Legendary coach dies at 81

10/23/15 By Gary M. Baranec Long-time (former) Altoona wrestling coach Marty Rusnak sneaks up behind Brad Benson while Benson was signing autographs near the entrance to Mansion Park Friday. Rusnak coached Benson at Altoona High School where Benson became the school’s first state wrestling champion. Benson is better know though as a former NFL player.

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

During his 36 years as the head wrestling coach at Altoona Area High School, Marty Rusnak’s contributions to the sport on a local, state and even national level were monumental.

But perhaps even more importantly, Rusnak’s contributions to the growth and personal development of the legion of wrestlers that he coached were even more profound.

Rusnak passed away Saturday at UPMC Altoona after suffering injuries in a fall at his home several weeks ago. He was 81.

Former wrestlers and coaching colleagues of Rusnak — who earned induction into the National High School Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, and the District 6 Wrestling Hall of Fame — remembered Rusnak with great fondness and reverence when reached by the Mirror.

“I have so many memories of Marty,” said Doug Rosenberry, who was a PIAA Class 3A state medalist as an Altoona Area High School heavyweight in 1987, and, after graduating from Harvard University, has gone on to become an English teacher at Altoona. “He was always doing whatever he could to advance the sport of wrestling, and he was like a father figure to the wrestlers that he coached.

“He influenced my decision to get into teaching and coaching,” added Rosenberry, who also served a tenure as an assistant coach under Rusnak and still serves as the public address announcer and sings the national anthem for wrestling events at Altoona.

Rusnak, who compiled 317 dual meet wins at Altoona in a coaching tenure that spanned from the mid-1960s until 2001, coached 44 District 6, 16 regional, and two PIAA state champions.

One of the state champions was heavyweight Brad Benson (1973), a football star who went on to play at Penn State before becoming a Pro Bowl tackle during a long career with the New York Giants.

Benson, the oldest of four brothers who wrestled for Altoona, posted a heartfelt tribute on Facebook over the weekend.

“Marty was and still is one of a very few people responsible for my sports career,” Benson wrote. “He and I have been dear friends since I left high school in 1973. I truly loved this man. I will miss him terribly. He was also my confidant and role model. See you on the other side.”

The other PIAA state champion was Altoona’s last — Steve Maurey, who won the 112-pound title in 1974.

Rusnak also coached all three of his sons — PIAA state tournament qualifiers Marty “Racer” Rusnak and J.J. Rusnak, along with youngest son Mark – in wrestling at Altoona, as well as future Blair County Sports Hall of Famers Johnny Orr and Jason Kutz, who were both PIAA medalists and NCAA standouts.

As fine a coach as Rusnak was, and as much energy as he put into the sport of wrestling, it was the personal impact that he had on the wrestlers under his direction, and his coaching colleagues, that made the most impact.

“Racer Rusnak and I graduated the same year from Altoona (1988), and I sent a text message to Racer when I heard of Marty’s passing, thanking him for sharing his father with so many wrestlers and so many people,” said Rosenberry, struggling to maintain his composure. “The years that I spent as an assistant coach with Marty helped me to solidify my already high opinion of him, because it enabled me to see him from an even different perspective and to realize again how much he cared.”

Rosenberry said Rusnak and his late wife, Mary Ann, who passed away in 2013, always made room in their hearts and in their home for wrestlers who were disadvantaged or having a particularly difficult time.

For Rusnak, going the extra mile on and off the wrestling mat for people in his life was something he did consistently.

“He was involved in our lives even outside of wrestling,” Rosenberry said. “During my high school days, I was in a school musical and Marty and Mary Ann attended even though Marty said he had never previously been to a musical event.

“So that was a big step for him — he cared about his wrestlers beyond what they did on the mat, and he even admitted to me after the musical was over that he kind of enjoyed it,” Rosenberry added with a chuckle.

As a coach, Rusnak — a Philipsburg-Osceola High School and Slippery Rock University graduate who taught physical education at Altoona — was an intense competitor who carried that similar type of authentic emotion into all of his personal dealings.

“I have never heard anybody say anything bad about Marty Rusnak — he was an outstanding human being,” said Joel Gilbert, who has served as Altoona’s head wrestling coach since 2008 after previously spending two years as an assistant coach for Rusnak. “All of his wrestlers loved him. He would do anything to help you, and he was a straight shooter who often wore his heart on his sleeve.

“I know that he was heartbroken when his wife passed away, and they’re enjoying a reunion up there now,” Gilbert added. “But this is a great loss for our entire wrestling program, and indeed, for our entire community.”

Other former wrestlers under Rusnak’s direction also had high praise for their old coach.

“Marty was a nice guy and a very good coach who coached me to the state championship,” said Maurey, who still lives in Altoona. “He knew the techniques of the sport of wrestling very well, and he was a good person who remained a friend of mine even after I graduated from high school.”

Another member of the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame, former long-time Philipsburg-Osceola coach Dave Caslow, remembered Rusnak’s devotion and passion for the sport of wrestling.

“Marty loved the sport, and he coached for a long time,” Caslow said. “He poured himself into it, and he definitely left his mark — not only on the sport of wrestling, but also on the lives of the wrestlers that he coached. He was not just in the sport to win wrestling matches. He was also there to improve people’s lives — and I have great respect for that.”

Kutz, now living in Colorado Springs, was a two-time PIAA state medalist for Altoona in the early 1990s and became an Eastern Wrestling League champion at Lehigh University. Kutz went on to place second, third and fifth in the U.S. World Team Trials freestyle competition, sixth at the Olympic Team Trials in freestyle and won a gold medal at the World Military Freestyle Championships.

Kutz also pointed out Rusnak had a great influence on him both personally and athletically.

“I think that he definitely developed personal relationships and truly cared about all the athletes that he coached,” Kutz said. “He was dedicated to the sport – I remember rolling out a mat in his front yard, so that I could get some training in.

“And he and his wife would have the wrestlers over to their house and feed us before we left for the state tournament,” added Kutz, who also pointed out that when he was involved in offseason freestyle competition as a high school wrestler, Rusnak brought in Penn State great Troy Sunderland to conduct clinics at Altoona for the wrestlers. “(Rusnak’s passing) is a bummer for all of us, but I know the loss of his wife was extremely devastating for him, and it is a blessing for him to be back with her now.”

Friends will be received at the Santella Funeral Home on Thursday, May 2 with the funeral scheduled Friday, May 3 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. A complete obituary will appear next week.