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The State Wrestling Tournament has a very interesting
history, especially during its earliest days. The
tournament was started in 1938, the only state
tournament to be established during the 45 year period
that stretched from 1928 to1973. That first tournament
was held at John Hay High School in Cleveland. Things
were a bit �basic� back then, as Mark Osgood relates in
his book �Ohio�s Best in Amateur Wrestling�: ��when
wrestlers had to compete on mohair mats, which were
pieced together much like a puzzle, a canvas cover then
stretched over them to distinguish boundary lines and
hopefully minimize the mats sliding apart.�
John Hay High School was not the permanent home of the
event, just its birthplace. The next three tournaments
were held �at Columbus,� that being the location name
given in the OHSAA All-Sports Record Book of 1957. In
1942 the tournament was held at Kent State University,
and from 1943 until 1958 it returned to Cleveland and
was held at various locations around the city, primarily
John Hay, West Tech and Lakewood high schools. In 1959
the tournament was relocated to Columbus, the site being
the campus of Ohio State University, where it has been
held annually ever since with the exception of the years
1970 (Cleveland Arena), 1990 (Cincinnati Gardens), and
1991-1998 (Nutter Center, Wright State University).
In its first years, in fact, through the 1954
tournament, the state wrestling tournament was an event
of the �invitational� variety. Twenty schools were
invited to take part in the first tournament in 1938,
all but five coming from either the Greater Cleveland or
Akron areas, with the city of Columbus represented by
three schools. No team champion was named for that
first tournament, but John Hay High School would win the
next three, and four of the first five team
championships. Following John Hay�s run of success,
Cleveland West Tech, under the direction of coach Lloyd
Griffith, would take three consecutive titles, and four
of five covering the years 1944-1948 (in 1948 Tech tied
for the state title with Lakewood High School, located
just a few miles west of West Tech). This dominance of
the state wrestling tournament by teams from the Greater
Cleveland area would continue almost unbroken to this
day, especially in the big school Class AAA-Division I
category.
Through 1942, the number of invited teams stayed fairly
steady at around 20, and the names of the participating
schools also saw very little change. Due to travel
restrictions imposed because of World War II, only 10
schools entered the tournament in 1943, with just 18
making the tournament roster in both 1944 and 1945.
When the war ended in the fall of 1945, there was not a
sudden increase in the number of participating schools
in the state wrestling tournament. By 1954, the last
year of the invitational format, just 22 teams were
participating in the state tournament, a tournament that
was still almost exclusively populated by schools from
the Cleveland-Akron area and dominated by the wrestling
powers of the time: Cleveland�s West Tech and West high
schools. Beginning with the 1955 tournament, the number
of competing schools started to climb dramatically, from
29 in �55 to 131 in 1967. Today, more than 300 schools
annually participate in the state wrestling tournament.
Before continuing with our brief history of the state
wrestling tournament, it would be most appropriate to
recall one of the first truly great Ohio high school
wrestling teams, a team whose accomplishments have
seldom been equaled.
That school is West High School of Cleveland, and it all
started for the Cowboys at the 1945 tournament when they
finished in third place, but with two individual
champions. The next year coach Harold Kester�s matmen
finished second, just three points behind West Tech,
which had won its third consecutive state title that
year. This time, however, West High had four individual
champions.
In 1947 the Cowboys finally took home their first state
title. Winning individual championships for the second
consecutive year were Bill Buckingham (104 lbs.) and
John Matteucci (121 lbs.), while Joe DiBello also took
home a title at 113 lbs. In 1948 West High slipped to
fourth place. John Matteucci was the Cowboy�s lone
state champion that year, but he had accomplished
something no other wrestler up to that time had done �
his championship was the third consecutive individual
title of his outstanding career, the first wrestler in
state history to accomplish that feat.
In 1949 the Cowboys missed a state championship by a
single point to Euclid Shore High School, but again took
home three individual titles.
In 1950 the Cowboys were the heavy favorites going into
the tournament among the 19 participating schools,
having gone undefeated as members of the Cleveland
Senate league. This time the Cowboys did not
disappoint, winning the state championship with three
individual titlists and tying the record for most team
points with a total of 39.
