Wrestling

National Prep Championships: 41

USA #1 Rankings: 17

NCAA Championships Won by Blair Alums: 17

Coaching Staff

Ross Gitomer '05, Head Coach
Brian Antonelli '93, Assistant Coach
Chris Thatcher, Assistant Coach
Michael Carbonaro '00, Assistant Coach
Chase Palanca '15, Assistant Coach 
Gino Fluri, Assistant Coach
Ed Russell, Assistant Coach

Tradition & National Prominence

Blair's wrestling program traces its roots to 1919. Wrestling became an official team sport at the private School in 1924.

Blair’s first national prep champions were Benny Fodera in 1937 and Ernest Tallman in 1938. Blair won its first national prep team title in 1974 and had its first NCAA All-American in 1975, when Lehigh’s Mike Lieberman won the NCAAs at 177 lbs.

Blair’s Bobby Weaver won an Olympic Gold Medal for the United States in 1984 and Blair’s Mark Lieberman was elected to the Wrestling Hall of Fame In 2019.

Mark was an American pioneer in the sport of wrestling as one of the first wrestlers to achieve enormous success at the national level in high school, at the NCAA level in college and at the international level in freestyle for the United States (please see further details throughout this section of the Blair wrestling website).

In the last three decades of the 20th century, Blair experienced sustained national prominence as a result of its wrestlers' success during their time as students and after graduation. During that period, wrestlers captured 23 All-American places that included seven NCAA championships, four seconds and five thirds. Blair began a 33-year streak of national prep team championships in 1981 and had its first USA number-one teams in the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.

The first Blair head coaches during this era of national prominence were Lehigh All-American Tom Hutchinson, who succeeded the “father of Blair wrestling” Bob Dalling in 1972, and Bob Latessa, who succeeded Hutchinson in 1983.

Both Hutchinson and Latessa went on to be head coaches at perennial NCAA wrestling power Lehigh University.

Jeff Buxton began coaching Blair wrestlers and teaching Blair math students in 1982; he became co-head coach in 1984 and served as sole head coach from 1991 to 2012. In 2012, Coach Buxton became head coach of Lehigh University’s post-graduate Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club (LVWC), which allows him to coach athletes at major national and international competitions.

Blair alumnus Brian Antonelli (class of 1993) took over the program in 2014, leading the team to national prep team titles from 2015 through 2019 and to the #1 ranking in the USA for 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, running Blair's total as the top high school team in America to 16.

Presently, Ross Gitomer (class of 2005) has been at the helm of the program since 2020. Under his leadership, the team returned to national prominence, winning the national prep championship in 2023 and the No. 1 ranking in USA Today as the top high school team in the nation, bringing the total to 17. Blair also crowned six individual champions in 2023.

To date, Blair graduates have won 17 individual NCAA titles and 70 NCAA All-American places.

Off the mat, Blair wrestlers strive for excellence in our classrooms and as members and leaders of our close-knit community. Blair’s rigorous college-preparatory academic program gives our student-athletes the opportunity to develop to their highest potential as scholars and prepares them for success beyond their wrestling careers.

The Standard of Excellence

The Standard of Excellence, the definitive book about Blair Academy's legendary high-school wrestling program, presents detailed narratives on Blair's many number-one ranked teams and profiles the accomplishments of individual wrestlers at different stages of their remarkable careers: at Blair, in college and beyond.

In addition to delving into the achievements of other top U.S. wrestling programs and the history of some of the nation's leading wrestling competitions, the book illustrates how Blair wrestling achieved national prominence in the 20th century and established itself as the sport's ultimate "standard of excellence" in the 21st century.

As the book's author, Dave Ritterpusch (father of Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Ritterpusch, class of 1987), explains in the book's opening chapter: "Blair is an American success story of classic proportions, one that is among the very best such stories of our times." Among the book's highlights are its more than 200 photographs, many of which were taken by Rob Preston (father of Robbie Preston, class of 2003, and Todd Preston, class of 2012). To purchase this book, please visit the Blair Academy School Store.

(M) Denotes a recipient of the Major Ray Mendoza Award, which is presented to an individual wrestler who scores the most team points at the annual Ironman, Beast of the East or national prep tournament. The award was created by Col. (ret) David Ritterpusch, author of The Standard of Excellence, an extensive history of Blair wrestling, to honor the late Major Ray Mendoza '87, a standout wrestler during his time at Blair, who was killed-in-action in Iraq in November 2005.

Click here to read more about the Major Ray Mendoza Award, the remarkable wrestlers who have won it, and their incredible subsequent accomplishments at the NCAA level and in World and Olympic championships.

