Book on Easton wrestling was a labor of love

Much of Ellis Weitzman’s life focused on sports: football, wrestling, baseball.

He either played, coached, kept statistics, wrote stories about or took pictures of those sports for more than 50 years.

Weitzman left Waynesburg College in 1971 determined to write a book about Easton wrestling. He did research each year, collected records and other data, but life with a wife, three children and a job in the family furniture business eventually made it impossible to give the project the attention it required.

Weitzman became more determined, though, as the 2021-22 season approached. It was the 75th year of the historic program that became nationally prominent in the 1990s and 2000s under legendary coach Steve Powell.

Former Easton wrestler Jody Karam was now in charge of the Red Rovers, with Powell still in the corner as an assistant.

Weitzman spent countless hours at the Easton Area Public Library researching the program’s history. He coaxed Powell and others into contributing.

And he connected with Jeff Achenzie, a Liberty graduate who, like Weitzman, lived and loved sports in his community from a young age.

Achenzie served in multiple roles at his alma mater before following Karam to Easton. He was tasked with organizing every result of every Easton match and charting the history of every rivalry.

The fruits of their labor can be found in “75 Years of Easton Wrestling,” a book of more than 200 pages.

There was a ceremony ahead of

Wednesday’s home opener against rival Nazareth recognizing the efforts of Weitzman and others.

All proceeds from the book go to the Easton Wrestling Booster Club.

“I’ve been eating, drinking and sleeping this book for a long time,” Weitzman said.

It is a fitting night for the book party because Easton is facing Nazareth for the 96th time, most of any opponent according to Achenzie’s research. The Red Rovers have a 59-33-3 advantage. The Blue Eagles are coached by Dave Crowell, who was on the Easton staff when it began its meteoric rise to national prominence.

Crowell and Powell have combined for more than 1,100 victories in their careers.

Weitzman interviewed dozens for the book, leaning heavily on the memories of Powell, Crowell, Bobby Ferraro, Don Rohn, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi and others.

Weitzman’s journalistic endeavors started at a young age.

He was born and raised in Easton. He attended Easton until his senior year, when he transferred to Blair Academy (N.J.). He was a wrestling manager at Easton. At Blair, he started the Blair Press Club, which sent out daily news releases, results and other sports information to media outlets.

The 74-year-old was the statistician for Waynesburg’s football team, the nation’s highest scoring team one of those years. He worked after graduation at the Washington (N.J.) Star-Hackettstown Gazette for a year before joining the family furniture business.

Weitzman continued to stay connected to area sports, writing and taking photos of Easton wrestling and Phillipsburg girls basketball among many sports.

Powell has been part of the Easton wrestling program since 1976, including 32 seasons in charge. He had the Red Rovers relevant from Reno to Reading, Las Vegas to Virginia Beach.

Easton won four consecutive PIAA Class 3A team tournament titles (2001-04) and coached at least one District 11 champion for more than 30 consecutive seasons.

Achenzie was born into a Liberty family. At least one member of his family has graduated from Liberty in every decade the school has been open.

He participated in football, wrestling (for Karam) and baseball for different stretches as a Hurricane. He later spent a decade as a teacher before moving to New Jersey with his family.

Achenzie connected again with Karam at Easton. He began producing pre-match reading material for media and fans, including stats, lineups and more. It was then when he saw all the historical information available about the Red Rovers program in the school’s athletic office.

His research two years ago led him to discover that the 2021-22 season was going to be the team’s 75th. Promotion material, including T-shirts, were produced to celebrate the season as it went on.

Weitzman then recommitted himself to the book project and enlisted Achenzie. There were many late-night phone calls, a few lunches and other meetings with the lone goal of getting the complete story on Easton wrestling.

Achenzie was passionate about the facts, but nervous about the audience. He was, after all, a Liberty guy.

“Moving over from Liberty,” he said, “I didn’t know a lot about the culture down there, if I was going to fit in.

“But the level of respect the people [at Easton] have given me is tremendous. [Karam] talking about me certainly helped.”

And now Weitzman, Powell and Achenzie teamed to produce a book that is a worthy representation of the legendary program.

“It was something I always wanted to do,” Weitzman said. “But I wanted to do it right.”

St. Luke’s University Health Network created a poster of the book and streamed the event. It also is paying for the book’s printing costs.

Easton’s next chapter might come soon. The Red Rovers are 15 victories shy of 1,000 in its history.