When the 1951 state tournament rolled around the Cowboys
were again the heavy favorites, and when they qualified
seven boys for the finals, it appeared to be a done
deal. (An eighth title hopeful had to withdraw due to
an injury.) Coach Harold Kester�s boys came through
with flying colors as they totally dominated the field
in winning their second straight championship. The
Cowboys� �Italian Connection� of Fred Darienzo (134
lbs.), Richard Bonacci (166 lbs. � his third straight
individual title), Vince Matteucci (128 lbs.), Emil
Palmieri (139 lbs.) and Pete Rossi (155 lbs.) all took
home firsts, as did Robert Pogue (121 lbs.). That is
six individual champions in one tournament, a feat that
has never since been equaled. The team�s 50 points not
only swamped the field (second place Euclid scored only
16), but it shattered the old record of 39 total
points. Adding not a little icing to their cake, coach
Kester�s team was also named the national high school
wrestling champion that year, the first Ohio team so
honored, and one of just three Ohio schools to ever
reach that lofty plateau.
After the 1951 season West High never again finished
higher than third place in the state tournament, and the
school was actually closed in 1961. However, the
Cowboys� proud legacy of success remains, as they are
still ranked seventh all-time in Ohio with 28 individual
state champions. West High�s mark of 22 individual
champions over a seven year span (1945-1951) has seldom
been equaled.
The state wrestling championship trophy continued to
remain in the Cleveland area after the West High era of
success. In 1956, Maple Heights High School, coached by
Mike Milkovich since 1950 (himself a former state
champion in 1941 at 145 lbs.), won its first state
championship, and Ohio had its initial look at what
would become its first truly legendary wrestling
program. The Mustangs repeated as state champions the
next season, followed by three straight runner-up
finishes. The school that beat out the Mustangs for the
1959 title was Bridgeport High School, led by two-time
state champion Art Hehr. Located in the southeastern
part of the state just across the border from Wheeling,
West Virginia, the Bulldogs were the first team from
outside of the Greater Cleveland area to win a state
title.
The Mustangs regained their championship form in both
1962 and 1963, but finished second in �64 and �65.
Coach Milkovich�s team then captured four straight state
titles from 1966-69, the first team to ever win four in
a row. After again finishing second in 1970, the
Mustangs bounced right back to take their ninth
championship in 1971. It was rumored that Mike
Milkovich would leave Maple Heights High School after
the 1971 season to coach at Kent State, but that did not
happen. However, the Mustangs finished out of the
running each of the next two seasons, but came back to
win their 10th, and final, state championship
for coach Milkovich in 1974.
In 1971 a change was made to the state wrestling format,
with the schools divided into Class A-AA-AAA based on
enrollment, Class A for the smallest schools, then AA,
and finally AAA for the biggest schools. From 1971-1975
Classes A-AA wrestled for a combined state championship,
while the big school Class AAA had its own
championship. Beginning in 1976 each classification
wrestled for its own state title. In 1988 the
classifications were renamed �divisions,� with Division
I being for the biggest schools, and Divisions II and
III for the smaller ones.
With the schools divided into the various
classifications/divisions, many more were now able to
claim state titles. However, the domination of the
sport by the northern part of the state, and especially
the northeastern part, has remained almost unbroken,
especially in the big school category. For instance,
strange as it may seem, while it has produced many state
champions in virtually every other sport, no school from
the Cincinnati-Dayton area, in any division, has yet to
win a state wrestling championship.
Until the last six or seven years, no team has really
dominated in the two smaller school categories, although
a few have had some years of consistent success.
Columbus St. Francis DeSales won three championships,
and finished second twice, from 1971-1978 in the
combined Class A-AA, and then AA. This success was in
part due to the individual talents of Mark Zimmer, who
became the state�s first four-time individual champion
when he won titles in 1976-77-78-79. Akron�s Coventry
High School was another Class AA-Division II school that
achieved quite a bit of success, winning consecutive
team titles in 1978-79-80, and again capturing the
championship in 1993 and 1996. Those later
championships were aided by another of the state�s
four-time winners, John McGhee (1993-1996).
Bedford�s St. Peter Chanel High School is a third team
to be reckoned with when it comes to Division II
wrestling. The Firebirds� greatest success came from
1983 to 1988, when they won four championships and
finished as the runner-up one other time. However,
although they have yet to win another state title, the
Firebirds have been near the top of the Division II
title chase over the last dozen years, finishing second
six times since 1994. One wrestler who had a major
impact on this resurgence of the Firebirds was Jeff
Jaggers, who won four state titles from 2001 to 2004.
Like the two bigger school divisions, Class A-Division
III has had its stars as well. One of the earliest was
Richmond Heights High School, a suburb of Cleveland.
Under the direction of coach Mike Papouras the Spartans
were in the thick of the Class A championships from 1976
to 1984. During those nine years they took home four
state titles (1979-80-83-84) and finished as the
runner-up four other times. Although the Spartans� last
championship came in 1984, that was just the beginning
for one of their greatest wrestlers, Dan Hanson, who won
individual state championships in 1984-85-86-87.
