TASD looks for new leadership for its wrestling program
The TASD Board hopes to have a new wrestling coach in place by next week.
Senior Aleic Hunter competes at a home meet last winter (Eagle Eye file photo)
After over a decade with Coach Blair Packer at the helm, and with the loss of the board’s original choice to replace him, the wrestling program in Tyrone is still looking for new leadership.
Despite some very good individual success stories, the Tyrone varsity wrestling program has been struggling with low numbers at the varsity level for the past several years.
We opened the coaching positions because the numbers were down and we felt it was time to let the coaching staff go
— TASD Board member Brian Bressler
As a result the Tyrone Area School Board voted to open all of the wrestling coaching positions to new applicants.
“We opened the coaching positions because the numbers were down and we felt it was time to let the coaching staff go,” said school board member and Athletic Committee Chairperson Brian Bressler, “This decision had nothing to do with anything Blair did as a coach.”
The varsity head coach Blair Packer, who has led the team for over a decade, declined to reapply for the job.
After opening the position, many names familiar to the area wrestling community applied for the job including Mike Cherry, a previous Bellwood High School wrestler, Terry Albright, a previous Tyrone High School wrestler, and Chad Dubin, a Penn State University wrestler who was on the 1991 national dual team.
Dubin was awarded the job by the TASD School Board at the September school board meeting.
“I’m totally excited about it,” Dubin originally told the Altoona Mirror.
However, Dubin decided to resign the job only two days later.
“I believe the more he thought about it, he realized how time consuming it is to be head coach,” said Athletic Director Luke Rhodes.
As a result, all the teams within the Tyrone wrestling program – elementary, junior high and varsity – are still without coaches.
However, both Rhoades and Bressler are confident that the coaching situation will be settled soon.
We are defiantly having a team this year, We don’t know anything about who the new coach is. All we know is the school board is going to take another look at the options
— Wrestling Boosters President Steve Beckwith
“We are defiantly having a team this year,” said Steve Beckwith, head of the Tyrone Wrestling Boosters, “we don’t know anything about who the new coach is. All we know is the school board is going to take another look at the options.”
“We are looking for a guy who is going to help these kids, teach them, and help them achieve their goals.”
Bressler hopes that the board will be able to announce the hiring of new coaches by next Monday October 6th, or by the following week at the latest.
In the mean time, the Tyrone wrestling room is still open to wrestlers for pre-season practices.
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