As we head into this weekend's state wrestling finals, and discuss St. Johns' place among the state's top teams of all-time, here's a little reminder of another great one: The 1958 Eastern team recently inducted into its school's Hall of Fame.
This one came near the end of a streak during which Lansing Eastern or Sexton won nine of the final 10 state championships in the "open" class before the tournament was broken down into Classes A-B beginning in 1960, and later four classes, now divisions.
The 1958 Quakers were coached by Vito Perrone, who took over that season after a long run by the legendary Don Johnson. Ten of Perrone's wrestlers placed among the top four at the state finals that season, when the team championship was still determined by individual results:
95 pounds – Gary Gogarn – champion
112 – Ted Hartman – third
127 – Bill Brown – third
133 – Bill Portt – fourth
138 – Rod Rapp – third
145 – Ron Parkinson – champion
154 – Alex Valcanoff – champion
165 – Lance Lynch – second
175 – Larry Boettcher – third
Heavyweight – Bob Weaver – third
High school sports editor 
