More losses to wrestling family
Two more members of the wrestling community have died over the weekend.
John “Buzz” Walters, who chalked up 300 coachings victories, most of them at West Greene High School, died Friday at age 88.
And Bruce Clossen, who maintained two of the top web sites in the Pennsylvania, wrestlingreport.com and wpialwrestling.net, also died Friday at 72.
Walters, who was 88 year old, lived in Rogersville and died at the Waynesburg Health and Rehabilitation Center.
Walters was raised in the mining community of Poland Mines, the son of a hard-working coal miner.
A 1952 graduate of Mapletown High School, he was a two-year wrestling starter for the Maples and compiled a 20-2 record on the mat. He was awarded most valuable honors as a senior. Walters also played football and baseball for the Maples.
“When you think about West Greene, you think about Buzz Walter,” said Bill Sims, the athletic director at West Greene who wrestled under Walters. He was just an icon not only at our school but in our community.”
Walters was involved in a number of community events, the longst was “Toys for Tots, a charitable arm for the United States Marine Corps.
After high school, Walters entered the Marine Corps for three years. He stayed close to the military serving 22 more years in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
“He was a Marine through and through,” said Simms.
Later in life, he ran Walters Takedown Tire and Snack Shop.
“Everyone is shocked at his passing,” said Simms. “When they think of him, they think of wrestling. But he was so much more. Within the community, he was a stable guy. All those years as an educator, went further and served on the board. You can’t run out of things to say about him.”
Walter and his daughter, Laura, were inducted into the West Greene Sports Hall of Fame.
Walters graduated from Waynesburg University in 1961. In his four years on the Yellow Jackets wrestling squad, Walters had a 24-5 record and qualified for the NAIA Tournament his junior year. Walters was a key man on the Waynesburg defense in football and also played running back. He weighed 155 pounds.
After graduating from Waynesburg in 1961 Walters was hired by the West Greene School District. He served as wrestling coach and was a history and social studies teacher, home/school visitor, Federal Programs Coordinator and school lunch program director for the next 32 years.
Walters took over the varsity wrestling program in its second year of existence. After a losing season in his first year, the Pioneers had winning seasons each year after with Walter as coach.
Walters was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame and the Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, to name a few.
n Before there was Flow Wrestling and PA-Wrestling.com, there was Bruce Closson’s sites. They were the place to turn to for scores, individual bout scores and rankings.
Clossen’s contributions to the sport resulted in multiple hall-of-fame inductions including the Southwest Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Eastern Wrestling League. He also managed the website for the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic for many years.