Mar 14, 2015 3 min read

Believe it or not, Waynesburg is the league leader in the brotherhood of wrestling. Former Raiders head coach Joe Ayersman and athletic director Russ Moore helped me come up with more than 30 sets of brothers who wrestled for Waynesburg and made a big impact.

The motto at Waynesburg, “Nothing greater than a Raider,” might best describe this group.

Let’s start with the Debolts, Dan, Stan and Van.

There were the McClures, Craig, Keith and Gary. In 1967 and ’68, Gary McClure was a WPIAL champion at 95 and 103 pounds. In 1967, he lost in the state finals on a referee’s decision. During his senior year in 1969, he lost to Lester Peterson of Canon-McMillan in the WPIAL finals at 120 pounds. Peterson went on to win a state title.

The Levines were Dan, Jan and Ed. Dan Levine won a WPIAL title at 133 in 1972.

Let’s not forget the Burns brothers, John, Von and Duck. And the Merings, Scott, Tom and Brian.

There was Doug and Gary Haines. Doug Haines was a state champ at 155 pounds in 1981 and wrestled at Pitt.

There was Dick and Dave Pollock, Stanley and Ray Scott, and the Gifford brothers, Randy, Art and Josh. Phil Gifford wrestled at Jefferson-Morgan.

The Raiders had Brian Ross and his brother, Bill. Brian Ross was a WPIAL champion in 1975 at 138.

Tom and George Alberts also were two talented wrestlers. Tom Alberts was a state champion in 1949 and ’50. While wrestling for Pitt, he won a national championship and was later an assistant coach at Trinity when the school won the WPIAL team title in 1970.

Others brother combinations include Jim and Rick Husk, Jeff and Doug Higgins and Dave and Steve Thomas. Dave Thomas won a WPIAL championship in 1991 at 145 pounds.

Marty and Dave Stewart are another brother duo. Dave Stewart was WPIAL champ in 1979 at 95 pounds and finished finished second at the PIAA championships.

We can’t forget Todd and Greg Eddy, Jim, Phil and Tom Garber and Chad and Mike Seybold. Chad Seybold won the WPIAL title in 2000 at 125 pounds, while Mike was the WPIAL champion at 119 in 1998.

Shane and Dirk Cole were two very good middleweights, and there was the trio of Tim, Ben and Tom Williamson. Phil and Pete Stoneking were two tough lightweights. There was Kevin and Mike Bussey, the former winning the 185-pound title in the WPIAL in 1974 and finishing third at the state tournament.

One of the best brother combinations was Joe and John Throckmorton. John won the WPIAL title in 1981 and 1983. Joe won the WPIAL titles in 1979 and ’80 and went on to win the PIAA tile the latter season before going on to wrestle at Pitt. He is currently the head coach at Waynesburg.

Another successful combination was Tony and Terry Gusic. The latter won the WPIAL title in 1961 at 127 and went on to capture an NAIA title at 137 pounds in 1965 for Waynesburg College.

There are even more, but they will have to wait for the next column.

Bill DiFabio writes a bi-weekly column on local sports history for the Observer-Reporter.