Nice article on Wade Schalles

Thanks Tom. This line is particularly eye-opening:

In 1976, he went to the legendary Tbilisi Tournament in Russia and won the 163-pound title by pinning all six foes, including three world champions.

Nice article! Wade was my hero growing up. I wanted to be just like him but NOBODY around me wrestled like him so it was hard to replicate.

The article has a few errors ... probably due to AI. Wade wrestled his senior year. He just wasn't eligible to complete in the NCAA's. If I remember correctly, he bumped up a couple of weights and still won his conference tournament, pinning the wrestler who would win the NCAA championship a few weeks later. His name is also Wade, not Wayne as one interviewee (AI) apparently called him ;-)

In college I wrestled against him when he was coaching at Clemson. Talk about being intimidated! Wade Schalles in the opposing corner. I think I lost that match before it even started ... how could I defeat someone coached by my idol and sitting less than 10 feet from me???

I remember listening to Wade at one of the NCAA's when in between sessions they had a panel on wrestling. Wade said that if PSU ever attracted the right coach they would be a dynasty. This was at least a decade before Cael came to State College. He called it.

PSUAllTheWay said:

Nice article! Wade was my hero growing up. I wanted to be just like him but NOBODY around me wrestled like him so it was hard to replicate.

The article has a few errors ... probably due to AI. Wade wrestled his senior year. He just wasn't eligible to complete in the NCAA's. If I remember correctly, he bumped up a couple of weights and still won his conference tournament, pinning the wrestler who would win the NCAA championship a few weeks later. His name is also Wade, not Wayne as one interviewee (AI) apparently called him ;-)

In college I wrestled against him when he was coaching at Clemson. Talk about being intimidated! Wade Schalles in the opposing corner. I think I lost that match before it even started ... how could I defeat someone coached by my idol and sitting less than 10 feet from me???

I remember listening to Wade at one of the NCAA's when in between sessions they had a panel on wrestling. Wade said that if PSU ever attracted the right coach they would be a dynasty. This was at least a decade before Cael came to State College. He called it.

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One thing I can virtually guarantee you is that Mike Chapman does not use AI.

Errors happen, and sometimes get perpetuated. A couple years back I noticed the NWHOF had an error in Schalles' bio. They reached out to him and had him correct it. At the time they said it was an old bio that no one had noticed contained an error.

Schalles was the coach at ODU in Norfolk VA in the early 80s. At the same time, Billy Martin was right down the street at Granby High School. That was some serious firepower and history right next to each other.

Not sure if I shared the stories on this board (I know I did on the old board), but I ended up with some funny Schalles stories from an old teammate of his named Chuck Coryea. Wade was evidently a pretty good -and notorious- prankster. I’ll have to look and see if I can dig them up

Here we go:

First up, the infamous X on the mat story….

“Wade was the first to get 100 pins in college. For his 100th, we were wrestling Lock Haven at home (at Clarion) and his opponent was Alan Fricke (I think), a pretty tough guy but not anywhere close to Wade's level. There was a lot of pre-press about the event so the gym was packed, well over 3000 (but we always got that back then).

Some of his frat bothers convinced him to pin the guy on a small X on the mat which was to be in front of the stands where his frat sat. So before the match our student athletic trainer (Mark Demyanovich) taped a couple of athletic tape strips in the X about two feet inside the circle, small but enough to see if you knew it was there. Keep in mind that neither Bob Bubb nor assistant coach Greg Johnson (a 3 time ncaa champ) knew this was happening and quite possibly the only ones that were kept in the dark. And to stop a rumor I heard over the years - this was not a fund raiser for a charity; it was simply frat boys gone rogue.

