Seven greats to be inducted into EIWA Hall of Fame

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John Harmon (EIWA Newsletter)
02/18/2004


Seven new members will be inducted into the EIWA Hall of Fame at the 100th EIWA Championships at the Penn Palestra.    Those inducted include famed Columbia coach August "Gus" Peterson, legendary coach Erie J. "Jimmy" Miller of Cornell, long-time Penn coach Larry Lauchle, former Penn State star Dr. David Joyner, NCAA champion Peter Yozzo of Lehigh, East Stroudsburg NCAA champion Jack Cuvo, and   Penn NCAA Champion Brett Matter.    The ceremony will take place immediately before the final round on Sunday, March 7. Brief biographies of the inductees follow.    * AUGUST "GUS" PETERSON was born in Sweden in 1885 and attended the Institute of Chiropractory and Massage in Stockholm before arriving in the U.S. at age 19.  He took up wrestling while working two jobs at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City.   In six years of freestyle competition at 125, 135 and 145 pounds, Gus won national championships and placed second two times.  He earned berths on the U.S. Olympic teams in 1908 and 1912.   He then coached wrestling and swimming at Princeton for three seasons, before embarking on a 32-year career as Columbia's coach from 1915 through 1947.  He mentored seven of the Lions' 19 EIWA champions.  After retiring from collegiate coaching at age 63, joined the Horace Mann staff in 1951 as a trainer. He then initiated intramural wrestling, before earning varsity status for the sport three years later, which he coached for seven seasons. Gus passed away in 1968 at age 83.    * ERIE J "JIMMY" MILLER '46 was born in 1921 and was head wrestling coach at Cornell University for 27 seasons from 1948 to '74.   His teams enjoyed 17 winning seasons, won 11 Ivy League titles and 203 dual meets.   He coached the 1958 EIWA team champions and had eight of his teams finish top four in the league.   Under his leadership Cornell placed 3rd nationally in 1953, 7th in 1958 and 10th in 1960.   Jimmy's finest wrestlers were 1964 Olympian Dave Auble who was a 2-time NCAA champion and Outstanding Wrestler in 1960, as well as 1953 NCAA champ, Frank Bettucci who won try-outs at the U.S. Olympic Trials in '56 and '60.   An outstanding Big Red wrestler as a collegian, Miller was the 1946 Cornell captain and EIWA champion at 145 lbs.   He won two National AAU titles and placed 3rd in the Olympic Trials in '48. Jimmy was active in local politics and served in the ministry of the Church for 43 years from 1958 through 2001.   He was a charter inductee into the Cornell Hall of Fame in 1978 and passed away two years ago at age 80.    * LARRY LAUCHLE was a three-time NCAA finalist and NCAA Champion for the University of Pittsburgh in 1961 at 130 pounds.   In three entries at Nationals, he lost only in the finals at 123 pounds-each time to a two 2-time NCAA champion.  A two-time EIWA champion at 130 lbs, Larry's only loss came in the 1960 finals by a 15-14 score-one of the most exciting bouts in league history.  His career dual mark for Pitt was 27-1 and his team twice placed fifth at NCAAs.  He was a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team and in 1963 was a World Military champion, while competing and coaching four years for the United States Marines.  Lauchle then served the University of Pennsylvania Athletic Dept for 34 years, including 18 years as Head Wrestling Coach before serving as an Associate Athletic Director for Penn.  His 1972 team was co-winner of an Ivy League title.  A native of Muncy, PA, Larry and wife Barbara reside in Wayne, PA.        * DR. DAVID JOYNER was a three-time EIWA champion for Penn State and an NCAA runner-up at Hwt in 1971 with a career mark of 100 wins, nine losses and four ties.  A 2-time Wrestling Captain, Dave was also co-captain of the 1971 Nittany Lion football team that went 11-1.  Dave was a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete and an inductee into the GTE/CoSida Academic All-American Hall of Fame. Graduating from Hershey Medical Center as an Orthepedic Surgeon, Dr. Joyner founded the Joyner Sports Medicine Institute.   He was head physician for the U.S. teams in the 1992 Winter Games and served six years as Chairman of the U.S. Olympic Sports Medicine Committee.  In 1997, he received an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award for distinguished post-graduate achievement.  In 1999, he earned the Outstanding American Award from the United States Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater. Dr. Joyner is National Director of Sports Medicine for Nova Care and lives in the Harrisburg area with his wife, Carolyn.    * PETER YOZZO was a four-time EIWA finalist who won three titles at 142 lbs for Lehigh University, including the Outstanding Wrestling Award in both '85 &'86 and the Fletcher Trophy.   His only EIWA loss came as a freshman against NCAA runner-up, John Orr of Princeton.   A Junior National Freestyle Champion, and a state champion from Long Island, Yozzo placed 3rd and 2nd nationally for Lehigh before scoring an NCAA finals win by fall in 1987 over   two-time NCAA champion, Pat Santoro.   In four years, Yozzo tied or defeated five different National champions and won 15-10 in the 1986 All-Star Classic over the defending NCAA champion.   Pete's record over his final three years was 82-5-2 and for his exciting takedown style his fans nicknamed him "The Wizard of Yoz." Yozzo  is currently coaching the local high school wrestling team in Pleasanton, CA and has Co-Founded the Mindshare Group,  offering outsourced human resources  to California companies.   Previously he was CEO and founder of BlaiseIT, a NY-based software company.   He and his wife, Laura, live in Pleasanton, CA.       * JACK CUVO was East Stroudsburg's first Division 1 NCAA champion in any sport and is the only EIWA wrestler in the last 20 years to win two NCAA championships, which were claimed in 1988 and '89.    His career record was 164 wins, seven losses-winning more bouts than any EIWA wrestler in history.   Cuvo's dual meet record was 73-0 and his 45-0 senior year featured 25 technical falls and 40 bonus wins.  Jack's 89 bout winning streak is ties for third all-time in NCAA history.  He was a gold medalist in the Pan-American Championships in 1986 and represented the U.S. in the World Cup the same year.   In addition to a high school record of 139-2, including a national record for takedowns, with 848, Cuvo was a High School All-American in both cross-country and track, setting a national record for 18-yr olds in the 10,000 meter run.  In addition to becoming a 3-time All-American in wrestling for East Stroudsburg (with a fifth in 1987), he was a 2-time Division II All-American in cross-country.   He owns several small businesses and a wrestling school--and he and his wife, Jennifer, are residents of Jack's home town of Easton, PA.    * BRETT MATTER of the University of Pennsylvania is the only EIWA wrestler in the last 20 seasons to win four league championships and the only one in the history of Penn.  He is his school's all-time winningest wrestler with 128 wins, with a 64-7 record his final two year.   A two-time All-American, he placed 5th at 149 in 1999, then at 157 lbs the next year won Penn's first NCAA title in 58 seasons.  His third place at the 1999 Midlands helped bring the Quakers their highest-ever finish there--a fourth place-and his national championship helped boost Penn to ninth place for its second-highest NCAA finish in school history.   He was a two-time team captain and won the league Coaches' Trophy and John Fletcher Award as a senior.  A graduate of The Wharton School, Brett was Ivy League Rookie-of-the-Year and EIWA Freshman-of-the-Year in 1996 and a three-time first-team Ivy selection.  He is a trader for Ziff Brothers Investments in New York City and is engaged to Shannon Terry.