Bertulis, Martin headed to Hall
OXFORD » Delaware County’s own Jim Bertulis and Bob Martin are among five inductees to the 2018 Southeast Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Bertulis is a 2001 graduate of Garnet Valley and a 2006 product of Bloomsburg University, starring on both levels at a variety of weight classes. The two-time All-Delco wrestler was a captain at each of his wrestling stops, and later coached several standout wrestlers at John Carroll University.
“It’s humbling to be with a group of guys who are winning state titles,” Bertulis said Saturday. “To be in a group with them is pretty awesome.”
Martin has a record of 416174-7 in 36 seasons at Upper Darby, where he’s won 12 Central League titles, produced 36 state wrestling qualifiers, 13 state medalists and two state champions, the latter Joel Edwards and Brian Kennerly.
Martin also wrestled at Upper Darby in 1969. The West Chester State grad turns 68 in August.
“This is a great honor,” Martin said. “There’s a lot of coaches in District 1 who never get here. I’m only here because of the great coaches and great kids I’ve had. You get here because you have great kids who come out and battle and do the extra things you need to do to succeed.”
Bertulis is among several brother combinations to wrestle for the Jaguars, the latest Griffin and Gavin Hollingsworth, who competed in the PIAA Southeast Class AAA regionals at Oxford High. John, Jason and Jim Bertulis wrestled along with Bill and Chris Tate, the latter now a Jaguars assistant coach, when the program was in transition.
“It was a great time because the program was just starting to grow from AA to AAA and we had some kids who loved the sport of wrestling, who worked hard,” Jaguars head coach Rocco Fantazzi said. “We had some great families. The Tate boys, the three Bertulis boys, the O’Briens, the Kaczmarskis. It set the culture for Garnet Valley during the transition. Those guys helped build the foundation of what we expect every year — excellence and hard work and achievement. It’s good to have alumni to come back whether it’s in the room at Garnet Valley or outside of Garnet Valley, in life, and to recognize the accomplishments.”
Matt Marino, from a long line of Marinos, finished seventh in the state last year for the Jaguars.
Jim Bertulis recalls Bill Tate and Dan Kaczmarski talking him into giving wrestling a try in eighth grade.
“My first tournament, I was hooked,” Bertulis said. “I couldn’t get enough of it. I was obsessed with it. I played football but I was tired of getting crushed by guys who were 200-plus pounds. My freshman year of football, I weighed like 95 pounds. I kind of gravitated toward wrestling where I was competing against a guy the same size.”
The other inductees to the 2018 Hall of Fame wrestling class are Jamie Callender, a state champion who was graduated from Council Rock North in 2010 with a 156-27 record. He was second in the state at 189 pounds in 2009, and the following year he took the gold.
The other inductees are Josh Dziewa and Jim Hartey.
Dziewa is a 2010 graduate of Council Rock South and a 2015 grad of Iowa. He was the state champ at 135 pounds in 2010.
Hartey starred at Norristown, where was graduated from in 2001 and at Virginia.