Tom Tomeo
Tom Tomeo was one of the most successful wrestlers ever produced in Mercer County and the only one ever to win PIAA state titles in both AA and AAA classes.
He began his mat career at a young age and placed in top 3 in PA Junior Wrestling 7 straight years, including 3 championships. He then embarked on a high school journey at Grove City, graduating in 1993, where he posted a record of 143-8, including 111-1 the last three years. The 143 wins and 79 consecutive victory streak were tops in Mercer County history at the time.
He was a 3-time District 10 and Northwest Region champ, while copping 2 PIAA state titles. He also finished 6th at state as a freshman and 3rd as a sophomore. He was only the second PA wrestler to win in both AA (junior) and AAA (senior) divisions.
Tom was invited to wrestling for the PA team in the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic, where he topped the country’s No. 1 ranked wrestler (172-0) Jeff McGinness of Iowa, 6-4. He was awarded the Outstanding Wrestler of the PA Team honor, the first and only one-of-two Mercer Countians to get that award in 45 years of the event.
He was also a member of the football team as a freshman and ran cross country three years, qualifying for state once.
Tom earned a scholarship at Clarion University, where he was a 4-year starter from 1993-1998, and two-year captain. He helped Clarion win the Eastern Wrestling League team titles in 1994 and 1995, winning an individual EWL crown in 1998 and runner-up award in 1995.
He was a 3-time NCAA Division I National Qualifier, placing 8th in 1998 for All-America honors.
After graduation, he was an assistant coach at Slippery Rock U., Cumberland College, University of Buffalo and Clarion U. He was U.S. Olympic Training Center resident coach for the USA Wrestling Women’s National Program from 2003-05. He was assistant coach for the women’s team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
He was also assistant coach for the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, one of the top senior-level programs in the country. He mentored many national, world and Olympic champions and medalists. He has been a featured clinician at camps and clinics throughout the country for more than 25 years.
Tom has served in many other coaching capacities, actively supporting women’s wrestling, and has run his own wrestling club, T3 Wrestling, for many years.