When the match started, Wade gets a TD and starts dragging Fricke toward the X (really!). As he inched there, the crowd gets crazy. And each time Fricke manages to get away, there is a collective groan. Each time he got a tight cradle on him and starts to drag the body, Bubb is going nuts..."Why don't you just pin him?...". An aside, after the 1st period, Alan asked Wade, "Am I your 100th?" - we all thought that funny. Also, this is when the coaches learned what is happening - Johnson asks and learns the truth from our teammate, Bill 'Elbows' Simpson (another ncaa champ) and then tells Bubb. Coach is furious and turns beet red but knows there isn't much he could do. So finally, Wade gets the pin on the X in the 2nd and the place goes wild.

Post script: They announce the milestone and Wade takes cheers with Coach Bubb shaking his hand and grimacing, non too happy. The school photographer gets that shot and ironically, the bell of the white tuba (we always had a pep band then) frames Wade's head like a halo. The school paper used that shot with the caption "St. Wade" - something we continued to tease him (but he loved it) all year.

That is the real deal the best I can remember.”

Next up, Wade gets into a fight with the Carrs:

“Wade and I, as well as others from Clarion, had wrestled for the Erie YMCA (Tom Canavan) a number of times. We would catch rides with Tom or meet his entourage at the various tourneys and wear the Erie Y uniforms but we always pay our own entry. So for a few years, we had a local Clarion business man that created our own summer team (predecessors to today's more organized/sponsored clubs) and he provided transportation, travel expenses and entry fees (not so coincidentally, Wade and I had summer jobs in his factory). We had a lot of talent with many Clarion and Lehigh guys (e.g. Lieberman bros).

Tom Canavan was a bit upset because this was the first real organized competition he got in western PA and the big summer gig was always the Erie Open, Tom's baby. This was a big/tense showdown and his biggest guns were all the Carr brothers - Fletcher, Joe and Jimmy at that time; Nate was still very young. The match in question was Joe Carr vs Wade. One of the hecklers was an older Carr brother (Ed?) that wasn't wrestling. He was right on the edge of the mat. The referee was Ray Hartlee. He kept taunting Wade and mocking the team name, "Mean Machine" (the business guy had a thing for the original Longest Yard movie). I am not sure what was the last thing the elder Carr said but Wade had enough and as bigredscoach says, he took a few steps and kicked him right in the face. Of course a fight resulted and people had to pull them apart. Years later, Ray Hartlee told me he had no idea how to handle this since DQ'ing Wade would have escalated things and he had heard what that guy finally said - he felt Canavan should have controlled the crowd (e.g. his Carr friends) better. But in the 70's and summer tournaments, politics ruled the day. Regardless, the match went on and Wade won (as did the Mean Machine!).”

And one last (festive) one:

“Halloween Eve night in 1973 as I was walking back to my dorm, Wade and Craig Turnbull drive by and stop to give me a ride. But we take a detour to Coach Bubb's house (around 9:00 at night). I stand watch while Craig and Wade pull out the battery from Bubb's jeep and hide it under his deck. Then the put in a pumpkin (they did attach the cables to the step!). On campus the next day, the story spread fast of how Bubb is on a mission to discipline the culprits. We three are very nervous. Practice starts that night and coach starts with a story about respect and how it is important. So to prove it, he has Craig and Wade step out for a "Special" practice to be the only people to practice that night. He had Don Rohn (ncaa champ @134) and Greg Johnson (assistant but was 3 time champ @118) rotate on Craig all night. For Wade, it was Bill Simpson (ncaa champ @167 and me). Somehow, Bubb never figured out I was there. Our instructions were to go all out for the minute we were out there and take no prisoners. On my first time out, Wade locked in tight and warned me to fake it or he would out me. So while poor Craig was getting killed, Wade had one tough minute and one breather (but faking it is as tiring as the real thing). Craig never said a thing during practice but he did make a point to let me know how upset he as after practice. Sadly, the only thing we missed is seeing coach's face when he tried to start his jeep that morning.”

PSUAllTheWay said:

Nice article! Wade was my hero growing up. I wanted to be just like him but NOBODY around me wrestled like him so it was hard to replicate.

