NCAA Division II champion Nick Roberts passed away in 2017 (Photo/Ali Single)This past year, InterMat paid tribute to dozens of individuals involved in wrestling who passed away in 2017. Their ages ranged from teens to just shy of the century mark ... but all left a positive mark on the sport.
Call him "champ"
No matter the age or era, winning a conference or national wrestling title is a significant, enduring legacy to be honored. This past year saw the passing of a number of champions of the mat, including John Harkness, 99, Harvard's first NCAA champ (1938) and founding partner of major architecture firm The Architects Collaborative, just two days shy of his 100th birthday ... Bill Nelson, 90, three-time NCAA champ for University of Northern Iowa, 1948 Olympian, and National Wrestling Hall of Fame honoree ... Tony Gizoni, 87, two-time NCAA champ at Waynesburg College and 2017 National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee ... Frank Bettucci, 87, 1953 NCAA champ for Cornell University, 1956 Olympian and 2015 National Wrestling Hall of Fame honoree ... Bill Weick, 85, two-time NCAA titlist for Northern Iowa (1952, 1956) and long-time high school coach in Iowa and in the Chicago area ... Joe Solomon, 84, 1954 NCAA titlewinner for University of Pittsburgh ... Dick Ballinger, 79, University of Wyoming's only NCAA wrestling champ ... Earl Stottler, 76, 1961 NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) champ for Minnesota State Morehead ... Bill Blacksmith, 73, NAIA/NCAA champ for Lock Haven University ... Thomas Kline, 70, 1969 NCAA champ for Cal Poly ... Charlie Pingleton, 2012 NAIA champ at Lindsey Wilson College who went on to coach at Indiana's Greencastle High School ... and Nick Roberts, 23, 2016 NCAA Division II titlist for Pitt-Johnstown.
Among the conference champions who left us in 2017: Elias George, 92, 1946 Big Ten champ for Indiana University who transferred to Oklahoma State, where he earned All-American honors in 1949, then coached at Evanston Township High School for 52 seasons ... James Cox, 90, Mid-Atlantic Conference champ for Ursinus College ... and Tom Drake, 86, three-time Southern Conference champion for University of Tennessee-Chattanooga who later became wrestling coach at the University of Alabama's now-defunct program before entering Alabama politics.
In addition, InterMat reported on the passing of some NCAA All-Americans, including Luverne Klar, 92, two-time All-American at Northern Iowa in 1949 and '50 who later became long-time coach at Mankato High School in Minnesota ... Jack Stanbro, 80, 1960 NCAA finalist for Ithaca College who went on to coach high school wrestling then became a wrestling photographer ... Tony Macias, 78, Latino mat pioneer as Oklahoma state champ from the storied Perry High School program who went on to earn All-American honors for the University of Oklahoma ... Kenneth Barr, 76, Pitt All-American wrestler and Upper Darby High School (Pennsylvania) wrestling coach ... and Luke Sharpe, 73, 1966 NCAA All-American for the Oklahoma Sooners at heavyweight.
Deserving special acknowledgement is James Mohney, 92, two-time PIAA champ for Clearfield High, reported to be the oldest state wrestling champ in Pennsylvania at the time of his passing ... and John Harmon, 90, long-time supporter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame who is slated to be welcomed into the EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) Hall of Fame later this year.
Coaches
Coaches share their knowledge and love of wrestling with the next generation of athletes. Among those who coached at all levels who died in 2017: Ken Schmoker, 91, long-serving coach at Bemidji (Minn.) High School ... Dick Shiels, 86, retired coach at Faribault High School in Minnesota ... Dick Francis, 85, early Fresno State wrestling coach (1965-1980) ... Ted Bredehoft, 84, Cornell College of Iowa wrestler who made his mark as head coach at Arizona State in the 1960s ... Beau Haizlip, 83, Iowa State wrestler and high school coach for three decades ... Frank Ball, 83, long-time Massachusetts high school coach ... Arvo Britten, 81, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point wrestler and long-time wrestling coach for the Merrill (Wis.) school district ... Don Benning, 81, pioneering African-American wrestler and coach in the Omaha area ... Jim Bayly, longtime Boys Town (Nebraska) wrestling coach who worked with former Nebraska-Omaha coach Mike Denney to create Kaufman/Brand Open ... LaVerne Pieper, 81, legendary Stoughton (Wis.) High coach who could count two Olympic silver medalists among his pupils ... and Paul Solberg, 79, Luther College (Iowa) coach from 1966-1980 and 1982-83.
