The Eagle Eye

Issue date: 10/16/08 Section: Sports

LHU Olympians Cary Kolat (left), Sara McMann (second from the right) and Elliot "Gary" Simmons (far right) pose with the "father of LHU wrestling,"

Henry "Hank" Blake speaks at the event celebrating the 70th anniversary of Lock Haven University wrestling.

Father of Lock Haven wrestling, Henry "Hank" Blake (center) poses with previous national champions (from left to right) Cary Kolat, Elliot "Gray" Simons, Fred Powell and Ken Melchior

On Friday, the wrestling team celebrated their 70th anniversary. The evening was filled with speakers from Lock Havens past and present who spoke about the historic program. Several national champions, an Olympic silver medalist and the "father of Lock Haven wrestling" showed up for the event.
The dinner and ceremony were held at the Durrwachter Alumni Conference Center and was attended by past members of the LHU wrestling program.
NCAA champions Elliot "Gray" Simons, Fred Powell, Ken Melchior and Cary Kolat sat along with the 2004 silver medalist in women's freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Sara McMann.
The only living national champion who was unable to make it to the event was the Rev. Bill Blacksmith, who had scheduling conflicts.
Wrestling alumni, boosters, friends and members of the current men's and women's teams also were invited to the ceremony.
The evening featured many speakers who spoke of the rich and historic tradition of the wrestling program.
University President Dr. Keith Miller spoke at the event, as did current wrestling head coach Rocky Bonomo, LHU Alumni Association President Reed Mellinger and LHU alumnus and wrestling historian Tom Elling. Elling's presentation on the wrestling program was one of the best parts of the evening for the women's wrestling coach Terry Fike.
"For me it was the historical presentation by Tom Elling that addressed the number of great coaches LHU has produced and their impact on the sport," said Fike.
The evening was highlighted when the "father of Lock Haven wrestling," Henry "Hank" Blake, came up to speak.
Bonomo said being around the "father of LHU wrestling" Hank Blake and hearing him speak was the most memorable part of the evening.
Blake gave the history of the program starting in 1938, when he was recruited out of Dubois High School to play football. Blake went then to athletic director J. Wynn Fredericks and talked about starting a wrestling program. After finding seven other students to join the team, LHU had their first wrestling team. Shortly after that the first match took place against East Stroudsburg, which East Stroudsburg won 23-10.
Blake also spoke on his time in the Navy and his work with the Columbia University wrestling team. While he was stationed, he would work as an assistant coach for Columbia University before being deployed to the Pacific for World War II. There, he was piloting pt boats for the Navy. He eventually would be the pilot who flew the Japanese emperor to the USS Missouri for Japan's unconditional surrender to the allied forces.
Towards the end of the ceremony Blake was presented with a framed painting of himself and the six national champions to come out of Lock Haven. The painting was done by current LHU student Ryan Scaife, who spent more than 40 hours working on the painting. Scaife was chosen personally to handle this very important task.
"I was called into a meeting with Carl Poff (Assistant Professor, health and physical education department) and Troy Miller (Director of Athletic Development). Poff had seen work I have done for other athletes and really wanted me to do this for the wrestling program. I gladly accepted the offer because it was something unique and different than what I had done in the past as well as I knew just how important an event like this is to people involved in the program," said Scaife.
While the original is with Blake, 150 additional prints have been made and are available to be purchased by contacting Wally Kocher.
The entire ceremony not only served the purpose of exploring and presenting the rich history of the wrestling program, it also gives both the men's and women's teams some inspiration.
"I think it will help the wrestlers in an indirect way. Anytime a team is reminded of its tradition and heritage, it tends to strengthen their resolve to continue that tradition and realize they're part of something bigger than them and worth sacrificing time and hard work. I hope that's what we get from the event," said Fike.
Bonomo feels the same about the wrestlers as he said "(that this) will help motivate the wrestlers and take pride in their part in LHU wrestling history."
Both wrestling teams are getting ready for the upcoming season. On the men's side they are getting prepared for their first match set to take place at the Eastern Michigan open on Nov. 1. The women's team will look to get their sophomore season underway as the will travel to Hamilton Ontario for the McMaster Open on Nov. 1.

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