The article has a few errors ... probably due to AI. Wade wrestled his senior year. He just wasn't eligible to complete in the NCAA's. If I remember correctly, he bumped up a couple of weights and still won his conference tournament, pinning the wrestler who would win the NCAA championship a few weeks later. His name is also Wade, not Wayne as one interviewee (AI) apparently called him ;-)

In college I wrestled against him when he was coaching at Clemson. Talk about being intimidated! Wade Schalles in the opposing corner. I think I lost that match before it even started ... how could I defeat someone coached by my idol and sitting less than 10 feet from me???

I remember listening to Wade at one of the NCAA's when in between sessions they had a panel on wrestling. Wade said that if PSU ever attracted the right coach they would be a dynasty. This was at least a decade before Cael came to State College. He called it.

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Schalles moved up to wrestle Shorty Hitchcock of Millersville in PSACS. Hitchcock would go on to win NCAAs and be named outstanding wrestler.

I still have a Wade Schalles poster hanging in my workout room, purchased at a Clarion wrestling camp around 1980.

Lyons212 said:

Schalles moved up to wrestle Shorty Hitchcock of Millersville in PSACS. Hitchcock would go on to win NCAAs and be named outstanding wrestler.

I still have a Wade Schalles poster hanging in my workout room, purchased at a Clarion wrestling camp around 1980.

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Wade pinned Shorty. A friend of mine coached with Shorty, and if you ever dared bringing up Schalles around him—ouch.

so who called Ben the original funk guy,what a joke after I Read the article I said Schalles right away!

I remember watching Wade in high school. Both his HS and mine were in District 6 (I was a room guy on our team and a few years younger than Wade). His junior year he was good, but not spectacular. I think he lost to a kid from state college at districts that year. Something appeared to have happened over the summer because when he came back for his senior year he was on a whole different level. We wrestled Hollidaysburg well into the season and I think Schalles was something like 15-0 with all wins by fall. We had a really good 154 lb wrestler that season who Schalles dispatched by fall early in the second period after rag dolling him around in the 1st. Wade’s run through the state tourney that year is legendary, ending in his victory by fall over John Chatman in the finals, which ended with the Hollidaysburg fans in attendance rushing the mat. Great memories.

Interesting comment in the article about angles beating brut force. So true and not just in wrestling.

TwoJoints said:

I remember watching Wade in high school. Both his HS and mine were in District 6 (I was a room guy on our team and a few years younger than Wade). His junior year he was good, but not spectacular. I think he lost to a kid from state college at districts that year. Something appeared to have happened over the summer because when he came back for his senior year he was on a whole different level. We wrestled Hollidaysburg well into the season and I think Schalles was something like 15-0 with all wins by fall. We had a really good 154 lb wrestler that season who Schalles dispatched by fall early in the second period after rag dolling him around in the 1st. Wade’s run through the state tourney that year is legendary, ending in his victory by fall over John Chatman in the finals, which ended with the Hollidaysburg fans in attendance rushing the mat. Great memories.

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I remember the hype for the state final match. Chatman, from Trinity, was chiseled from concrete and standing next to Wade it appeared to be a mismatch. When Schalles pinned him, the Chatman entourage was incensed at mat side almost as though Wade did something illegal. The match results were considered a huge upset.

Lyons212 said:

Schalles moved up to wrestle Shorty Hitchcock of Millersville in PSACS. Hitchcock would go on to win NCAAs and be named outstanding wrestler.

I still have a Wade Schalles poster hanging in my workout room, purchased at a Clarion wrestling camp around 1980.

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Shorty wrestled at Bloomsburg. He coached at Millersville. He was a great guy. I was probably a HS freshman when my dad introduced me to Shorty at districts or regionals. He shook my little hand with his mammoth paw and asked me if I was nervous. I said no (though of course I was a bit). And he smiled and said, "then why are you shaking."

