Feb 7, 2015 3 min read

Brother acts have been the backbone of wrestling in Washington and Greene counties. It has a rich tradition in many local families. Sometimes, it’s a tradition that covers more than one school in the same family, and sometimes wrestling can help an athlete build the foundation for a successful career in another sport.

Here are a few examples of these from the brotherhood of wrestling.

Ed and Angelo Morascyzk were two solid and successful wrestlers for the Comets. Angelo was a four-year starter at IC and won three titles in the Pennsylvania Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association. He was the first PCIAA wrestler to participate in the all-star wrestling match between Pennsylvania and Illinois, which was the predecessor to the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic.

During his college career at Washington & Jefferson, Angelo was a four-year starter and four-time qualifier in the NCAA Division III tournament. He also coached IC from 1977 to 1980 and was the head coach at W&J (1993-2006), where he won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1999.

There also was Tim and Tom Morrell. It was Tom who won a WPIAL Class AA championship in 1978 and went on to win a state championship the same year at 185 pounds.

Mark and Shawn Caffrey were an interesting duo because of where they went to school. Shawn wrestled at Wash High and Mark at IC. Mark, a 1973 graduate, was a four-time Catholic regional champion and a one-time Catholic state champ. In college, Caffrey wrestled at California University. As head coach at McGuffey, he has been named WPIAL Coach of the Year twice. He has produced seven state champions at McGuffey.

Can you believe the wrestling Kails have had six brothers – Mike, Bob, Jim, Tony, Joe and Bill – in the sport? All six wrestled for head coach Dale Murdock, who was a talented wrestler at Waynesburg High School.

The Hillers have a long history of brothers involved in wrestling, and space does not allow me to mention all of them in this column. Perhaps the best-known brother combination is Bob and Ron Junko.

Ron Junko won WPIAL titles in 1966 and 1967. He also won a state title during his senior year (1967) at 120 pounds. Junko served as head coach at Trinity and continued to work with high school students as principal at Washington High School. Bob, during the mid-1960s, was an outstanding wrestler at 185 and heavyweight. Bob is a longtime college football coach and is currently on the staff at Pitt.

The 1960s were a good decade for Trinity wrestling and it included Rick and Kevin Kelvington. Rick won a state title in 1961 at 112 pounds. Joining Rick at states was teammate Jerry Lattimore, who won the title as a sophomore and senior at 95 and 127 pounds. Lattimore was a three-time WPIAL champ (1960, 61 and 63). John followed and was a successful wrestler in the heavyweight class.

John and Emmett Chatman formed another outstanding duo that had success in the 1960s. John was three-time WPIAL champion and two-time state champ (1968 and 1970). Called Bimbo by his friends, John Chatman lost only one match during his high school career. He spent his college career wrestling for the Pitt Panthers.

There also were Dave and Dan Oliverio. In 1980, at 145 and 155 pounds, this duo was tough to beat. Both won WPIAL titles and Dan went on to win a state title in 1980.

Bill DiFabio writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter. He has a website, www.billdifabio.com.