WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Legendary Lycoming College head wrestling, baseball and football coach Budd Whitehill is set for induction into the Centre County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday, Oct. 16, at a 1:30 p.m. banquet at the Penn Stater in State College, Pa.
 
Whitehill will be joined by Laura Caldwell Cunningham (softball), Jim Gonder (softball, volleyball), Marty Ilgen (football, wrestling), Paul Packer (wrestling), Bo Sankey (baseball, football, basketball) Jerry Shivery (football), Jerry Spackman (baseball, football, basketball), Larry Walker (football, wrestling, baseball), John Wetzler (football, softball, baseball, swimming), Don Hastings (golf), Homer Barr (deceased, wrestling) and Ellery Seitz (deceased, baseball, football, wrestling) in the induction class.
 
Whitehill is the second Warrior to earn induction into the Centre County Hall, joining Port Matilda native Steve Wiser '74, who was honored in 2019.
 
A Bellefonte, Pa., native, Whitehill came to Lycoming College to start the wrestling program in 1956, just two years removed from the end of a career as a minor league pitcher, having moved around from Quebec to Kentucky. He was also just two years removed from a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference wrestling title at Lock Haven State Teachers' College.
 
For the next 37 years, until his death, Whitehill embodied the image that the athletic department came to embrace. He was tough-as-nails, but someone who cared about creating a family-like environment. He began at the College as an assistant football and head wrestling and baseball coach, setting school records for wins in both events.
 
In six seasons as the baseball coach, Whitehill led the Warriors to a 40-38 record (the only coach in program history with a winning record) and four .500 or better records, winning a record eight games three times (1957, 1959, 1960). He stopped coaching baseball in 1963 to focus on wrestling and football before becoming the head football coach in 1966. He spent five years in the dual role before his assistant, Frank Girardi, took over the football team.
 
Meanwhile, he truly left his mark on the mat. Among numerous other honors, Whitehill coached 11 teams that finished amongst the NCAA's top 20 and four amongst the top 10. He mentored the school's first MAC champions in 1962 and added nine more titles after that. His 1962 team also finished third at the NAIA National Tournament, behind only Lock Haven and Bloomsburg. He coached 38 All-Americans, 66 conference champions and four national champions. His overall record of 376-172-6 (.683) is still 41^st in college wrestling history and 16^th amongst Division III coaches.
 
While battling cancer in 1993, Whitehill handpicked his successor, Roger Crebs '87, who eventually surpassed Whitehill's 376 career wins during the 2017 Budd Whitehill National Duals. Together, the pair have created one of the top coaching duos in the history of small-college wrestling. When Crebs won his 300th career dual meet in 2010, he combined with Whitehill to form the first Division III duo to win 300 matches at the same school.
 
Whitehill is a member of the Lycoming (1993), Lock Haven Wrestling (1991), Middle Atlantic Conference (2012), West Branch Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports (1990) and National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III (1991) halls of fame. He earned a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995.