Teagarden’s death leaves another void in wrestling
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Chris Varner, top, of Bentworth tries to turn Emanuel Gardner of Elizabeth Forward during their 120-pound quarterfinal bout in the WPIAL Class AA Individual Tournament Friday night at Canon-McMillan High School. Varner advanced to the semifinals with his second pin of the night.
By Joe Tuscano/Staff writer/jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
Kyle McCollum of Beth-Center tries to free his foot from the grasp of Parker Smith of West Greene during their 132-pound quarterfinal bout in the WPIAL Class AA Individual Tournament Friday night at Canon-McMillan High School. McCollum advanced to the semifinals with a 14-6 major decision.
CANONSBURG – The WPIAL Class 2A Individual Championship got underway last night at Canon-McMillan High School with a pall hanging over some of the coaches, fans and administrators.
The death of Tom Teagarden Thursday reverberated through the gymnasium for those who knew him, and those who knew what he had accomplished.
“I would talk to him on the phone once a month, every other month,” said Bentworth head coach Mike Shrader. “My wife would tell me, ‘I knew when Tom would call you, you’d be on the phone for an hour at least.’ He was a great guy. He started our program.”
Teagarden, 68, died Thursday following an illness. He graduated from McGuffey High School in 1971 and Penn State University in 1976. He had an exceptional wrestling career. Teagarden was a five-time PA Junior Olympic state champion when there was only two age divisions. He was featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” in 1967.
As a coach, Teagarden needed just 15 seasons to win the first WPIAL championship at Bentworth after a 34-30 win over Chartiers-Houston, which won an early season dual meet, 33-32, against Bentworth. It would be the Bearcats’ lone loss of the season.
“I had never coached a day in my life when I was hired,” Teagarden told John Sacco in a story printed in the Observer-Reporter last year. “I was fresh out of college. I wasn’t sure what I could do. We didn’t get a year to wrestle just junior varsity. We jumped right in. We started from scratch. I ordered the uniforms, scheduled the officials. We practiced in the lobby, at the elementary school, in the cafeteria.”
Teagarden’s life was built on having to be tough. As a standout at McGuffey, he was a PIAA champion in 1969 and runner-up in 1970. He won WPIAL titles both years. His bouts against George “Fuddie” Bryant were legendary.
“I followed (Bryant) and I know,” said Ricardo Bryant, who is the cousin of Fuddie and officiated some of Teagarden’s matches.
“When they built the (Henry Memorial Center) at W&J, that’s where they had the final match,” said Ricardo Bryant. “You couldn’t even get in, that’s how crowded it was.”
“He would always come to watch,” said Shrader. “I don’t think he or Chuck Wonsettler missed a state tournament in the last 40 years. He would text me once in a while. He’d send me a video of a move he thought we should be doing.”
Teagarden was a close friend to Lou Vigliotti, the father of Burgettstown head coach Joey Vigliotti and his assistant Louie.
“He and my dad were really good friends,” said Joey Vigliotti. “They would always gossip about the tournaments. When I heard he died, it brought all those memories back. They would talk for hours.”
Joey Vigliotti said none of the Burgettstown wrestlers really knew him.
“These kids don’t know much of our old school wrestling and the people we looked up to,” Joey Vigliotti said. “When I heard about it, it made me sad.”
In the late 1980s, Phil Mary was head coach at Chartiers-Houston, his alma mater where he won two state titles, and Teagarden was the coach at Bentworth.
“He was a very genuine person, who cared about the sport,” said Mary, who is principal at Chartiers-Houston now. “He was very unassuming, just an all-around great guy.”
Jared Roberts, McGuffey’s wrestling coach, said he was unaware of any ceremonies the school might have.
“We didn’t have school today because of inservice so I’ll have to check on that,” said Roberts. “I didn’t know him at all but I knew how good he was.”
Teagarden would have been pleased with the performance of Bentworth’s Chris Vargo at 120 pounds and Vitali Daniels at 215. The two combined for four wins and both advanced to today’s semifinals, which begin at 11:30 a.m. Finals are expected to begin at 4 p.m.
The top eight wrestlers in each weight class advance to the PIAA Southwest Regional Tournament, which will be held at Peters Township High School March 4th and 5th.
Vargo, whose only loss last year came at the state tournament and who took home a bronze medal, made quick work of his two opponents. He opened with a pin in 47 seconds of Jordan Delon of Freedom and followed that with a pin of Emanuel Gardner of Elizabeth Forward in 2:17.
Vargo gets Dylan Slovick of Burgettstown in the semifinals.
Daniels, a sophomore who came into the tournament as the second seed at 215 pounds, opened the event with a pin of Aiden Humenik of Yough in 47 seconds and followed it with a win over Adam Ware of Hopewell in 33 seconds. Daniels gets Anthony Govern of Southmoreland in the semifinals.