Philipsburg-Osceola has 3 inducted into the District 6 Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame

There have been nights when Philipsburg-Osceola had more than one District 6 champion.

And there have been nights when the Mounties took home a team title.

But P-O has never had a night like this.

Because while the Mounties didn’t have an individual winner Saturday night at the District 6 Class 2A tournament, nor did they win the team title, which went to Glendale with BEA finishing second, they still had banner night.

What they did have were three individuals inducted into the District 6 Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, which made it a marvelous night in the Mountain City for the Mounties. Few, if any teams, have matched that.

Jon Condo was inducted as a wrestler, his father, the late Dick Condo, was inducted as a wrestler/coach, and Dick Wood was inducted in recognition of his 46-year career as an official. Along with all these P-O graduates, Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker was also part of the hall of fame class.

And the man who had a connection with all three was on hand to enjoy P-O’s night in the spotlight.

“All three of them are well deserving,” said Dave Caslow, who coached Jon Condo, had Dick Condo as an assistant coach and worked with Wood many years and coached two of his sons. “All three of them are good people as well as good athletes.”

Dick Condo was a district and regional champion for the Mounties in 1964 and finished second in the state. He went on to wrestle at St. Francis, then became a head coach at West Branch and later served as an assistant under Caslow at P-O.

“I loved Dick Condo,” Caslow said. “He was my right-hand man. I relied heavily on him. When he came to P-O the more I got to know of him the closer I got to him and the more I relied on him. He was a great individual in every respect.

“He was a great wrestling parent. To walk the line between being a parent and coach is not easy. It was amazing how he handled all of his boys as individuals.”

Jon Condo won the PIAA heavyweight championship in 2000 before going on to play football at the University of Maryland and then spending 14 years in the NFL as a long-snapper, primarily with the Oakland Raiders.

“Jon was a lot like his dad. They were both slow; they were the last ones to get there when we were going anywhere.” Caslow added with a smile. “Part of the reason for that is that they worked so hard in practice that they needed some recovery time before they left.

“Jon was a late bloomer. He lost a lot of matches as a sophomore then he had two great seasons. He was well-rounded and technically he was excellent. He was a fast learner. He never weighed more than 210, 215 pounds But it didn’t matter. When we got to states that year all of the toughest guys were on his side of the bracket. But his competitiveness made the difference.”

It wasn’t lost on Jon Condo that he was in a completely different age bracket than the rest of the inductees.

“It’s crazy to think that when I used to come here I’d see all of these older guys getting inducted,’’ he laughed. “I guess I’m one of them now. But it’s special because of my dad being inducted at the same time. It’s special for my family. It’s an honor.”

Wood officiated the District 6 tournament 34 times as we as the PIAA individual tournament nine times and the PIAA team dual championships twice.

“Dick’s a professional in every way,” Caslow. said. “He officiates with confidence and enthusiasm. He never lets the fans to to him in any way.”

“I’m humbled by it all,” Wood said. “I feel blessed, honored. It’s pretty cool.”

Other inductees in this class are Tyrone’s Ron Wilson and Clay Fink, Lock Haven’s Don Eichenlaub and Skip Bolin, former Bald Eagle-Nittany wrestler and current Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker, ex-State College wrestler Dirk Grissinger, Mount Union state champion Josh Kirsch, Ligonier Valley state champ John Chendy, Blairsville’s Rudy Gaston, Claysburg-Kimmel state champion Derek Tipton, two-time PIAA runnerup from Bald Eagle-Nittany Mark Willilams and state champion from Claysburg-Kimmel Jarrett Mussleman.

This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 4:41 PM.