Forty-five years later, it’s hard to say how truly amazing the legacy of Ron Knoebel and his impact on the lives of all those in Central Pennsylvania has been. It’s hard to imagine summers without the amusement park his father, Harry, opened in 1926, and it’s even harder to imagine what Knoebels Grove would be like if a few of the traditions that have been kept alive at the park, like free admission, had changed during the years that Ron Knoebel has helped run it. However, in 1962, Knoebel was just entering the Warriors’ starting lineup as a driven sophomore at 130 pounds after wrestling behind NAIA All-American Lee Wolfe in 1961-62. Knoebel took fourth in the first NCAA College Division Wrestling Tournament at Northern Iowa to earn All-American honors. In 1964, he won his first of two MAC titles after moving up to 137 pounds. As a senior, he earned his second All-American honors with a win in the quarterfinals of the NCAA College Division and then went on to take the 137-pound title with a 6-0 win over Jim Rush of Western State College, becoming the first NCAA champion in school history. He was a member of the first induction class of the Lycoming College Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.
