program.  The only name I've found thus far associated with the team is Jack Esposito who also played soccer, ran cross country & ran track. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Snow

 A little less than two hours south of Salt Lake City, in the small community of Ephraim, Snow College at one time had a wrestling program. 

Roger Nielson

While Nielson played football & wrestled while at Snow, he excelled most in track & field.  A conference champion in the 1/2 mile, he went on to run track at Utah State. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Skagit Valley

 Located in Northwestern Washington, about an hour & a half from Vancouver, British Columbia, I wasn't able to find out much about Skagit Valley Cardinals wrestling.  The only name associated with the program I found was Joe Peterson. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Richland Community College

 Of all the varsity programs that the state of Texas ever had, many argue that the toughest of them all was Richland Community College which competed in the NJCAA from the 1972-1973 season through the 1983-1984 season.   The program was started by Bill Neal & to my understanding, what killed the program was the cost of extensive travel. A majority of their tournaments & dual meets were as far away as Kansas.  This got to be too expensive & that was why a decision was made to discontinue the program. 

Today the Thunder Ducks have a club program that competes in the NCWA. 

Rudy Perez & Dallas Spruce are some names I came across, but have no information on them. 

Evan Bernstein, a native of Richardson High School, who later transferred to Minnesota, spent his first two seasons at Richland. He was a 1988 Olympian.  His son Ophir wrestled for Brown where he was an All American. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = SUNY Plattsburgh

 I wasn't able to find out a whole heck of a lot about Cardinals wrestling, but I did come across one name. 

Pete Martin 

Martin's final two years at SUNY-Plattsburgh were his most successful.  As a junior in 1969, he was the SUNY-Athletic Conference champion & he finished as the district runner-up.  As a senior in 1970, he was the runner-up at SUNY-AC & the finished in third place at districts. While he didn't do as well at conference or districts, what he did do his senior season is make All American status at the NAIA tournament by placing seventh. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Phoenix College

 Founded in 1920, Phoenix College is one of the oldest community colleges in the United States.  The Bears throughout the years have been very successful in athletics winning NJCAA titles in seven different sports, five of which the school has since discontinued.  Wrestling being one of those five sports, the others are Men's Track & Field (NJCAA champs in 1964, 1965 & 1966), Men's Golf (NJCAA champs in 1964), Women's Cross Country (NJCAA champs in 1985) & Women's Archery (NJCAA Champs in 1933, 1934, 1980).  

Wrestling was started at Phoenix College by the late Ronald "Tune" Eastin during the the 1962-1963 season. Winning NJCAA titles in 1968 & 1969, the Bears finished in the top 10 at the NJCAA tournament in eighteen of what was twenty-four seasons on the mat.  Phoenix College wrestling came to an end after the 1986-1987 season.  Another interesting fact concerning Eastin is that he founded the Fiesta Bowl. 

Gil Lilienthal
HWT

Lilienthal came to Phoenix College all the way from New York where in 1962 he was the Section IX runner-up for West Islip High School.  Competing for the Bears, Lilienthal won a NJCAA title in 1965.  While at Phoenix College, he was also a member of the football team. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Clark's Summit

 Located in northeastern Pennsylvania, Clark's Summit was a varsity program that competed in the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) & in what I believe was a transition into NCAA Division III when the program was discontinued after the 2005-2006 season.  During this transition time, wrestlers competed in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA). 

Jason Meister

Meister put together a career of 146-20 during his career as a Defender.  He won an NCWA title as a freshman in 1999 & again as a senior in 2003, finishing in third in 2000 & as a runner-up in 2001. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Pillsbury Baptist Bible

 Pillsbury Baptist Bible College was a NCAA Division III institution located an hour south of Minneapolis in Owatonna, Minnesota.  The School opened in 1957 & shut down after the 2007-2008 school year.   From what I've been able to gather the wrestling program competed in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).  I'm not sure as to when the wrestling program started or when exactly it ended. I don't believe they had wrestling when the school shut down.  Jim Hazewinkle was head coach at one point. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Pensacola Christian

 The information I was able to find regarding Pensacola Christian College wrestling was very scarce. What I can tell you about the team is that it was coached by Jim Hazewinkle & that they competed in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).  Hazewinkle won the NCCAA coach of the year in 1994, 1995, 1996 & 1998. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Ocean County

 What I was able to find out about Ocean County College wrestling is that it was started by Hy Mittleberg & they won at least two Garden State Athletic Conference titles.  

Craig Bessinger

A graduate of Point Pleasant High School, Bessinger ran cross county & wrestled at Ocean County.  He later owned a management group in West Virginia. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Montgomery College

 What I do know is that Montgomery College at one point had a wrestling team.  What I don't know is which of the campuses had wrestling.  Today, all are known as the Raptors.  However, at one time the Rockville campus was known as the Knights, the Takoma Park/Silver Springs Campus was known as the Falcons & the Germantown campus was known as the Gryphons.   What I can tell you is that at one of these campuses wrestling was started in the 1963-1964 season by head baseball & assistant football coach Ray Fox.  I'm not sure when it came to an end. 

Donald Rosano

After finishing third at the 1970 Regionals, Rosano was selected as a wildcard entry to the NJCAA tournament.  He later taught Health, Exercise Science & P.E. at the high school level. 

Ed Lauer

Lauer was also a member of Montgomery's cross country & track teams during his time at Montgomery.  He later coached wrestling & cross country at River Hill High school. 

