Remembering Gary Pfahler

   In what was expected to be a quiet week in between the Southwest Regional and the state tournament, the area is mourning another loss of a former wrestling champion.
   Just days after North Star legend Nick Roberts was found dead on campus at UPJ, word spread that Chestnut Ridge's first and still only state wrestling champ Gary Pfahler has passed.
   Pfahler was a state medalist as a sophomore, but saved his best for last in his final high school tournament, with a memorable run to capturing the 140-pound championship in 2008 by winning three one-point matches in a row. The final, a dramatic 4-3 decision over Burrell's Jordan Shields, made Gary the first champion from Bedford County since Everett's Paul Clark won in 1983.
   It was the first state tournament I covered for the Bedford Gazette, and boy, what a way to go in, trying to use mere words to describe an amazing moment for Pfahler, Chestnut Ridge, and Bedford County. And to go with it, it was the final day for Jim Clark as head coach of the Lions.
   I stayed at the Giant Center until midway through the Class AAA finals that night trying to get the stories as I liked. To this day, I'm as proud of the one on Gary winning and another on Jim's retirement as any piece I ever have done.
   Days later, I was asked to attend a school assembly for Gary at Chestnut Ridge, to honor its new champion. The moments I'll always remember from that time was a number of youngsters in the Ridge program surrounding Gary for photos with him and his gold medal. Some of those pictures have circulated in the past 24 hours on Facebook.
  It was a tremendous accomplishment, and it helped pave the way for Chestnut Ridge's immense success in recent years. So many of those faces seen in those photos were or currently are standout wrestlers in their own right.
   Not long after that state tournament, Clark was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame. I attended the banquet in State College, and in a conversation with him, Jim spoke of such admiration for Gary's hard work and dedication, just as he had on that Saturday afternoon in March.
   Personally, I'll remember Gary for that dedication, and also a lot of the same attributes that I wrote about Roberts in my last blog posting on Sunday. Though I know that Gary had some struggles off the mat, his attitude while either giving me an interview or just chatting informally as we had on occasion were always first rate.
   My sincere sympathies go to those in Pfahler's family and the Chestnut Ridge community.