Retired Pikesvile High wrestling coach Curt Boushell had his hand raised in a symbolic victory by former referee Bob Hutsler as Boushell was inducted into the Maryland chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. (Photo by Ron Snyder)
Curt Boushell never intended to be a wrestling coach.
The Stroudsburg, Pa. native didn’t even have a wrestling team at his high school. But, that didn’t stop him from joining the coaching staff at Pikesville High in the early 1970s when the school threatened to cut the program if it didn’t hire a competent assistant.
One match into his first season, the head coach at the time quit and the Panthers program belonged to Boushell, whose only prior experience with wrestling came in a college class he took at East Stroudsburg State.
Boushell must have learned a lot from that class as he posted a 160-75-3 record a Pikesville, coaching two state champions and a dozen top-4 finishers before retiring in 1994. That accomplishment, along with the impact he had on the hundreds of wrestlers he coached over more than two decades at the Baltimore County school, helped the 68-year-old become one of the seven latest inductees into the Maryland chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“I never got into this to be in the Hall of Fame,” said Boushell, who also coached the Pikesville football team for 27 years and who is the namesake of the school’s football field. “The biggest reward for me was teaching these young men lessons they could use for the rest of their lives.”
Responses like that resonated throughout Sunday’s award banquet in Annapolis, including from Ed Heincelman, who spent 40 years coaching in Montgomery County, including 23 as head wrestling coach at Magruder, Rockville and Einstein High School. In his career, he coached 21 county champions, 85 regional qualifiers and nine state champions.
“I was fortunate to have a lot of excellent coaches,” said Heincelman, a Vietnam War veteran who wrestled at the University of Pittsburgh. “When I got back from Vietnam, I wanted to pass that knowledge on…Once I convinced a young man to wrestle, it didn’t matter whether they were successful as long as I helped them become a better person.”
Other honorees included longtime North Caroline coach Tim Frey, former head coach and current St. Michaels assistant King Hill, founder of the Manchester Wrestling junior league Ken Kiler and former Walter Johnson coach and longtime 3A/4A state tournament director Jim Meehan.
Also recognized as the organization’s annual “Outstanding American” honoree was retired U.S. Navy SEAL and FBI agent Tom Norris. A Montgomery County native Norris was a two-time ACC champion at 115 pound for the University of Maryland in 1965 and 1966. He then went on to join the Navy where he won the Medal of Honor for rescuing of two airmen. His actions were the subject of a book and movie entitled “Rescue of Bat 21.”
Norris said his years spent in wrestling rooms helped lay the foundation for the person he is today.
“Wrestling is what helped me achieve what I did in the Navy and the FBI,” Norris said.
2009 National Wrestling Hall of Fame (Maryland Chapter) Class
Outstanding American – Tom Norris
Retired Navy SEAL and FBI agent Tom Norris
- ACC champion in 1965-66 at Maryland
- U.S. Navy Seal
- Medal of Honor recipient
- FBI Agent
Curt Boushell
Honoree – Curt Boushell
- Led Pikesville to a 160-75-3 record before retiring from coaching in 1994.
- Coached Panthers to the 1982 Baltimore County title.
- Coached two state champions and a dozen top 4 place winners.
- Also coached Pikesville’s football team for 27 years and had the team’s field named after him.
- Selected as the 18th member of the Baltimore County Hall of Fame in 1994.
Tim Frey
Honoree – Tim Frey
- Successful high school wrestler in Pennsylvania and at Millersville State (Pa.).
- Served as head coach at North Caroline since 1986.
- Four-time wrestling coach of the year in Maryland District 7 &8/
- Curent member of the Maryland State Wrestling Committee.
Ed Heincelman
Honoree – Ed Heincelman
- Retired form a 40-year coaching career that included 23 season as a head coach at Magruder, Rockville and Einstein high schools in Montgomery County.
- Coached 21 Montgomery County champions, 85 regional place finishers and state qualifiers.
- Coached 9 state champions.
- Recipient of the MPSSAA Service to Wrestling Award.
King Hill
Honoree – King Hill
- Helped establish the wrestling program at St. Michael’s.
- Spent 35 years teaching and coaching before retiring in 2001. Still serve as an assistant at St, Michael’s today.
- Coached team to second-place finish in 1969 district tournament with four individual champions
- Coached two district, a regional and a state individual champion in 1979.
Ken Kiler
Honoree – Ken Kiler
- Varsity wrestler at North Carroll High /School and at Washington College
- Founded the Manchester Wrestling Club in 1972.
- Coached 31 individual state champions in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas.
- Coached several college wrestlers, including two, two-time NJCAA champions and one NCAA Division I All-American.
Honoree – Jim Meehan
Jim Meehan
- 2005 inductee into the MPSSAA Wrestling Hall of Fame.
- Served as tournament director for the 3A/4A West region tournament for 20 years.
- Served as 3A/4A state tournament director for 12 years.
- 2009 inductee into the Montgomery College Athletic Hall of Fame
- Coached at Walter Johnson from 1973-89.
ronsnyder@coachesaid.com
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