Gleason to be inducted in the MWA Hall of Fame

Former Rogers City wrestling coach Warren Gleason has been selected for induction into the Michigan Wrestling Association Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place November 12 at the association’s fall clinic in East Lansing. Andy Centala, who served alongside Gleason as an assistant, nominated him. “Your dedication to the sport of wrestling and many lives you touched during your career is greatly appreciated by the association,” stated Ron Schultheiss, in a congratulatory letter dated August 4. “Your nomination and selection to the Hall of Fame is well deserved. This is a great honor for you and your family.”

THE POPULAR teacher/coach left his mark on two generations of students in his 30 years in Rogers City. Teacher of many subjects and coach of a variety of sports, the title “motivator” seems to fit best. “This is one of the proudest, most humbling experiences of my life,” Gleason said. Gleason retired as the head coach of the Rogers City wrestling program in 1999, after 17 years of encouraging and firing up Huron wrestlers. He stepped down because of a heart ailment. He said if it weren’t for the more pressing needs of taking care of his health, he might have coached for another four or five years.

To say Gleason had some successful squads carry the orange and black banner for the Hurons is an understatement. Under Gleason’s leadership, Rogers City won 54 tournament championships, 13 district titles in a row, six conference championships, and had a 289-66-2 record.

“WE HAVE won some major tournaments against some major competition,” said Gleason. In 1999, he ended his career at the site of the Michigan High School Athletic Association team state finals at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. The Hurons qualified for quarterfinals but lost to Hesperia, 32-25. The match was extremely close and a win was within reach, but it wasn’t meant to be. What’s significant is Rogers City could have faced Whittemore-Prescott, the eventual state champion. The only losses for W-P in the 1998-99 season were against Gleason’s Hurons, another major accomplishment the former coach is extremely proud of. The Cardinals just didn’t match up with the scrappy ’99 team.

YOUNG WARREN had a tremendous high school career, earning all-state honors at Belding High School in football, basketball, baseball and track. From Belding, he went to Alma College and played linebacker, fullback, and drop kicker on the football team. After starting his teaching career in 1963 at Mesick High School, he had a stint at Memphis High School before coming to Rogers City in 1970. The three coaches Gleason believes inspired him the most were Harry Kaczynski and Bill Slaughter at Belding High School and Lloyd Eaton at Alma.

“These coaches, in my life, and in my way of thinking, they played such a role in the shaping of me, to get me a proud of myself,” Gleason said. “I h

ope they’ll share in this moment. These men are my former coaches who taught me work ethic and attitude and a love of sport that I’ve tried to share and pass on to other young men.”

DURING HIS acceptance speech, he intends to thank these three men, his family, friends, the wrestlers, the school, the community and fans for the prestigious honor. “I never, ever, thought of the “I” (or) “me” because I was never coached or thought of in that way,” said Gleason. “All the teams I was successful in and a part of, I coached, or played on, were “we.”

Former wrestler Erik Nadolsky has agreed to introduce Gleason at the ceremony.

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