John BrownBrown was alone in his car Wednesday at about 9 a.m. when he hit a patch of black ice, lost control, and hit a residence near Bentree, West Virginia, approximately 40 miles southeast of Charleston. The Clay County, West Virginia native was pronounced dead at the scene, the Nicholas County Sheriff's Department reported.
Brown joined the teaching staff at Mount Vernon High School just north of Columbus in 1994. He was the chair of the math department, and served as the school's wrestling coach for more than two dozen years. Brown was named AAU National Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2013. In addition, he was voted Coach of the Year in the Capital Conference in Ohio 10 times.
Feeney told InterMat of Brown's numerous accomplishments as a coach, mentoring 34 state qualifiers, 15 state placers, four state finalists, two collegiate All Americans, and a collegiate national champion. He guided Mt. Vernon to fourth place at the Ohio high school state wrestling championships in 2006. In addition, Brown served as AAU Junior Olympic director for 20 years. Brown had served as a wrestling referee for the past two seasons.
"I remember the day he was hired and the day we walked in for our first practice with the new Coach," Michael Nicholas Lybarger told the Mount Vernon News. "Needless to say, he changed the program around instantly and made the wrestling team the most dominant and successful sport at MVHS for 20 years."
Prior to coming to Mount Vernon, Brown was head wrestling coach at Toledo Central Catholic High School.
Before becoming an instructor, coach and mat official, Brown was a 1981 graduate of Clay County High where he was a two-time West Virginia state wrestling champion. He continued his education in the Mountaineer State, attending West Liberty University.
Brown is survived by his wife, Jennifer, who is a first-grade teacher for Columbia Elementary School in the Mount Vernon School District. He also is survived by two daughters, Haley and Lexi, who is a student at West Virginia University.
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