By Ron Bracken
Shad Benton has been removed as head varsity wrestling coach at State College High School, effective Thursday. Steve Kurzinger, a former Little Lion assistant coach under Ron Pifer and current teacher at the State College South Building, will serve as the acting head coach through the remainder of the season.
No specific reason was given for Benton’s removal although it comes at the conclusion of an internal investigation. Benton was in the midst of his second season at the helm of the Little Lions. He was hired to replace Pifer, who stepped down at the close of the 2003-04 season.
Benton remains on the faculty at State High. He was unavailable for comment.
“This is a result of investigation of concerns relating to the varsity and junior varsity wrestling programs, “explained State College director of athletics Ron Pavlechko. “We are entering this part of the season with a revised staff.”
Kurzinger will be assisted at the varsity level by Marc Decker, ex-Little Lion wrestler who was an assistant to Benton. Kurzinger admitted to being surprised at the turn of events. Decker coached the team for the past three dual meets while the investigation was ongoing.
“It caught me off guard, “he said. “But I love the sport of wrestling and I want to help. This is a chance for me to give something back. I didn’t have to think twice about it.
“Monday morning I got an idea that something might happen. Now, I want to try to do as much as possible to get these wrestlers where they need to be for the rest of the dual meet season and the postseason. I’m not going to try to re-invent the wheel. These are seasoned wrestlers and I just want to keep everything positive and work hard. That’s my focus. We want to get the ball rolling and hopefully we’ll end up with a lot of victories. But it’s not like I’m coming into an easy situation. We have some tough dual meets coming up, starting with Lewistown Saturday night, and then the postseason is coming up.”
Kurzinger won a District 6 title for Bald Eagle Area at 171 pounds in 1993 and was a state qualifier. He finished his career with a record of 51-17.
In addition to Decker, he will have Pifer available to him as a consultant.
“He will help the transition,” Kurzinger said of Pifer. “He will be my crutch. I remember how much responsibility I had as an assistant coach and now it will be that much more. But I think I have a good relationship with the other coaches in the area if I need help from them.
“I never really pictured myself as a varsity head coach. And I don’t know what will happen after this season. I have a family at home so I’ll see how things go. If I enjoy it, then I’ll make a decision about what I want to do.”
Pavlechko said a decision on the head varsity coaching position will be reached at a later date. It is standard procedure at State College to review and evaluate all head varsity coaches on an annual basis.
State College is 3-11 going into tomorrow night’s dual meet with Lewistown. The Little Lions were forced to forfeit three dual meet victories in the early portion of the season for using ineligible wrestlers.
Pavlechko said a decision on the head varsity coaching position will be reached at a later date. It is standard procedure at State College to review and evaluate all head varsity coaches on an annual basis.
Wrestling Gear
