RAY SWANSON | Keystoner Clelland is selected for mat hall of fame

The Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame will honor eight men, three from Mercer County, at its eighth annual banquet Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Avalon Hotel in Erie.
The trio from Mercer County are: the late Dave H. Clelland, former coach at Greenville High School; Neal Lineman, former head coach at Reynolds High School; and Senator Robert Robbins, also a head coach at Greenville High.
We have previously written short biographies on Robbins and Lineman. Today we are highlighting the career of Clelland.
Clelland, as well as Lineman, will receive "Lifetime Achievement Awards," while Robbins will be recognized as the "Outstanding American from the state of Pennsylvania."
33-year career: Clelland had much to be proud of in an educational career that encompassed 33 years. Internal to that time, he spent 23 years coaching in several sports, the most successful, wrestling, for 18 years.
Before his death in 1994, Clelland was quoted as saying, "I am most proud, not of the many victories during my career, but of the many young men who used wrestling as a stepping stone to a college education. And to those I may have influenced to a better life."
Graduating from Waynesburg High School in 1946, where he played football, basketball and baseball, he later attended Waynesburg College, graduating in 1951. Clelland later began his career in education after serving two years in Korea.
He returned to Waynesburg High and guided his first team to a 10-8 record in 1955. His next three teams went 40-0.
He left Waynesburg after the 1959 season, moving on to Greenville High School where he coached for 14 seasons.
His teams posted five undefeated seasons and in five other years suffered only one loss. In all, Clelland's Greenville teams enjoyed a 171-14-1 record.
Sparkling record: Clelland had a remarkable record. He coached 11 PIAA state finalists and five state champions, including Robert D. Robbins, and coached 19 Regional champions, 27 District champions and 86 Section champions.
A 1976 inductee into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches hall of Fame and a 1978 inductee into the Mercer County Hall of Fame, Clelland was also a Free and Accepted Mason-Scottish Rite, and an active Shriner in the Zem Zem Temple.
Clelland retired from teaching in 1986 and passed away in 1994. In his honor, the Clelland Scholarship was created in 1995. It is awarded to the senior wrestler at Greenville, who will be continuing his education, and rewards good sportsmanship, good citizenship and a good work ethic, qualities that David M. Clelland embodied.
Titans, Dafler jell: Before closing the books on another college basketball season, one cannot overlook the outstanding performance turned in by Jim Dafler and his Westminster College Titans.
The Titans rolled to a 19-6 campaign, 9-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference, and finished with seven straight wins. They also won 10 of their last 11 outings.
Dafler will have some big shoes to fill before the next season gets underway as he will lose five seniors to graduation.
They are Henry Klinar (Venetia/Petes Township High School); Jim Klipa (Pittsburgh/Plum H.S.); J.P. Maszczak (Canfield, Ohio, Canfield H.S.); and Chad Phillips (Warren, Ohio/Warren JFK H.S).; and Andy Wormsley, Sewickley/Quaker Valley H.S.