Delta High School, located just west of Toledo, is
another school that has risen to the top of the Division
III wrestling world. The Panthers won their first state
championship in 1989, but did not repeat until 1996.
They just missed winning four titles in a row when they
won championships again in 1998 and 1999, but finished
second to Streetsboro High School in 1997 by just four
points.
The most successful Division III school to date is
living proof that, like the other D-III champions before
it, you do not have to be a big school to be successful
at your sport. Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic High
School usually has an enrollment of about 150 students,
just about evenly split between boys and girls. Even
though that means only about 75 boys to choose from,
that has not stopped wrestling coach Jude Roth from
organizing one of the most successful programs in the
state.
Roth came to St. Mary�s in 1987 and coached his first
state championship team in 1994, after the Panthers had
finished as the runner-up the year before. The Panthers
again finished second in the Division III state
tournament in 1996, 1998 and 1999. Then it all really
fell into place. St. Mary�s took the Division III state
title in 2000, finished fourth in 2001, and have won
every D-III state title since then, currently having won
five in a row, 2002-2006. Along the way the Panthers
have set the all-time state record for dual wins in a
season (39), are second with the most consecutive dual
wins (87), and coach Roth is currently the winningest
active coach in the state, and second all-time, with 389
victories against just 51 defeats and two ties. The
Panthers have also produced one of the state�s four-time
individual champions in Jared Opfer, who won his titles
in 1996-97-98-99.
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Looking Back at the
OHSAA's Wrestling Championships - No. 2
A centennial moment
By Timothy L. Hudak
Sports Heritage Specialty Publications
4814 Broadview Rd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
www.SportsHeritagePublications.net
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Three schools currently represent the pinnacle of high
school wrestling in Ohio, and at times, in the nation.
Those schools are St. Edward High School of Lakewood,
Cuyahoga Falls� Walsh Jesuit, and Graham Local High
School of St. Paris, more commonly referred to as St.
Paris Graham.
St. Edward�s wrestling program is easily the most
successful in the state, and consistently one of the top
programs in the nation. With 22 state wrestling
championships (second for championships in a single
sport to Cincinnati St. Xavier�s 28 swimming titles),
the Eagles have won 32% of all state Division I
tournaments, and have the fifth most state wrestling
championships in the country.
When Howard Ferguson took over as the Eagles� wrestling
coach in 1976, he predicted that the school would
celebrate a state championship within five years. It
only took him until his third season in 1978 to come
through on that promise � and since then the Eagles have
never looked back, continuing to add championship
hardware to the school�s trophy case on almost a yearly
basis.
Following that first championship the Eagles won again
in 1979, and in 1980, and in 1981, and kept right on
winning straight through to 1988 for a state wrestling
record 10 championships in a row. In addition, the
Eagles then started to win championships at the national
level. They won six consecutive national high school
titles from 1982-1987, the first school from Ohio to win
a national high school wrestling championship since
Cleveland�s West High did it back in 1951. In 1982 the
Eagles set a national record for most takedowns in a
season, 1,905, which still stands.
The Eagles stumbled a bit in 1988 and finished what for
them was a �distant� fourth. St. Ed�s rebounded the
next season, and in 1989 reclaimed both the state and
national high school championships. Leading the Eagles
on the mats from 1987 to 1989 was three-time state
champion Alan Fried, recognized by many as the greatest
high school wrestler ever.
However, 1989 had to be a most bittersweet year for the
whole St. Edward community, for in the fall of that year
head coach Howard Ferguson suddenly and unexpectedly
died.
The Eagles were down, but certainly not out. Assistant
coach Greg Urbas took over as the new head coach. In
his first two seasons the Eagles finished third (1990)
and then second (1991) in the Division I championships.
Like his predecessor, Urbas in 1992 brought home a state
championship in his third season as the St. Edward
wrestling coach. That season the Eagles also returned
to the top of the national rankings by winning their
eighth national title.
The Eagles were shut out of the Division I championship
from 1993-1996, finishing third in �93 and second the
other three years. It would prove to be the school�s
longest spell over the last 29 years without a state
championship, as well as the last time that they would
go without winning the first place trophy. The Eagles
finally grabbed another Division I title in 1997, and
have won everyone ever since, tying Howard Ferguson�s
mark of 10 consecutive titles. They also added a ninth
national title in 2000.
The Eagles� outstanding record of success has been made
possible by a combination of fine coaching and some
outstanding student-athletes who responded to that
coaching. Alan Fried has already been mentioned.
Others who have been big contributors to the Eagles�
success are a pair of four-time champions, Ryan Lang
(2000-01-02-03) and Lance Palmer (2003-04-05-06).
