Jan 28, 2018 6 min read

More than the victories and championships, Joe Ayersman brought a calmness and presence to the Waynesburg High School’s wrestling program for 33 years.

The longtime Raiders coach made a career of finding a way to make his wrestlers better – allowing them to utilize their own styles and strengths – while molding the individuals into strong and successful teams.

Ayersman, who was head coach for 20 years, coached five WPIAL championship teams and three runnersup.

He is the only coach to lead wrestling teams to WPIAL titles in both Class AAA and Class AA since the team tournament began in 1974.

The Raiders’ best finishes in the PIAA Championships during Ayersman’s time as coach were third and sixth. Ayersman coached three state champions – Joe Throckmorton, Doug Haines and Dave Thomas – and 15 PIAA place winners. Waynesburg had 23 WPIAL individual champions in Ayersman reign.

“I was fortunate to have good parents, good teachers and coaches who were great role models growing up,” said Ayersman, who retired from coaching in 1993 with a 248-79-4 career record. “They were great role models, Always very positive. I felt that was great for me.”

The lessons Ayersman learned as a student and competitor at Waynesburg from Frank Bonifield (his high school coach) and Bucky Murdock (his coach at Waynesburg College) to Ernie Closser – who he served as an assistant to for 13 years at the high school – were taken to heart.

And they were the basis for his teachings in the classroom, as social studies and American history instructor, and on the mat.

“By the time I was there and our group was arrived, he kind of just brought a maturity and a presence,” said Matt Blair, the current assistant superintendent in the Central Greene School District and a member of Waynesburg’s back-to-back WPIAL championship teams in 1988 and 1989. “Having been through it for such a long time, he knew what was going on all the time. It was comforting to me. If he felt comfortable, you just felt more at ease.”

Ayersman, who resides in Mt. Morris with his wife of 53 years, Lila, also was in the National Guard for 36 years.

The couple have four children, daughters, Marcie and Nikki, and sons Greg and Tim, and five grandchildren.

“I was away from home at times with wrestling and the National Guard,” Ayersman said. “My wife was always supportive and understanding.”

Ayersman didn’t start wrestling until his junior year of high school.

“My mother thought wrestling is what was on television at the time,” he said. “We didn’t have a junior high or a youth wrestling teams then. I didn’t have much experience and it took until my sophomore year in college that I really un-derstood what was going on.

“I was fortunate at Waynesburg College to be on a team where most of the guys were older and had somehow been in the Korean War. They were helpful to me. Their priorities were different, several were married, and they were good influences on me.”

Ayersman influenced a great deal of young people in his time in the Central Greene School District. In addition to his coaching prowess, he valued his time in the classroom, where he could touch the lives and minds of many others.

“I enjoyed the sport and in college. I decided I wanted to be a teacher and a wrestling coach. I always enjoyed teaching young people. I am forever grateful to the role models who influenced me. I wanted to be able to positively influence young people.”

Ayersman certainly left his mark on the high school wrestling scene. All five WPIAL championships are special for him, but the 1988 and 1989 teams were a little different.

The 1989 team moved to Class AAA because of enrollment and didn’t skip a beat, winning the Raiders’ lone WPIAL Class AAA crown.

Blair said the consistency of the program and that particular group made for great success and achievement.

“We wrestled together for so long,” Blair said. “Our parents formed the wrestling boosters. Dave (Thomas) was really the only star. But we had so many good wrestlers.

“We were solid and consistent throughout our entire time together. There really weren’t any holes in our lineup.”

Said Ayersman: “That was a special group. That’s (1989) the only undefeated team I had. I really enjoyed those two teams.”

Blair said it was Ayersman’s ability to mesh the individual talent with the team aspect that was a key in the champi-onship run.

“He was good about recognizing his wrestler’s strengths and needs of his athletes. He didn’t try to fit one style on anyone. He based a lot on everyone understanding the basics and felt everything else would come around. If you were a certain style, he worked with it and fostered it and trying to be out the best from it.”

It’s the impact he had in his 33 years on the job, though, that most pleases Ayersman.

“I had a lot of good athletes,” Ayersman said. “Coaching at a small school, you don’t always have the numbers and you’re not going to win all the time.

“I felt fortunate that everyone grasped that reality. You need stability and to work together. I had that in my time at Waynesburg.

“We had a lot of good boys and athletes come through here. It has to become a family and when you get a good group together, you better take advantage it. I feel very good that I was able to coach good young men, who were hard working and committed to the program and team.”

Ayersman hasn’t questioned his decision to retire as a teacher and a coach earlier than many expected.

He had an opportunity to take an early retirement and at age 56.

“I took advantage of that opportunity and never looked back,” Ayersman said. “I have no regrets. I probably could have kept on teaching. But I felt like I had been a positive influence, at least I tried to be.

“Waynesburg was a great district to work for and to teach in. We never really had too many problems. I enjoyed it.

“I always felt the coach or the leader set the mood. I thought that I wanted to stay in control and calm as possible because if I got out of control, others might follow. I just felt it was always my responsibility to show the way and take care of things. I never wanted to become too involved because I like the young people top learn the way and I didn’t want to change the pace or the outcome by being out of control. That’s why I always tried to keep things as calm and normal as possible.”

Ayersman was inducted into the Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania State Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, each in 1998.