BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
This afternoon Towanda wrestling coach Bill Sexton won his 700th career dual meet. Those 700 wins, though, are just the tip of the iceberg for what Sexton has meant to Black Knight wrestling.
Since 1980 Sexton has been the head coach for Towanda wrestling, and he has amassed just as many friends and followers as he has wins in that time. Here are just a few of those who have spent time with Sexton in the Black Knight wrestling room.
STEVE GOBBLE, FORMER ASSISTANT COACH
Gobble joined Sexton’s coaching staff during the 1985-1986 season, and worked side by side with him for 11 years.
“Bill is a great motivator of wrestlers,” remarked Gobble. “He excelled in getting the most out of each wrestler. This included many student athletes who were not lighting the academic world on fire.”
Gobble was a key part of the rise of the Towanda program in the 1990’s, which laid the foundation for their success in the following decades.
“When Bill achieves his 700th win it will be an accomplishment that only one coach in PA has achieved,” Gobble said. “With a little good fortune he will become the all-time leader in PA in two or three years. It pains me to say that I will not witness this achievement, I look forward to watching Towanda wrestling in 2023 when I return from traveling.”
BOB WATKINS, FORMER WRESTLER AND ASSISTANT COACH
Watkins wrestled for Sexton beginning the 1985-1986 season through the 1988-1989 season.
“Bill was very strict in the early years,” Watkins explained. “With age and changes in society he has changed his demeanor with his athletes. Bill was in it 100-percent - JV tournaments, varsity tournaments, etc…if there was wrestling he was trying to get kids ‘mat time.’”
Watkins continued to have a relationship with the team after graduating, even joining them in the mat room when home from Mansfield University, where he wrestled. That led Watkins to joining his staff in 1995 until 2017.
“For wrestling for him to coaching for him was actually a smooth transition,” said Watkins. “Bill and I became friends out fo school, and off the mat, so to speak. It is amazing to see him still coaching.”
He has a vivid memory of when Sexton came through for him, even before he started wrestling for him. Watkins was wrestling in eighth grade AAU’s and didn’t have a pair of wrestling shoes.
“Bill heard about this, and made it a point to get me a pair - he had many extras lying around,” said Watkins. “That is really the story of Bill Sexton. He would do anything for his athletes, not just wrestlers. If you showed interest, and Bill knew that you were there to give it your all, he would do the same.”
Watkins also remembers a time his junior year when he clinched the North Section title for the Knights, beating a wrestler from Sayre who had beaten him earlier in the year to win the sectional title.
“Bill was like a father figure to many of his athletes,” said Watkins. “Wrestling seems to get a lot of students athletes that could use some guidance. There are some great families in wrestling, and in all sports, but wrestling seems to get a lot of young men who are unsure what direction life is taking them. Bill was there to help a lot of these guys figure it out. I have had some struggles in life…Bill never threw me to the side. He was there to support me, and we still have a good friendship. I am proud to have wrestled, and coached with, Bill Sexton.
JASON SLUYTER, FORMER WRESTLER AND ASSISTANT COACH
Sluyter wrestled in the early 90’s, and was part of the team that won a Northeast Regional title, which helped put Towanda on the state wrestling map.
“The team had done some good things before I started, in terms of having sectional championships,” said Sluyter. “What my group was able to do is kind of push that goal a little bit forward, and do something at the state level.”
He remembers Frank Heath being their first regional champion, while they had several state medal winners. And, most importantly, they swept Wyalusing in all four years he was on the team.
“We were starting to take more people,” explained Sluyter. “My freshman year I was the only guy there. We were growing in strength.”
Sluyter got to know Sexton well, between wrestling, baseball (another sport Sexton coached), social studies (his teacher) and being in his home room.
“Bill was always a guy you could look up to,” said Sluyter. “One of my fondest memories was a baseball senior trip. We went to a bunch of ball parks, and it opened my eyes to a lot of world outside of Towanda. I moved away partly because of that exposure.”
When he goes to the NCAA Wrestling Championships he always meets up with Sexton.
