Brian McIntyre ’84
Career Record: 76-28-1, D11 Champ, NE Regional Champ, State Finalist
Tournament Championships: Easton Invitational
1984 – 126 lbs. District Champ, Regional Runner-Up (27-6)
1983 – 126 lbs.: District Third, Regional Champ, State Runner-Up (30-8)
1982 – 132 lbs.: Injured (7-3)
1981 – 105 lbs.: (14-12-1)
Brian McIntyre won a pair of team state titles and helped power the second championship with a surprising run to the state final.
As a freshman, McIntyre cracked the lineup at 105 pounds. He battled to a 14-12-1 record, that included a fourth place finish at the Reilly Invitational and a seven match winning streak in February before a 1-2 showing in his first D11 tournament.
As a sophomore, McIntyre was slowed by injuries as he did not make his season debut until January, but then had to leave the lineup again after a handful of matches.
As a junior, it all came together. McIntyre opened the season with a first place finish at the North Schuylkill Invitational, hammering the host’s John Miller, 12-5, in the final. He followed that up runner-up finishes at the Reilly Invitational and the Top Hat, where dropped a 15-10 barnburner with Ohio state champion Bob Helderman (St. Edward) in the final. He beat state champions Gino Capuano (Liberty) and Scott Schleicher (William Allen) and state finalists Mike Balestrini (Shikellamy) and Keith Venanzi (Freedom) during the regular season. Schleicher was a future NCAA finalist as well. At the District 11 Tournament, McIntyre lost for a third time to Rudy Preletz (Bethlehem Catholic) in quarterfinals, then wrestled back for a third place finish to punch a ticket to Regioanls. At Regionals, McIntyre won three consecutive one point decisions, over Lee Miller (Wilkes-Barre Meyers), Derron Henning (Liberty) and Lance Whitmire (Berwick) to earn one of three Easton regional championships on the weekend. At the state tournament, McIntyre opened with a 3-2 win over future state finalist Tom Hontz (Quakertown), then handled Kevin Cowan (St. Mary’s) 9-6. In semis, he erased a 3-2 lead with an escape and a takedown to defeat Bill Gillespie (Downingtown) and give Easton a second finalist of the tournament. Although he fell to Mark Noll (Dallastown) by fall in the third period, his team points helped propel Easton to a 7.5 point win in the team race to earn their second state championship in three years.
As a senior, McIntyre opened the season with a third place finish at the Phillipsburg-Osceola Tournament, then a championship at the Reilly Invitational which included his second career win over state champ Gino Capuano (Liberty). He made his second straight Top Hat final, including a second win over Balestrini, and fell again to a St. Edward state champ, this time Terry Kennedy. However, McIntyre flipped that result a week later when St. Ed’s traveled to Easton for a dual, scoring the bout’s only takedown in a 3-2 win to beat the future two-time NCAA All American. McIntyre beat Ken Kane (Phillipsburg) in a classic 27-26 Red Rover victory. He also had a highlight win over future Harvard coach Jay Weiss (William Allen) in the Rovers win over the Canaries. At teh District 11 Tournament, McIntyre rolled with two majors on Friday, then beat Capuano for a third time in three meetings, this time by 8-1 decision to make his first D11 finals. He capitalzed on that opportunity with a 9-5 win over Rich Guth (Allentown Central Catholic). The following weekend at Regionals, McIntyre made his second final, but lost to two-time NCAA champ Pat Santoro (Bethlehem Catholic) to get the region’s top seed. That proved to be disastrous the following weekend when McIntyre drew Northwest Regional champ Chris Ames, who ended McIntyre’s career with an 18-10 major decision in the first round. At the time, first round losers did not wrestle for a medal.
History of Easton Wrestling 