By DENNIS JOHNSON

Another good human has passed on to the other side. As I continue to evolve, I see more and more acquaintances, relatives, mentors, and friends pass through those pearly gates. This time it’s my very good friend and colleague, former Eisenhower wrestling coach Joe Letko.

Coach Letko leaves behind not only a loving wife, son, daughter, and grandchildren; but he also a legion of former student-athlete wrestlers.

I first met the man in the restroom of a Youngsville speakeasy in the mid-1970s after some type of high school wrestling coaches meeting. At the time, I was the head coach at Sheffield, and he worked as Tony Ross’s assistant at Eisenhower.

We had an immediate bond – one that lasted almost 50 years. After Joe took over the head coaching reins at Ike, we would travel as coaching rivals to area wrestling clinics working to better both of our programs.

After a couple of stints as the head coach at Sheffield, Coach Letko invited me to join his staff as his assistant at Eisenhower High School.

As I told him in a recent visit to his house after the 2023 PIAA region meet; it was the most enjoyable time of my coaching career. I learned a bunch from him; we had fun, the kids had fun, and everyone was positively impacted by his upbeat personality and tactics.

I was the Yin to his Yang, we were opposite but interconnected forces, often driving each other to the brink of insanity; he makes fun of my organization skills – single leg at exactly 4:0-03 to 4:09 – and me shaking my head at his planning/technique choices (e.g., Cole Rolls).

He was not only a great person but also a coach heading a program that included back-to-back undefeated seasons and a section title.

Along the way, he impacted his charges in a positive manner with life lessons which I am sure were carried into adulthood. His sayings of the day included, “To be the man-ya gotta beat the man” and the “man on top of the mountain, didn’t just fall there” and of course “scratch where it itches.” These were ingrained into each wrestler’s mind in the little talks after each practice, every day of the wrestling season.

However, there is one saying that still graces the Eisenhower wrestling room wall and has been my personal guidepost for the past 25 years since working with him: “Find A Way.”

That one saying ingrained on a nightly basis and I am betting being carried by most of his charges throughout adulthood. Initially I thought it was just a cute saying, until one day Travis Hummel scored a seemingly impossible come-from-behind win in the final seconds of a PIAA region match. I’d like to say I saw it, but having given up hope, I was packing up the medicine kit as he scored the win. He walked off the mat looked at Coach Letko and simply said, “find a way.”

I think of the many former wrestlers who have gone into coaching ranks and are passing on his life lessons to future generations of youth. Wrestlers who have become head or assistant coaches include Matt Burlingame (Manchester College), Greg Barnett (Corry), Aaron Zwald (Jamestown), Drew Wilcox and Travis Hummel (Falconer), and of course a litany of Eisenhower coaches; Greg Gourley, Keil Woodburn, Kris Black, and Jared Lindell. And I am sure I’ve forgotten several others.

I close this tribute with what some readers will find to be a rather humorous note. In the recent past I suggested to my brother Dean who had just taken over as head coach at Warren that Joe and I might be available to coach the junior high team at Beaty. His response, “No you two escaped unscathed once before.”

Whatever did he mean? Coach Letko always played by the rules, however, his “better to ask forgiveness than permission” mantra did not always make those around him comfortable (e.g., administrators).

And so it goes, whatever is your individual pleasure, from Joe it’s C’est la vie (that’s life) or from me it’s Que Sera, Sera (what will be, will be). Thanks for the memories and rest easy my friend.

Dennis Johnson, Ed.D. is Eisenhower volunteer assistant coach.