Today the entire Clearfield Area High School family and wrestling fans across the state and the nation mourn the passing of Arthur Joseph Weiss, Sr. on Friday, May 13 - little more than a month after the death of his and Renee Weiss' only child, Art Weiss, Jr., who passed away on April 11 of complications following surgery in Shepherd, Montana.
Art Weiss, Sr. is revered for his feats as a hall-of-fame wrestling coach, so much so that The Centre Daily Times of State College published an in-depth story of his life and career even though Mr. Weiss had no direct connection with either the town or the university.
To me, Arthur J. Weiss was much more. He was a gentleman, a teacher and, above all, a friend. He coached wrestling as he lived his life -- with perseverance, much success, humility and charm.
He may well have been Clearfield's most widely known and respected citizen.
During Art Weiss' 25-year coaching career, his wrestlers compiled a record of 184-37-3 with 14 undefeated seasons, 20 district team championships in 22 tournaments, 99 individual district champions, 24 individual regional champions, and 24 wrestlers earning 31 individual state championships (still a state record 52 years after his retirement).
But near the end of his long coaching career, things did not go well for either him or the team.
I was a student manager for the wrestling team during his final three seasons, 1956-57 through 1958-59. While the team compiled winning records each season, these were three of the most difficult years for Coach Weiss.
In 1957, for the first time since the state wrestling championships were established in 1938, Clearfield did not qualify an entry for the tournament.
When the new high school opened on Mill Road in 1956-1957, we were shocked to learn that, somehow, some way, the administration and school board had failed to provide a wrestling practice area in the new high school. Not only was there no practice area, the team was barred from using the gymnasium for practice after school because that time was reserved for the basketball team.
During that season, the team was forced to practice in a too-small, makeshift space in a yet-to-be furnished classroom area in the vocational education wing of the new school.
The next year, part of the old vocational education building along the river was converted into a pretty fair wrestling practice area with lots of room and ample heat to allow the wrestlers to sweat off their excess pounds.
But symbolically and in reality, the situation was a fiasco for the school board and the administration. One can hardly imagine how it came to pass. More than once, Coach Weiss and his wrestlers had to make an emergency trip to the building to save the practice mats from the river's rising waters. Even The Progress, which traditionally refrained from stirring up local controversy, wrote a scathing editorial.
The full story never was revealed. Some say it was an oversight. Others maintain wrestling had become too big, and it was a deliberate attempt to knock the sport down a notch. My old newspaper publisher and mentor at The Progress, W.K. Ulrich, once opined to me, simply: "They kicked it in the head." Most likely we will never know.
Also in 1957, we lost two of our high school classmates and cheerleaders, Thelma Graham and Mary Gail Clark, in a horrendous automobile accident one Saturday morning in February on a wet amd icy road near Port Matilda as they were en route to the Clearfield-State College wrestling meet. At least two other cheerleaders were severely injured in the crash. Mary Gail's younger brother, Sam Clark, was the star freshman 95-pounder on the team. One can hardly imagine the grief that Sam and the Clark family, Thelma Graham's family, and the other victims' families must have felt.
I shall never forget the grief that we as friends and classmates felt the Monday morning after the crash, especially while listening to Wilbur Shirey read the 23rd Psalm during the morning devotions.
In Coach Weiss' final season, 1958-59, the team compiled a 9-3 record but was not competitive against its toughest opponents, Johnstown, Lock Haven and State College. For most teams, this would have been a standout season. But for Coach Weiss and his team, clearly some of the luster had temporarily come off Clearfield Wrestling.
Through it all, Coach Weiss soldiered on and did not complain, at least publicly. He was too much of a gentleman to make a fuss or embarrass the school district.
Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of a succession of great coaches - Jerry Maurey, Ron Park, Neil Turner, Garry Barton, Jeff Aveni and others - Clearfield soon returned to its rightful place as one of the top dogs of Pennsylvania high school wrestling.
And, the school board and administration at least partially redeemed themselves by recruiting these outstanding coaches and by naming the gymnasium in the succeeding new high school in Hyde The Arthur J. Weiss Gymnasium - a great tribute to a great coach.
Rather than writing an in-depth personal perspective on the full life and career of Arthur J. Weiss, Sr., I believe it is best to let others tell his remarkable story. Following are stories that appeared in the area news media - by Jessica Shirey of the online Gant Daily and Guy Cipriano of The Centre Daily Times. While there is overlap in the two stories, there is so much fresh information in both that I hope you will take the time to read them carefully and savor the love and respect that Mr. Weiss earned from those whose achievements he inspired.
Rest in peace, Arthur Joseph Weiss, Sr.
- Dennis Mollura
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