Ohio Coaching Greats

**In Progress**

Ohio Coaching Greats – Discover the pioneers of wrestling in Ohio who paved the way and shaped the sport as we know it today.

Coach	School	Years Active
Thor Olson	Ohio University	1919 – 1948
Al Haft	Ohio State University	1920 – 1925
Harold Kester	Cleveland John Hay / Cleveland West	1934 – 1951
Lloyd Griffith	Cleveland West Tech	1932 – 1948
Clarence Eckert	Euclid Shore / Euclid	1945 – 1972
Mike Milkovich	Maple Heights	1950 – 1977
Howard Ferguson	Lakewood St. Edward	1974 – 1989
Mike Papouras	Richmond Heights	1962 – 1985

Thor Olson

Thorwald Olson Ohio university wrestling

Middleweight World Champion 1912
Ohio University Wrestling Coach 1919 – 1948

“Granddaddy” Olson

Thor Olson has been dubbed both the “Granddaddy of Collegiate Wrestling” and the “Dean of Midwestern Wrestling”. Olson, a colorful character, was one of the main figures in advancing the sport of wrestling in Ohio in the early 1900’s.

Olson Takes up Wrestling – Wins World Championship

Originally from Kalmar, Sweden, Olson arrived in America in 1901 at the age of 14. A few years later, while living in Boston, Olson took up wrestling in his leisure time while working as a master carpenter. He was a natural and quickly became one of America’s most fierce competitors.

In 1912, “Young Olson”, as he was called on the mat, captured the World Middleweight Wrestling Title and became the holder of Lord Londsdale’s Gold Belt. Amazingly, he successfully defended his belt against 126 consecutive challengers.

Thor Olson Middleweight Wrestling Champion — International Middleweight Champion
Holder of the Lord Lonsdale Gold Belt

Ohio University

In 1915, Olson moved to Athens Ohio to serve as Ohio University’s Athletic Trainer and Professor of Physical Education. He was known for his tough-love, high expectations, and ability to get his athletes back to competition quickly after an injury.

Thor Olson Ohio Trainer and Professor of Physical Education

Ohio’s First Collegiate Wrestling Program

Olson had a dream of starting a wrestling team, so in 1917 he began to offer training classes to his students, charging a $2 admittance fee ($50 in 2024 dollars) to ensure commitment. In 1919, he fielded his first varsity wrestling team at Ohio University – the first of its kind at any University or Institute in the state of Ohio.

1920 Ohio University Wrestling Team — **1919/20 Ohio University Wrestling Team**

Olson’s Legacy

Olson served as the head wrestling coach for Ohio University for 29 years (1919 to 1948) where he captured 54 dual meet victories.

In 1932 he coached Kermit Blosser to the 191-pound NCAA wrestling championship. It was the first NCAA wrestling title won by an individual from the state of Ohio and Ohio University’s first national champion of any sport.

In 1948, Olson stepped down from his position as Head Wrestling Coach, but continued to serve as the school’s athletic trainer until he retired in 1950. In his 35 years of service, he never missed a day of work.

1948 Ohio University Wrestling Team — **Coach Olson (right) with the 1948 Ohio Bobcat wrestling team in his last season as head coach**

Al Haft

Middleweight World Champion 1917
Ohio State University Wrestling Coach 1920 – 1925
Co-founder of the National Wrestling Alliance

“Young Gotch” Wins World Title

As a young man, Al Haft traveled the country competing in amateur and professional wrestling matches under the ring name “Young Gotch”. In 1917, he defeated Thor Olson in a best of three match series, winning the Lord Londsdale Gold Belt and laying claim to the Middle Weight World Title. Haft held the belt until 1919.

Ohio State’s First Wrestling Program

In 1920, Haft turned his eyes to coaching and became the head coach of Ohio State University’s first ever varsity wrestling program. In his first season, he recruited 60 men to join the team and coached Perry Martter to the school’s first individual Big Ten Conference championship.