“I’ve very connected with Bill,” said Sluyter. “I coached with him out of college. He helped you grow up a little bit, and show you how you should do it.”
He explained how Sexton brought his strong organizational skills and attention to detail, especially in scouting reports, which helped them succeed both in the short and long term.
“Bill organized all the practices, schedules - he definitely has a plan with how he wants to carry things out,” said Sluyter. “The program is far more organized, with junior high being a little bit different than when I cam through.”
He said Sexton was also flexible, incorporating some different techniques and drills that Sluyter brought from college.
“He evolved over the years with various assistant coaches,” said Sluyter. “He’s not afraid to bring in some new patterns.”
JEREMY SLUYTER, FORMER WRESTLER AND CURRENT ASSISTANT COACH
Jason Sluyter’s younger brother is currently in the chair next to Sexton. He wrestled from 1993 to 1996, and was part of that Northeast Regional title winning team.
“He had a pretty good reputation by that point,” Sluyter remembered about joining the program. “I’m going to tell you the culture was a little bit different then. Those teams won the league all four years, so, coming into that culture, we just expected Towanda would win and that’s kind of just how things went.”
They didn’t win the league all four years he was on the team, but were still a force in the league during its heyday.
“We had the dual that everybody remembers with Wyalusing,” said Sluyter. “That was my freshman year, so it was a pretty good culture at the time.”
Sexton’s ability to motivate his wrestlers is what stood out to Sluyter.
“He just had a way with words, as far as training strategies, pumping you up before the matches,” he explained. “It’s just his motivation gave you a little extra when it came time for competition.”
Sluyter began his coaching under Sexton when he still lived in Stroudsburg, making the trip backend forth back in 2008. He joined full time after that.
“I kind of know what his expectations are,” Sluyter said about coaching alongside Sexton. “I know what he expects out of me. It works out well together, the two of us.”
MITCH WEBSTER, FORMER WRESTLER
Webster was on the mat for Towanda from 1999-2003, and he came from a prodigious wrestling family. Being the youngest of that group, he got to know Sexton and his program before hitting high school.
“Having two older brothers I was around the program from 1990 through 2003, and there was a culture was having excellent teams and individuals,” said Webster. “Throughout this time there was always Coach Sexton leading the program. It provided a consistent structure and stability to the program.”
While others have noted Sexton’s motivational, commitment, and organizational skills, a few different, but, nonetheless well known qualities, stuck out to Webster.
“You could probably get the same answer from almost anyone involved in Pennsylvania wrestling - coach Sexton has an unmistakable voice heard throughout hundreds, if not thousands, of gyms,” he said. “He has also looked the same since the 90’s, with his silver facial hair, and fashionable black attire.”
One memory that sticks out for Webster is one that wasn’t very pleasant, but it turned out to be a defining moment for the two of them.
“My freshman year after the North Section Finals,” Webster said. “It was by far the worst defeat of my career, to include club through middle school, and even in college. As I walked off the mat, still in a bit of shock from the 16-0, six minute disaster that just occurred (and when I say it was bad, it was ugly - Ken Meunch ran a bar-and-a-half, and I was on my back for roughly five of the six minutes). Coach Sexton had his typical right hand out at a roughly 30 degree tilt for a handshake. But on his face was a look I hadn’t seen in my 15 years of knowing him. It was a half smile/smirk with a bit of pity. There wasn’t much he could say, so it was ‘he was a pretty tough kid, huh?’ I still laugh about that when I think of it, and nickname for roughly two years I earned from that match.”
MIKE MAURER, FORMER WRESTLER AND CURRENT ASSISTANT COACH
Maurer wrestled from 2003 to 2007, and began coaching alongside Sexton back in 2012.
“I’ve just been learning a lot,” said Maurer. “It’s interesting. I’ve been really lucky to have two great coaches, both in the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, one being Coach Sexton, and his dual meet prowess. He knows how to manipulate matches, and things like that - it’s pretty impressive.”
They haven’t always seen eye to eye on match strategy.
