I grew up in Central Pennsylvania in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. I started wrestling in 1987. As any newbie, I took some beatings that first year. However, I had caught on by the spring and did very well in the postseason tournament series. This propelled me to submerse myself into the sport. Soon after this submersion, Cary Kolat became superhero-like in my mind.
The PIAA finals used to be tape delayed on public television. The first one I viewed was the 1988 championships. A few guys stuck out to me, not for dominating performances, but for their potential to make history.
Ty Moore of North Allegheny and Joey Wildasin of Southwestern were the names. Moore was on track to be a four-time undefeated state champion, and Wildasin had only one loss through two years, in the 1987 PIAA final. How amazing were these guys? What a great time to follow PIAA wrestling. I was hooked.
Getting deeper into the sport meant more travel to weekend tournaments. Saturdays and Sundays were booked with back-to-back tournaments from late October through March. Being in Central PA made for relatively easy travel to both Eastern and Western PA. Throughout my elementary days it was a balance, but during the ‘88-’89 wrestling season I mostly wrestled in Western PA. When you travel with just your family to a lot of events, you begin to make friends to kill the downtime during the three-ring circus we know as an elementary wrestling tournament. I don’t remember most of the conversations, but they usually focused on two topics: football that we weren’t able to watch or wrestling.
One conversation sticks with me to this day. More specifically one statement.
“Cary Kolat would beat Ty Moore easily.”
Wait… What? Are you Crazy??
A: Ty Moore is going to be a four-time state champion B: I don’t even know who this Kolat guy is. Did he win a state title last year? He’s a Freshman? There is no way a freshman could beat Ty Moore!
As I did with any wrestling topic I started to dig and research. I wanted to listen to anyone who had an opinion on the topic. I started to learn this statement might not be as crazy as it sounds. Cary Kolat held the record for most PJW titles, known as JO’s at the time. But I still couldn’t force myself into believing a freshman would beat Ty Moore.
As any good wrestling fan did in 1989, I waited by the mailbox for my Pennsylvania Wrestling Roundup each month. Actually, I couldn’t skip school, so I would spend the entire night reading it when it was waiting on the kitchen counter as I arrived home from school. There were two prestigious Christmas tournaments. Manheim and the California University Christmas Tournament. Many thought the match between Kolat and Moore might happen at the California Christmas Tournament. I was disappointed to read weeks later that the match didn’t happen as Moore was at 112lbs. and Kolat wrestled at 119lbs. However, my interest built in a possible Kolat/Wildasin match because Wildasin won at the 125lb weight class. We could always hope for next year because Moore and Wildasin wrestled at AAA high schools and Kolat’s high school, Jefferson Morgan, was in the AA classification.
Kolat’s results at the California Christmas Tournament got the ball rolling in my head that maybe this guy could really beat Ty Moore. Kolat had two returning PIAA runner-ups at his weight class. He majored Rob Weiss of Erie McDowell in the semifinal. In the final, he defeated Moore’s teammate, Mike Norton. Defeating two PIAA finalists in one day is impressive for any high school wrestler. For a freshman it was incredible.
Kolat’s first PIAA title came by fall over Tony Owens of Tyrone. I can still picture the cover photo in Pennsylvania Wrestling Roundup of Kolat kneeling in the bullpen area prior to taking the mat in Hershey Park Arena. For his effort in Hershey, Kolat was named class AA outstanding wrestler. That convinced me, more than ever, that Kolat-Moore would be the match of the century. I couldn’t wait for the California Christmas Tournament next year.
But my dream match didn’t come to fruition for a second time.
This time because Kolat doesn’t wrestle at the christmas tournament. He instead went to the Midlands. I didn’t fully understand what his third-place finish there meant at the time. I was too young to know the difference between college and high school wrestling, but that performance was -- and is -- probably the best ever by a high school sophomore.
Kolat ran roughshod through the field of high school competitors the next few years and rarely went the distance. One time that he did was at the 1991 state tournament. Joel Torretti from Lewisburg rode Kolat out and kept the match to a decision. The crowd in the old arena was beside itself as they applauded Torretti’s effort.
But when you look back through the brackets so many future state champions were in Kolat’s path and he destroyed them all. His most memorable final for me, was when he pinned returning state champion Budman of Hughesville in the first period. His senior year had the backflip, two different shoes, the headgear souvenir for some lucky fan, but pinning another state champion in the final stuck with me more.
Dapper Dan was supposed to be a triumphant farewell for Kolat. But the premature party planners never told Chris Bono that he wasn’t supposed to be in the match. Not only was he competitive, some believe he should have earned nearfall points that would have given him the victory instead of a 4-4 draw.
This result was heartbreaking for a young Kolat fan like myself, and became even more so later on.
At Senior Nationals, Bono was entered up at 140lbs and when I heard Kolat, who wrestled during the season at 135lbs., was also entering up at the weight, I was so excited by the prospect of a rematch. Unfortunately, Roger Chandler played spoiler and defeated Bono. Kolat never got a shot at revenge.
The list of high-profile victims for Kolat went on and on. I would love to see a complete list. Sean O’Day was the marquee name that always stuck because Kolat was still in high school when he defeated the NCAA champion.
The first college match I ever attended was the December 1992 meeting between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Pretty good introduction, right? The whole dual meet was incredible as the teams battled to a tie in front of a packed house at Rec Hall.
Kolat made his collegiate debut, having just recovered from a broken hand. He took on a young Hawkeye I had never heard of, Bill Zadick. Shortly into the match Kolat jumped to the far side leg as he rolled into a cradle and stuck Zadick. It is still my favorite moment ever witnessed in Rec Hall.
Later that year, the Hawkeyes shuffled their lineup and reigning 142lb national champion Troy Steiner dropped down to Kolat’s weight class. The PIAA tournament used to be on the same weekend as NCAA’s. Friday night they were announcing Pennsylvania results over the public address system. The crowd gasped when it was announced Kolat had upset Steiner in the semifinal. But later, the cork had to be forced back into the champagne bottle when TJ Jaworsky defeated Kolat in the final.
The next year, Kolat defeated Jaworsky several times throughout the year. In the Centre Daily Times, Kolat gave a memorable quote when he was asked if he felt he got his revenge for the NCAA final defeat with growing margins of defeat over Jaworsky. Kolat stated he would feel like he got his revenge when he tech falled Jaworsky in the upcoming NCAA final.
The rematch never happened because Kolat was upset by Babak Mohammadi.
I knew Kolat’s freestyle career was plagued by controversy. I watched the Olympics in 2000 and followed the scandal that surrounded him in Sydney, but I had no idea how deep the controversy ran, and how many matches were involved.
The footage here tied together so many pieces and answered so many questions I had about Cary’s career. What a masterpiece. This is a must see for any wrestling fan.
#Kolat Episode 1 premiers Wednesday, September 30th, only on Flo.
Author’s Note: I wanted to write this article from memory to show what stuck in my head for more than 20 years. There may be some inaccuracies, but it gives a true representation of the impression that Cary Kolat left on a young wrestler growing up in that era.