I learned my favorite wrestling move from Schalles. "The Cowboy", which is like a leg half with an embarrassing final position for your opponent. Schalles would show it on one of the overconfident kids each camp week. I had the privilege to attend a few Schalles camps in the late 90's since my dad was one of the instructors.

Tom McAndrew said:

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“Oh he’s got the chin” 1.0!

PSUAllTheWay said:

In college I wrestled against him when he was coaching at Clemson. Talk about being intimidated! Wade Schalles in the opposing corner. I think I lost that match before it even started ... how could I defeat someone coached by my idol and sitting less than 10 feet from me???

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One of my friends in WA state wrestled for Clemson when Wade was head coach. He told me that if he ever called anyone superhuman, it would be Wade.

P.S. -- Schalles went to Clarion and Chatman went to Pitt. I heard that they met again in college and some sparks flew during that 2nd match up. Anyone hear about this?

Chris Watts said:

He shook my little hand with his mammoth paw and asked me if I was nervous. I said no (though of course I was a bit). And he smiled and said, "then why are you shaking."

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This was one of my dad's favorite dad jokes. He was from a town about 40 miles south of where Hitchock was from. Maybe it is an eastern PA thing.

AgSurfer said:

P.S. -- Schalles went to Clarion and Chatman went to Pitt. I heard that they met again in college and some sparks flew during that 2nd match up. Anyone hear about this?

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The only thing I remember about it is Wade pinned him again and Chatman came up swinging. I wasn't there, but listening on radio.

Tom McAndrew said:

The guy that Schalles beat in the '69 PIAA State Final was John Chatman. Below is an interesting article about him.

Chatman succeeded because of dedication and hard work

To many, sports and athletics seemed to come easy to John “Bimbo” Chatman. He will tell you that is the furthest thing from the truth. While Chatman shined on the football fields, on the wrestling mats and on baseball diamonds, he worked to be good. He worked harder to be great. He was and is […]

www.observer-reporter.com

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Thx for the research Tom. Great article. I didn't realize Chatman only ever lost once in high school.

Great memories, fellas. Craig Turnbull recruited me for WVU. Met him at the Clarion wrestling camp a few times and he was a great guy. Went on a recruiting trip to Clarion too but it was PSU all the way.

TwoJoints said:

I remember watching Wade in high school. Both his HS and mine were in District 6 (I was a room guy on our team and a few years younger than Wade). His junior year he was good, but not spectacular. I think he lost to a kid from state college at districts that year. Something appeared to have happened over the summer because when he came back for his senior year he was on a whole different level. We wrestled Hollidaysburg well into the season and I think Schalles was something like 15-0 with all wins by fall. We had a really good 154 lb wrestler that season who Schalles dispatched by fall early in the second period after rag dolling him around in the 1st. Wade’s run through the state tourney that year is legendary, ending in his victory by fall over John Chatman in the finals, which ended with the Hollidaysburg fans in attendance rushing the mat. Great memories.

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An old fraternity brother Tom (who wrestled for State College High) and I got to talk to Schalles at Nationals 6-7 years ago and Tommy asked him what happened between junior and senior year that he improved so much. Wade said that he had a Russian coach who he trained with everyday that summer. He said the Russian told him in his first session (and I am paraphrasing from memory) that Wade wasn't very good at wrestling. He said he only wrestled with his arms and not his whole body --- no head, hips. leg and feet. The Russian destroyed Wade that first session and the day ended with the Russian with two knees in Wade's back holding him down. The Russian ended with "OK, kid see you tomorrow". Wade said he slept in the next day and his mother woke him and told him get up and go train. Wade said he went every day after that. He said the Russian ended every session that summer on top with knees in Wade's back, saying "See ya tomorrow Kid"

Tom McAndrew said:

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So cool to see this video. I meet Wade, when he was a much older man but he still had that same herky jerky movement and same look on his face! What a big personality and what a good guy! Thanks for sharing this