“Certain times I disagreed with the line-up,” said Maurer. “And, every once in a while, I’ll back to Warrior Run in 2017. I was like, ‘it’s not going to work, it’s not going to work,’ and I was wrong. He knows the dual meet stuff better than, I think, anybody in the state.”
Maurer knew Sexton well before his wrestling days. He was friends with his son, Ethan Sexton, and his mom was the wrestling cheerleader.
“I was just always around coach all the time,” said Maurer. “You don’t realize it as much until you’re done, and in hindsight, how impressive the numbers are.”
Maurer recently saw some of his teammates get inducted into the Towanda Wrestling Hall of Fame, and it brought back memories of how much success they had during the mid-aughts.
“We were a close knit group,” he said. “Were still friends today, and it’s cool to see this kind of stuff.”
CALEB VANDERPOOL, FORMER WRESTLER
Vanderpool wrestled from 2005 to 2008, but was a fixture in the rooms before then.
“He was a little intimidating at first because he’s a big man with a big voice, and his reputation kind of precedes him,” said Vanderpool. “We knew what we were getting into, but I have nothing but good things to say about Coach Sexton. He held us to a high standard, obviously. He expected our best, he always pushed us to try to achieve our best.”
No wrestler did more to help Sexton get to 700 wins than Vanderpool. He is the Towanda all-time leader in wins (166), team points (596), dual meet wins (119), wins in one season (48), and had an undefeated dual meet record of 33-0.
“It was just great coaching,” said Vanderpool. “Our coaching staff was second to none. All of our assistant coaches were great, Bill was obviously great. And we had awesome teams all through my high school career.”
By that point Sexton was a fixture in PA wrestling, so for Vanderpool, having him as coach was kind of surreal.
“That kind of made us go from one level to another as far as our expectations,” said Vanderpool. “He always got us ready, and he always had us in tip top shape when we needed to be there.”
Looking back, Vanderpool was honored to be a part of the Black Knight tradition.
“You come into the wrestling room and in the gym, and you’re looking up at everybody’s name on the walls, and the records, and what they achieved,” he said. “I knew what I was getting into. And it’s just one of those things, you always want to keep getting better and better and better, and now it’s coming full circle because my boys wrestle, and there’s a bunch of other good youth wrestlers, and junior high wrestlers coming up through.”
CODY WHEELER, FORMER WRESTLER
Wheeler wrestled from 2007 to 2011, and was the second wrestler to reach the state final after Travis Chesla the year before.
“Wrestling for Coach Sexton was something I looked forward to a long time coming up through the Towanda program,” said Wheeler. “It seemed he always knew what was best for the team, whether it was bringing in the guys we needed to wrestle with in the wrestling room to get us to that next step, or to make moves during a match - he always had our best interests in mind, which made us good, and made it fun.”
Wheeler’s senior year the Knights got a team medal at the state duals, taking fourth in Class AA.
“You wrestle so long with a lot of the same guys coming up through the program, and to have that be our final tournament together made it special,” he said. “For myself, making it to the finals, it was always the end goal fo my career. The match didn’t go the way I was hoping for, but it is obviously something I will never forget.”
MIKE GEURIN, ASSISTANT COACH
Geurin didn’t wrestle for Sexton, but the assistant coach did wrestle against Towanda.
“When wrestling against any team that Bill coached you knew you were in for a hard match, since all of his wrestlers were well conditioned,” said Geurin.
He credits Coach Sexton for building such a nurturing program.
“The atmosphere was always positive and focused,” said Geurin. “Bill is a good motivator, and master at creating a positive team atmosphere. Bill is the glue that holds the wrestling program together. He is the reason kids and coaches keep coming back.”
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Since 1980 Sexton has been building more than just a program, he’s been building relationships. And those relationships are like ripples in the pond - they keep making the program bigger and better.
But those 700 wins are more than just a testament to being to build a program that can make big ripples through out the NTL, District IV, and PIAA. They are a legacy that small towns are built on.
Whether it’s prowling the sidelines during a football game, watching the baseball team beyond the outfield wall, or taking his daily walk across the bridge, Sexton is a pillar of the community.
For the better part of 40 years Sexton wasn’t building a wrestling team, he was building a family.