1921 Ohio State Wrestling Team — **1920/21 Ohio State Wrestling Team**

Big Ten Champions

In 1923, Haft led the Buckeyes to their first Western Conference (Big Ten) championship, and tied for the Western Intercollegiate title. The Buckeyes also defeated all 8 opponents in dual meet action.

1923 Ohio State Wrestling Team — **1923 Western Conference Champions**

Steel’s Olympic Gold

The following year, Haft coached Harry Steel to an undefeated season and a Big Ten Conference heavyweight championship. Later that year, Steel won the 1924 Olympic gold medal in Paris, becoming the first wrestler from the state of Ohio to win the Olympics.

Haft’s Acre

After the 1925 season, Haft stepped away from coaching to focus his energy on training professional wrestlers and promoting events. He promoted wrestling, boxing, tennis, hillbilly shows, and anything else that would draw a crowd.

In 1927, Haft opened an outdoor arena called “Haft’s Acre” in downtown Columbus. He hosted boxing and wrestling matches there until the early 1960’s. He also owned a gym, a restaurant, and two additional arenas in the Columbus area.

The Zebra Kid at Haft's Acre — ***Former NCAA champion, George Bollas aka The Zebra Kid, in action at Haft’s Acre (1958)***

National Wrestling Alliance

In 1948, Haft partnered with several other prominent wrestling promotors to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and served as organizations first Vice President. The NWA quickly became the World’s largest professional wrestling organization promoting events throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Japan. The NWA was the first organization to recognize a singular world champion across all competing regions and until the 1960’s, was the lone governing body for professional wrestling in America.

Harold Kester

Cleveland John Hay Head Coach 1934 – 1943
Cleveland West Head Coach 1944 – 1951
Co-Founder of the State Wrestling Tournament

John Hay’s Beginnings

Harold Kester formed Cleveland John Hay’s first wrestling program in 1934 and quickly had his boys dominating the Cleveland area.

The First State Tournaments

In 1938, Kester, along with Lloyd Griffith (West Tech), and wrestling official Al Carroll, founded the Ohio High School State Wrestling Championship with John Hay hosting the event. The wrestlers competed on pieced together mohair mats with a canvas cover stretched over top to keep the mats together.

Although no team trophy was awarded, John Hay won the tournament with 22 pints and crowned 2 individual champions, including the first ever Ohio High School state champion, 95-pounder Peter Brdar.

A year later, John Hay won the first official state championship team trophy with 23 points, outscoring the runner-up Cleveland West Tech by 9 points.

Led by Kester, John Hay would go onto win 4 out of the first 5 Ohio high school state championships. The team’s 1943 title was the last ever won by John Hay High School.

1939 Cleveland John Hay wrestling team — **1939 Cleveland John Hay Wrestling Team**

Cleveland West

The following year, in 1944, Kester moved across town to teach and coach for Cleveland West High. He quickly went to work building their program and lead them to their first state championship in 1947. His team finished as runner-up in 1949 and as champions again in 1950 and 1951.

The 1951 West High team put together possibly the most dominant state tournament in the history of Ohio wrestling, taking home 6 individual titles (out of 10 contested), and scoring 50 team points – more than the next three teams combined. Their six individual titles stood as a state record until 2009 when St. Paris Graham broke it with 7 (out of 14 contested).

The 1951 West High team was then named the national high school wrestling champions.

Kester went out on top, retiring after the 1951 season. West High never finished higher than third place after that season and the school was closed in 1961.

1951 Cleveland West Wrestling Team
Row 1: Bob Stilla, Joe Scarl
**Row 2**: Ernest Rocco, Vince Matteucci, Dick Bonacci
**Row 3**: Pete Rossi, Emil Palmieri, Fred Darienzo, Jim Schiller, Bob Pogue, John Morabito, Al Medaglia
**Row 4**: Bill Warnkin (Mgr), Chuck Bilardo, Dan Vacca, Sandy Colisim, Ron Depolo, Harold Kester (coach)

Kester’s Legacy

During his coaching tenure, Kester lead his teams to 8 state titles and compiled a dual meet record of 150-30-1. He coached wrestling legends Gene Gibbons (future NCAA champion), John Matteucci (Ohio’s first 3-time state champ), and Dick Bonacci (3-time state champion and future Cleveland State head coach).

