REBERSBURG — Tom Elling, the man who many consider to be America’s top writer on the subject of high school and college wrestling, held a book signing for his new “Pennsylvania Wrestling Handbook” at an open house/reception Nov. 20 in Forefathers Book Shop.
Elling, who resides in Lock Haven, was named the winner of the 2015 Dellinger Award as America’s top wrestling writer. He has been active in the sport for more than 50 years as a competitor, coach, official, historian and writer.
The author signed copies of his book, which has been referred to as the “Bible of Pennsylvania Wrestling.” It includes win/loss records, weight, graduation year and tournament places of thousands of Pennsylvania wrestlers from 1938 to 2016, both alphabetical by last name and by school, as well as place results from most of the Pennsylvania-involved wrestling tournaments. It contains 334 pages of facts and statistics on Pennsylvania high school wrestling, and also features results of NCAA college wrestling.
Elling said he has been gathering information for the book for 23 years.
“I was following wrestling statewide when you couldn’t get a lot of information — it was before the Internet,” he said. “It was for my own benefit then (when coaching), and some other people started showing some interest, and it just expanded.” Elling said he has friends in the PIAA who helped him gather some of the data for the book.
Elling said the book is useful to tournament directors for seeding the participating wrestlers, to coaches for gathering records of opposing teams’ wrestlers, and to media personnel as a source of statistics for their coverage. He also feels that the book appeals to die-hard wrestling fans and former wrestlers.
The Rebersburg book signing featured a steady parade of former wrestlers and friends lining up to see Elling and to reminisce. Kevin Bryerton, of Lamar, remembered an incident during his time as a junior high wrestler under Elling’s coaching when he lost a match. Elling was angry and punched his clipboard, breaking it in two.
“I remember to this day walking off the mat and he (Elling) was holding two pieces of clipboard. He said, ‘See that? You did that,’” said Bryerton, drawing chuckles from other former wrestlers standing nearby.
Elling mentioned that he nearly became Penns Valley High School’s wrestling coach when legendary coach Joe Hammaker retired in 1993. “When Joe retired he invited me to come to Penns Valley,” said Elling. “But I taught English, and there were no positions available at the time.”
For more information, visit www.pawrsl.com.