Bruce Lindblad

An NJCAA qualifier for Montgomery in 1969, Lindblad finished up his wrestling career at Towson.  He later coached at Atholton HIgh school where he took his team to back to back fourth place finishes at the state tournament in 2000 & 2001. 

Jim Meehan

A graduate of Walter Johnson High School, Meehan won a District of Columbia AAU championship in 1969. 

Tyrone Neal

Probably the best wrestler to ever come out of Montgomery was two time NJCAA champion Tyrone neal who won titles in 1972 & 1973. He went on to wrestle for Maryland, where he won ACC titles in 1974 & 1975. 

Bill Goodman 

Goodman came to Montgomery from Montgmery Blair High School to play football. During his time at Montgomery the school did not field a varsity wrestling team.  As a result, Goodman did his own workouts & traveled to open tournaments on his own time.  He went 14-0 during his time wrestling, telling assistant football coach Ray Fox that if the school would've had a wrestling team, he could've excelled on both the football field & the wrestling mat.  That's when Fox began to work on getting wrestling at Montgomery. 

Goodman finished up his collegiate football career at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Hartnell

 Located in Salinas, California an hour south of Los Angeles, a part of the CCCAA (California Community College Athletic Association), the Panthers at one time had a wrestling program. 

 Benny Guerra
191 lbs 

A member of the Panther football program where he was named All-Conference on the Defensive Line, Guerra won two conference titles on the mat in 1967 & 1968. 

 Ron Tato 

Tato was fourth at the 1972 CCCAA tournament. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Louisiana Layfayette

 Believe it or not at one time the Ragin' Cajuns had a varsity wrestling team.  I was unable to find out when it started, but I do know that it was discontinued after the 1977-1978 season. 

Denis Tallini 

After wrestling for two season in the NJCAA for Mohawk Valley Community College in New York, Tallini finished up his collegiate career at Louisiana-Lafayette. 

Cliff Strider

After a successful career at East Jefferson High School where he finished in third place as a junior before winning a state title as a senior, Strider wrestled his freshman year at Louisiana-Lafayette.  After the Ragin' Cajun wrestling program was discontinued, Strider transferred to Louisiana State to finish up his career.  While still in college, before his own wrestling career was over, he took over as head coach of Baton Rouge High school. 

Later in life he officiated thirty-seven Louisiana High School state championships in a row. 

Coleman Ruiz

Ruiz won three state titles for Holy Cross High School in 1966, 1967 & 1968 before coming to Louisiana-Lafayette. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Tulane

 Tulane marks the second time in my life where I was given incorrect information by someone in the know.  I was informed that Tulane never fielded a varsity wrestling program during their athletic history, but upon further research I discovered that indeed they did.  As to when it started or when it ended? I have have no idea.  

Harry "Hubby" Gamble

Gamble was also a member of the football, swim & gymnastics teams during his days at Tulane.  He was named All Southern in 1926 in football.  Post his collegiate career, he took over at the Green Wave's head boxing coach. 

Nick Accardo

A local from Jesuit High school in New Orleans, post his collegiate career at Tulane, Accardo became a team doctor for various United States teams that competed internationally.  He was also the head coach of Hanson Memorial Franklin Senior High school. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Mohawk Valley

 A community college of  the SUNY (State University of New York) system located in between Albany & Syracuse, from what I've heard & read, Mohawk Valley at one time had a rather competitive wrestling program. I wasn't able to find out much about it though. 

Denis Tallini

Originally from Louisiana, Tallini came all the way to New York to wrestle for Mohawk Valley.  Post his collegiate career he returned to Lousiana where he was an official from 1974 through 2005.  He moved to Georgia where he officiated from 2005 through 2011. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Milligan

 Located less than ten minutes northeast of Johnson City in Elizabethton, Tennessee right in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, is the small institution of Milligan University. Today they are NAIA, but I believe they were NCAA Division I at the time they fielded wrestling.  Varsity wrestling began in the 1962-1963 season, brought to Milligan by Orval Crowder, who specifically sought out seniors whose high school careers did not end the way they wanted them to.  His goal was to build up a team of wrestlers with chips on their shoulders who had something to prove. In his first year, the team was not provided wrestling mats or given the option of having a home dual. They borrowed tumbling mats from the P.E. department for practices. 

Although Crowder never did upend Swede Umbach at Auburn for a team title at the Southeastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (SEIWA) he did lead the Buffaloes to two SEIWA runner-up finishes. 

Rex Jackson 

Jackson never lost a dual match during his time at Milligan & he won two SEIWA titles for the Buffaloes.  Post college he went on to coach at Georgia. 

Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Marin

 About a half hour north of San Francisco everything I was able to find out about College of Marin wrestling centers around one wrestler. 

Jim McGowan 

McGowan was a standout football & basketball player during his days at Tamalpais High school being a part of a team in 1952 that won a league title in basketball & one in 1953 that won a league title in football.  Post high school, McGowan went into the Marines where he took up both Judo & jujitsu.  In 1955 he won the Marines Judo championship.  

After getting out of the Marines, he enrolled at San Francisco State University & took up wrestling as a means to add another martial art to his arsenal.  During his time their he was named All-Conference.  

After graduating he went to the College of Marin to coach wrestling, cross country, football, tennis & start a judo club.  His other intention was to bring varsity wrestling to the Mariners' athletic program & in the season of 1963-1964 he did just that. 

Wrestling remained until it was discontinued after the 1996-1997 season.