Dedication. Enthusiasm. Passion.
All three of those words echoed throughout the obituary for Bedford icon Joel Easter, who passed away late last week.
One of the most accomplished wrestlers in Bedford’s storied history, Easter was also a small business owner and a beloved family man. On the mat, Joel collected three state medals, including a runner-up finish as a junior 105-pounder.
I’ll remember Joel for his coaching style and the pride he showed upon the wrestling achievements of his sons Trey and Ryan.
A memory that sticks with me came when Trey capped off a strong high school career with a seventh-place medal in the state tournament.
I was standing in the back hall of Hershey’s Giant Center after the medal ceremony, and in giving Trey time before interviewing him, those joyous few moments between a father and son were pretty cool to see.
The next year, along comes Ryan and all he does is win four state medals, the first to do so, one-upping his dad in the process. And again, the father-son moments were the same from a journalist’s perspective and must have been just as cherished from a family mindset.
While I’m sure it did happen, I always thought how cool would those dinner conversations discussing state medals have been for the Easter clan, like “Hey, we’ve got eight state medals, come beat that!”
And it’s probably cliche to say coaches have a special insight to their particular sport, but I’ll also remember Joel Easter for that. On more than one occasion at a big tournament, I’d just happen to be standing close enough to hear him describe the larger picture in either an individual match or a round, whether Bedford was involved in it or not, and think “yeah, this guy knows what’s up.”
No doubt, Joel will be missed in Bedford wrestling, Pennsylvania wrestling, and beyond.
My deepest condolences go out to Sheila, Trey, Ryan and the extended Easter family.