At the High School Level

Blair Academy has been one of the top wrestling teams in the nation over the past 30 years as the Bucs have been ranked the number-one team in the United States 16 different school years, beginning in 1995-1996 and most recently in 2018-2019. For a complete, by-year listing of Blair’s number-one teams, scroll up and open the accordion titled “USA #1 Teams.”

Blair Academy was named the United States' "Team of the Decade" for the first decade of the 21st century, when the team ranked number-one in the nation seven times, number-two twice and number-three once.

Blair has won a remarkable 41 of the 55 Ironman and Beast of the East tournaments held to date. In effect, Blair has won these two top in-season national tournaments almost three times as often as have all other programs in the United States combined.

Blair has been the overall national prep tournament champion 39 times: first in 1974; then 33 consecutive times from 1981 to 2013; and again from 2015 to 2019.

Blair holds countless individual records at Ironman, Beast of the East and national preps, including the following:

• The most individual champions all time.
• The most individual champions in a single year.
• The most place-winners all time.
• The most place-winners in a single year.

At the NCAA Level

Blair has had 17 individual NCAA crowns won by 10 different Blair graduates representing seven different universities. Of those champions, one is a three-time champ (Ed Ruth), five are two-time champs (Mark Lieberman, Pat Santoro, Steve Mocco, Chris Cannon, Mark Perry and Kellen Russell); and four are one-time champs (Mike Lieberman, Kelly Ward, Rico Chiapparelli and Zack Esposito).

With Joey McKenna’s stirring second-place finish at 141 lbs at the 2019 NCAA’s and the fifth- and seventh-place finishes there from Matt Kolodzik and Jordan Kutler at 149 lbs and 174 lbs respectively, Blair has now had 69 NCAA All-Americans. A “Blair Standard of Excellence” trademark is that 42 of its 69 All-Americans (62 percent) placed in the top three at NCAAs, as follows: 17 champs, 10 runners-up and 15 third-place finishes.

Blair wrestlers are coaching at top universities across the United States. Pat Santoro, Blair national prep OW in 1985 and a two-time NCAA champ and four-time AA for Pitt, is the head coach at Lehigh University. Chris Ayers, a Lehigh All-American, is the head coach at Princeton University.

Mark Perry, a two-time NCAA champ and four-time All-American for Iowa, is head coach of Iowa's Hawkeye Wrestling Club. Zach Esposito, who placed first, second and third at the NCAAs for Oklahoma State, is now the associate head coach there. Sean Gray, a two-time All-American for Virginia Tech, is an associate head coach at Princeton University.

In addition, Michigan two-time NCAA champ and three-time All-American Kellen Russell is an assistant coach at Michigan and Blair national prep champ John Leonardis is assistant coach at Rutgers.

At the Post-NCAA & International Levels

International Level — Seniors & Under 23

• Olympic Gold Medal: Bobby Weaver (1984)
• Wrestling Hall of Fame selection: Mark Lieberman (2019) 
• World Championship Silver Medal: Bobby Weaver (1979)
• World Cup Gold Medals: Mark Lieberman (1978), Bobby Weaver (1980, 1984)
• Ivan Yarygin Gold Medal (in Russia): Steve Mocco (2009)
• Yasir Dagu World Championship Bronze Medal: Joey McKenna (2022)
• Under 23 World Championship Bronze Medal: Joey McKenna (2017)
• Maccabiah Games Gold Medals: Max Meltzer (2005, 2009); Evan Silver (two in 2009); Zach Sherman (2017)
• Maccabiah Games Bronze Medal: Zach Sherman (2017)
• Pan American Games Gold Medals: Mark Lieberman (1977), Steve Mocco (2009, 2010, 2011), Joey McKenna (2021, 2022), Skylar Grote (2022), 
• Cerro Pelado Gold Medals (in Cuba): Mark Lieberman (1978), Steve Mocco (2010), Joey McKenna (2015)

International Level — Juniors

• Junior World Championship Silver Medal: Joey McKenna (2014)
• Pan American Games Junior Gold Medal: Skylar Grote (2015), Sarah Henckel (2023)
• Pan American Games Junior Gold Medal: Trevor Mastrogiovanni (2019)

International Level — Cadets & Youth

• Cadet World Championship Gold Medal: Mason Manville (2014)
• Youth Olympic Games Silver Medal: Mason Manville (2014)
• Cadet World Championship Gold Medal: Marc-Anthony McGowan (2019)

USA Senior National Titles

• Mark Lieberman, 4 titles (1977; 1978 & OW; 1979; 1980)
• Bobby Weaver, 6 titles (1978; 2 in 1979; 2 in 1980; 1982)
• Rico Chiapparelli (1989)
• Steve Mocco (2009)
• Kellen Russell (2013)
• Ed Ruth (2014)
• Joey McKenna (2018)