Harold Kester was inducted into the Ohio Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1971.

Lloyd Griffith

Cleveland West Tech Head Coach 1932 – 1948
Co-Founder of the State Wrestling Tournament

A Natural Coach

Lloyd Griffith attended the University of Iowa where he earned varsity letters in both football and basketball.

However, Lloyd had a passion for all sports and served as head coach for the wrestling, swimming, and track teams during his time at West Tech High School. He also held the position of the school’s athletic Director for 34 years.

West Tech Dominates

In 1932, Griffith took over as West Tech’s head wrestling coach. In 1938, Griffith along with Cleveland Harold Kester (Cleveland West), and wrestling official Al Carroll, co-founded the Ohio High School State Wrestling Tournament. West Tech finished as runner-up in the inaugural competition and then again finished as runner-up in 1943 – both times falling to Cleveland John Hay.

In 1944, Griffith lead West Tech to their first team title, this time defeating runner-up John Hay by 11 points. Griffith’s teams then won the 1945 and 1946 state championships, completing a three-peat and establishing West Tech as a dominant force in Ohio high school wrestling.

1946 Cleveland West Tech Wrestling Team — **1946 West Tech Wrestling Team – 3-peat Champions**

Griffith’s Legacy

In 1948, Lloyd lead his team to one last title before stepping down from his head coaching position after 17 years at the helm. During his tenure, Griffith coached 19 individual champions and lead his team to 4 team championships. Griffith served as the school’s athletic director for another 18 years before retiring in 1966.

1948 Cleveland West Tech Wrestling Team — **1948 West Technical High Wrestling Team**

Clarence Eckert

Euclid Shore / Euclid Head Coach 1945 – 1971

Eck Puts Euclid on the Map

In 1945, Coach “Eck” took over the Euclid Shore wrestling team – a squad who had little success in prior state tournaments. In just 3 years, Coach Eckert had the team turned around and they finished as runner-up at the 1947 state meet to Harold Kester‘s Cleveland West High team.

Two years later, in 1949, Eckert led Euclid Shore to the school’s first ever state championship of any sport, edging out West High by just 1 point at the state tournament. Bob Marich also won his third state title, becoming just the second wrestler to ever do so in Ohio.

**1949 Euclid Shore State Champion Wrestling Team**

The Forming of Euclid High

The following year, Euclid Central and Euclid Shore combined to form Euclid High School with Eckert assuming the role of head coach wrestling coach.

Euclid again finished as runner-up to Cleveland West in 1951.

In 1952, Euclid won their second state championship while hosting the tournament for the first and only time.

Coach Eckert Euclid State Champions — **Coach Eckert holding the Cleveland City and State Championship trophies – 1949**

Eckert’s Euclid squad again won the state title in 1958, crowning 3 individual champions, and scoring 76 points, which broke the previous record by 26 points. This would be the last state wrestling championship ever won by Euclid High.

Coach Eckert’s teams would finish as state runner-up in 1961 and 1962.

**1958 Euclid High School Wrestling Team – State Champions**

Coach “Eck’s” Legacy

In 1971, Clarence Eckert retired, after 27 years as Euclid’s head wrestling coach. During his tenure, he recorded a 246-42-4 dual meet record, and lead his team to 3 state championships, 6 district championships, and 7 conference championships. He produced 22 individual state champions and 18 runners-up.

Mike Milkovich

Maple Heights Head Coach 1950 – 1977

Took over Maple Heights’ wrestling program in 1950. 6 years later the Mustangss? had their first state wrestling championship.

Maple Heights 1956 State Championship Wrestling Team — **Maple Heights – 1956 State Champions – the Schools First**

Coached his sons, Tom, Pat, ??, ??, and nephew Jamie?

1969

Maple Heights wins 3 individual championships, scores 78 points, setting a new state record – the most by a team from the single division era (938 to 1970). Their record stood until 1977, at this time the state had added two divisions and 2 weight classes. Mike’s son, Tom Milkovich also won his third state title, going undefeated, a perfect 90-0 in high school.