C-H honors 1982 team that beat the big boys
By Joe Tuscano
For the Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
HOUSTON – Four years before Gene Hackman led the tiny Hickory Huskers to an Indiana basketball championship in the movie “Hoosiers,” which portrayed rural Milan High School during its 1954 run to the title, Chartiers-Houston fielded its own version for the wrestling mat.
The Bucs, one of the tiniest schools in the WPIAL for wrestling, not only competed one classification higher than they needed, but took on all comers, winning the WPIAL and PIAA team titles and forever stamping its mark on the small school in Houston.
How small was it?
Chartiers-Houston had a 20-man wrestling roster in a school that had 460 students from 9th to 12th grade.
On Thursday night, the 1982 team gathered as part of a celebration of a night of champions. They were honored before the wrestling match between Chartiers-Houston and South Allegheny along with wrestling champions over the last 60 years.
“The ’82 team was one of my best,” said then head coach Tim Mousetis, who was 25 when he took over the Bucs after Dave Cook left for the Canon-McMillan job. “I’ve had some other good teams over the years. In terms of top talent, it was two or three of the best I ever coached. We actually scored more points (in the state team tournament) in 1981. We had two champs, a third and a fifth. We had a couple spots in our lineup that we had to play around with depending on what the other team had. We were a small school wrestling with the big boys.”
The Bucs’ accomplishment that year was all the more impressive considering the teams they beat to win the titles. With a schedule packed with Class 3A opponents, Chartiers-Houston put together an 18-2 record and defeated such powerhouses as North Allegheny, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon, Canon-McMillan and Trinity.
“I can’t pick one or two leaders on that team. We had 10,” said Mousetis. “Two great things about that time that may never happen again. … No. 1, the parents were 1,000 percent supportive of me if a kid had a complaint, I got support. … Also, I never got an argument from the kids. I’d say, ‘Look guys, we have to drop three or four guys a weight if we we’re going to beat this team.’ It’s a strategy. Nobody would complain.”
Team members included Barry Bell, Philip Mary, Bill Marshall, Jim Vulcano, Chris Mary, Tim Gump, Bob Ammon, Phillip Renko, Mark Provenzano, Kurt Kesneck, Brian Bell, Bob Castelli, Scott Byrd, Sam Aviola, Don Clendaniel, Brad Horner, Rick Fabian, Patsy Vulcano and Bill Woods. Robert Bachman was Mousetis’ assistant coach.
Mousetis took five qualifiers to the state tournament in Hershey. Phil Mary won his second of three state individual titles and Jim Vulcano, Chris Mary and Brian Bell each took third place in the state tournament.
Phil Mary, Jim Vulcano, Chris Mary, Bob Ammon, Kurt Kesneck, Brian Bell and Bob Castelli each won section titles.
“It was great to be with my brother, Phil,” said Chris Mary. “And the Vulcanos. We were a hungry group of guys and with Mousetis being so young, we were blessed to have such a hungry group of guys. Mousetis had us believing we were that good. We were a hungry group of street tough kids and there was so much chemistry. We were blessed to grow up together. We spent summers together, played baseball and football. We were tough kids.”
“We were able to spread kids out (in the lineup),” said Jimmy Vulcano. “I knew we had the talent (to win a state team title). For a single-A school to win the team title in triple-A, it was a proud moment.””
The 1982 Chartiers-Houston team was inducted into the WPIAL Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. That team was named the Observer-Reporter Washington / Greene County Wrestling Team of the Decade.
“We were just such a tight-knit group.” said Phil Mary. “We had the support of the school and community. Tonight was amazing. There were 20 kids on the roster and 18 of them made it here.
One of the early people who organized the sport was Jeff Paxton. He got the first look at the talent heading to the varsity.
“There were like 120 kids that came out,” Paxton said. “You have to be fair to everybody. You just hoped they all did well.”
Among the many attendees was Bill DePaoli, a two-time NAIA champion who graduated from C-H in 1975. His exploits were so appreciated by California University that they patterned the school logo after his likeness.
“When I was here, wrestling was just as important as football and basketball,” said DePaoli.
And for one magical season, better.