Other coaches who passed away this past year: Jim Koch, 69, retired University of Wisconsin-Parkside coach who died of injuries from being struck by a car while attending the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis ... Dennis Leyman, 65, long time coach at Pennsylvania's North Star High ... Joe Traen, 59, Watertown-Mayer High School coach who died while out on a run ... Chris Bentley, 46, coach at Trinity High School in Pennsylvania ... Chris Bentley, 46, coach at Trinity High School in Pennsylvania ... Brent Harvey, 46, girls' wrestling coach and tireless advocate for women getting into the sport ... Gary Quintana, 45, Fresno area wrestler and coach ... Scott Marko, 43, high school coach and father of University of Minnesota wrestler Hunter Marko ... Bruce Cridge, 40, a PIAA champ and Edinboro University wrestler who coached at Canon-McMillian High School ... Steve Peterson, 35, former Concordia College and coach at Centennial High School, both in Minnesota, after losing a battle with brain cancer ... and Kenny Marjerrison, 34, Plains/Hot Springs High School (Montana) wrestling coach.
Wrestlers taken too soon
All too many young people were lost this past year. Sadly, a number of them were in their teens, active in wrestling, including Logan Luft, 15, Charles City, Iowa wrestler killed in an ATV accident ... William "Chipper" Grogg, a 15-year-old wrestler at Sandy Valley High School in eastern Ohio who was killed in a one-car crash ... Tanner Asper, 16, a two-time Kansas state championships qualifier, killed in a car crash ... Amante Young, 16, killed in a car accident three months after being crowned the first Michigan state champ from Clare High School ... Alex Morgan, 17, two-year starter at Putnam City West High outside Oklahoma City ... Dante Latora, 17, Michigan high school wrestler killed in crash on his way to the NHSCA National Wrestling Championships in Virginia ... Johnny Fiebelkorn, 17, wrestling team captain at Akron Central High School in New York, killed in a car crash ... and Trevor Schwager, a three-year starter at Dowling Central Catholic in West Des Moines, on his way to school.
Other young adults who had wrestling backgrounds included Hunter Hoeptner, 21, 2014 Oregon high school state wrestling champ ... Jason Box, 21, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M wrestler and three-time Missouri high school state championships placer ... Joey Munos, three-time Minnesota state champ who later wrestled at Ohio University and Rochester Community and Technical College ... B.J. Toal, 23, former University of Missouri wrestler ... Gabe Tudor, 24, former St. Cloud State heavyweight, struck by a car on I-74 in western Illinois trying to get help ... Matt Hickman, 25, who had wrestled at Fresno City College and Cal Baptist University ... Gary Pfahler, 26, 2008 PIAA champ for Chestnut Ridge High School ... Cornelius Wiggins, 32, Florida high school state champ and University of the Cumberlands wrestler, drowned in a boating accident ... and Travis Hunter, 40, 1996 Pennsylvania private school state champion wrestler at West-Mont Christian Academy.
Died in service protecting us
Two American heroes who made their mark in wrestling were taken from us in 2017. Aaron Butler, 27, a Green Beret killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan, was a four-time Utah state champ ... while Michael Walter, killed while on duty as a Virginia State Police officer, ran a wrestling club for disadvantaged youths in Richmond.
Cut down in the prime of life
In 2017, InterMat reported on the murders of four individuals who had been involved in the oldest and greatest sport. Bill Wolfe Jr., 42, Shippensburg (Pa.) elementary school wrestling coach who was one of 58 killed in the mass shooting at an outdoor country music concert in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 ... Bryan Young, 47, Oklahoma City area attorney and former University of Oklahoma wrestler who was killed by the estranged husband of a client in his home ... Stevenson Derival, 20, wrestler at Georgia's Brewton Parker College, shot to death at a house party ... and December Htoo, 15, a high school wrestler in Kansas City, Kan., murdered in the laundromat where he worked.
International mat stars
This past year saw the passing of a handful of international wrestling greats from multiple generations, including Nazem Amine, 90, two-time Olympic wrestler for Lebanon and patriarch for two generations of University of Michigan wrestlers ... Nasser Givehchi, silver medalist for Iran at the 1952 Olympics, who passed away in May at age 84 ... Zaprian Petrov, 59, Bulgarian wrestling champ who later coached in Mexico ... Vishal Kumar Verma, 22, national-level wrestler in India, who was electrocuted in flooded practice facility ... and Yury Vlasko, two-time European champ for the Russian Federation, stabbed to death at age 20.
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