From the time he stepped on the Warrior mats for the first time, when he stuck his opponent from King’s in just 1:39 to the last time he walked off the mat at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Kurt Schneck left a legacy unmatched. As a freshman, he dropped just two matches, both against Division I opponents, in the regular season and followed that by picking up the first of an unprecedented four MAC titles at 126 pounds. The Pine Grove, Pa., native terrorized nearly all of his MAC competitors, posting five pins and four technical falls during the tournaments in his career. He entered the national spotlight as a sophomore, earning All-American honors with an eighth-place finish at the Division III Championships. Even a broken hand that kept him from the lineup in 1992 and forced him to redshirt didn’t slow him down, as he won a MAC title and two matches at nationals before falling short of All-American status as a junior. As a senior, though, Schneck wouldn’t be denied – and wrestling with the memory of his old coach, Budd Whitehill, who passed away months before Schneck’s appearance at nationals in 1993 – he won the national title with a 12-6 win over Dan Gabrielson of Central. In all, Schneck posted a 96-18-1 career record, earned two All-American honors and earned the MAC’s Wrestler of the Year award in 1994. The English major was inducted into the Lycoming College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
