EAST SYRACUSE - This year the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is honoring three former Norwich Wrestlers and coaches. Coaches Sam Elia and Frank Giltner are receiving Lifetime Service Awards from the organization. Recent graduate Tristan Rifanburg is also being honored as the Outstanding Wrestler of the 2014-2015 season.
On September, 20 The Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame will honor nine exceptional athletes, three of them former Norwich Athletes. These men all achieved athletic greatness on the mat or coaching on the floor. Elia and Giltner started their careers as coaches when wrestling wasn’t a very popular sport.
Giltner’s athletic career started at Tamaqua High School in Pennsylvania where he established a great academic and athletic resume. After graduation, Giltner was offered an athletic scholarship to attend Muhlenberg College and was also offered a professional baseball contract with the Cleveland Indians. Giltner ultimately chose to attend Muhlenberg where he continued his athletic career, lettering in multiple sports.
After his graduation in 1932, Giltner moved to Norwich and began his teaching career at the Norwich Middle School. Frank’s son Phil tells the story that in 1935 Athletic Director Kurt Beyer walked into Giltner’s classroom and literally handed him an instruction manual on how to coach wrestling and told him to start a wrestling program. From there began the strong and decorated history of wrestling in Norwich. In his first season Giltner coached the Purple Tornado in four separate matches and competed in the Interscholastic State Tournament at Saint Lawrence University. As matches were hard to schedule in the 1930’s because of the scarcity of teams, Giltner and his team were often required to drive long distances to compete.
Following a career as the wrestling coach, and establishing the foundation for future great Norwich teams, Giltner embarked on a career of officiating wrestling. One of the founding fathers of the wrestling officials association for Central New York, he was considered the best official in the area, officiating at many different colleges and universities. Giltner will be remembered by many as one of the all time great officiators of his time by coaches and athletes alike.
Following his retirement in 1965, Giltner worked in the real estate business for ten years but stayed very active in all local sports. He was a former president of the Norwich Rotary Club and he served as the director of the Salvation Army. Frank also was the chairman of the Norwich Elks Charity Committee and directed the Norwich summer baseball program for many years. He always gave freely to his community.
Sam Elia graduated from Norwich High School in 1932 where he was an outstanding athlete. Upon graduating Elia traveled to Wisconsin to attend LaCrosse State College where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education. In 1942 Elia returned to Norwich where he began his career as a teacher. But a short time later as World War II escalated, Elia joined the Air Force and served his country until 1946 when he once again returned to Norwich.
It was then that Elia assumed the reins of the Tornado wrestling program, taking over from Frank Giltner, who had inaugurated the program 11 years prior. In his very first season, without any wrestling experience behind him, Elia coached his team to a 9-1 dual meet record en route to the Section 4 championship. After a short period in Section four, Norwich then opted to join the Iroquois League at the start of the 1952-53 school year. The Elia-led Tornado quickly adapted to their new surroundings, capturing the first seven Iroquois team championships.