Besides Alan Fried, three-time champs at St. Ed�s
include Eddie Jayne (1992-93-94), Mark Jayne
(1998-99-00), Mason Lenhard (1998-99-00) and Matt Koz
(2001-02-03).
Bill Barger helped to start the wrestling program at
Walsh Jesuit High School in 1976. As the saying goes,
Rome wasn�t built in a day, and neither is a
championship wrestling team. The Warriors persevered,
and in 1990 finished second in the Division I
tournament. In 1991 the Warriors finally won their
first Division I state championship, but slipped to
second again in 1992.
If the period from 1990 to the present day is labeled as
the �golden era� of Walsh Jesuit wrestling, then the
years 1993 to 1996 must be platinum. Led by three-time
individual state champions Clint Muser (1991-92, 94),
Joe Heskett (1995-96-97) and Jeff Knupp (1995-96-97),
the Warriors captured four consecutive Division I
championships, edging out Lorain Southview in 1993and
St. Edward the other three years. Coach Barger�s team
also won the national championship each of those four
seasons.
In a truly remarkable feat, two Ohio schools, St. Edward
and Walsh Jesuit, captured 14 of the 19 national
championships awarded from 1982-2000. If there had been
any doubt before, there was none now: Ohio was, make
that is, the center of the nation�s high school
wrestling world.
Walsh was reclassified into Division II in 1997. While
the competition was just as fierce, the Warriors�
success followed them as they won the Division II
championship in 1997 in their first season in that
division. In 1998 the Warriors slipped to 12th
in the Division II tournament, but rebounded to win
back-to-back championships in 1999 and 2000. Since then
the Walsh Jesuit wrestlers have finished as the
runner-up on three different occasions.
For the Falcons of St. Paris Graham Local High School it
is a case of all or nothing. They either win the
Division II state wrestling championship, or they finish
back in the pack. No runner-up trophies for these guys,
but then, of late they have not had to worry about
taking home anything less than the championship
hardware.
The Falcons won their first state championship, in Class
AA, in 1982. Leading that team were a couple of
brothers, Jim and Jeff Jordan, who also happen to be one
of only two sets of brothers who each captured four
state wrestling championships. Jim won his in
1979-80-81-82, while brother Jeff did it in
1980-81-82-83.
Following its 1982 title St. Paris Graham did not win
its next state championship until 1998, but fell to 13th
place in 1999, and 15th in 2000. Since then,
however, the Falcons have won every Division II state
championship, currently on a six year streak � and
counting. The Falcons� current success has been aided
by two more four-time state champions: C.P. Schlatter,
who won his titles in 2000-01-02-03 (the first two at
Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School), and Dustin
Schlatter, with his titles coming in 2002-03-04-05 (the
latter two while at Massillon Perry High School). The
Schlatters are the second set of four-time champion
brothers. (In case you missed it, St. Paris Graham has
and/or shares both sets of brothers who are four-time
state wrestling champions � must be something in the
water.)
While it is nice to see teams being successful, if they
are too successful this can be somewhat frustrating for
those who are trying to catch them. In Division I the
unprecedented success of St. Edward High School is
certainly to be commended, but it must also be just a
bit frustrating for the rest of the schools in that
division. But this �problem� is not limited to this one
division. A quick review of the record book shows that
this same situation has existed in the other two
divisions of Ohio high school wrestling since the turn
of the last century. St. Paris Graham has been the
Division II champion every year since 2001, and going
back to 1997 there have been only two schools at the top
of Division II wrestling, St. Paris Graham and Walsh
Jesuit. In Division III a similar situation exists,
where Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic has ruled as
that division�s champion since 2000.
In Division I the situation is compounded by the fact
that Massillon Perry High School has finished as the
runner-up each year since 2003.
High school wrestling in Ohio is among the best and most
competitive in the country, and also perhaps the most
frustrating at times for those trying to crack the
winner�s circle in the state tournament. But,
perseverance pays off, and eventually somebody will come
along and knock the current �kings� off of their
mountains.
To be a state champion is the goal of every wrestler who
has ever taken to the mat. The most outstanding
accomplishment in this regard is to achieve that goal
four straight years. Some of the outstanding
student-athletes to achieve that goal have already been
mentioned, but this report would be remiss if it did not
also pay tribute to the rest of the members of that most
exclusive of clubs, Ohio�s four-time wrestling
champions: Mark Zimmer, Columbus St. Francis DeSales,
1976-77-78-79; Eric Burnett, Oberlin High School,
1984-85-86-87; Ken Ramsey, Lancaster Fisher Catholic
(1984, 85), Columbus Bishop Ready (1986, 87); Willie
Wineberg, Fairfield High School, 1991-92-93-94; Harry
Lester, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy,
1998-99-00-01. |
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