Gary Rute ’97
Career Record: 103-37, D11 Champ, Regional Champ
Tournament Championships: Ironman Champ
1997 – 130 lbs.: District Runner-Up, Regional Champ (32-11)
1996 – 119 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Runner-Up (34-7)
1995 – 119 lbs.: District Runner-Up, Regional Third (20-10)
1994 – 112 lbs.: (17-9)
Gary Rute, nephew of legendary football coach Bob Rute, was a pillar of Easton’s dominant 1990s run who excelled against a nationalized schedule and helped the Rovers to back-to-back state championships.
As a freshman, Rute won a starting spot at 103 and scored his first varsity win with a second period pin of Luis Mislan (Long Beach NY). He dominated future state finalist and NCAA All American Chris Vitale (Nazareth) with a 7-1 decision. At Manheim, Rute made the finals, beating state bronze medalist Ed Hockenberry (Bald Eagle Area) in semis before dropping his final to two-time state champ John Hazi (Reynolds) by a final score of 6-4. Rute beat Vitale a second time at D11 Duals, with Easton flipping their regular season dual loss and advancing to D11 Dual finals. Jamarr Billman cut down to 103 for the postseason, bumping Rute up to 112 pounds, where he went 1-2 at Districts. As a sophomore, Rute missed a chunk of Decemver with an injury, but came back to finish second at Manheim. In the D11 Dual finals, Rute continued his streak against excellent Nazareth wrestlers with a 5-4 win over future state champ Andy Cote as Easton upended the Blue Eagles and won the D11 Duals title. Rute entered the D11 Tournament at 119 pounds and cruised through the first three rounds, going fall, fall, major to make his first D11 final. He matched up with Dave Emili (Northampton), who beat Rute at D11 Duals and was a returning state finalist. Rute kept pace, but fell to the KKid star 7-5 for a runner-up finish. The following week, Rute lost his semifinal bout to Rob Trotter (Wyoming Valley West) by giving up a takedown in overtime. Rute came back on the backside to beat Craig Kasick (Hazleton) for third place and punch a ticket to Hershey. In his first state tournament trip, Rute went 1-2, falling in the medal match to Ryan Shapert (Shaler), 3-2.
As a junior, Rute started the season with a bang, winning the Walsh Ironman on the first weekend of the season. He did so by majoring National Prep bronze medalist Jason Gorski (Blair Academy), then beating Ohio medalist Mas Toyama (St. Edward) and Andy Cote to win the title. Rute beat Cote a second time the following week in Easton’s 30-23 dual meet victory over the Blue Eagles. Rute finished second at Manheim, losing to Aaron Watters (Erie Cathedral Prep) to stop his winning streak. Rute medaled at Reno in Easton’s triumph at the super tournament, taking fifth as one of seven Red Rover medalists. Rute won out the rest of Easton’s dual meet schedule and entered the D11 Tournament as one of the top seeded Red Rovers. He cruised to a title, the third of seven Easton would win in a row, going fall, major, major, and a 3-2 win over John Conte (Pocono Mountain) for his title. The following week at regionals, Rute and Conte would hold a rematch in finals, with the Cardinals star upending Rute for a 5-4 victory. In his return trip to states, Rute won his opening match by pinning John Abbate (Erie Cathedral Prep) at the end of the first period. But in quarters, Rute lost a late lead to go to overtime with Jeff Putt (Indiana), who took Rute down in the extra period for an 8-6 win. Rute then fell in his consolation match to third place finisher Chad Filson (Red Land) to finish off of the podium.
Rute was one of seven returning starters in 1997 as Easton was one of the best teams in the country. Rute took third at both Walsh Ironman and Manheim. Between tournaments Chris Vitale got a measure of revenge with a 4-2 win in their dual meet match up. At Reno, Rute beat Oklahoma state champ Corey Scruggins (Locust Grove) and Tennesee state champ Ethan Elzen (Overton) before falling in finals to future NCAA All American Sean Gray (Blair Academy). He dropped tough matches to Gray and Ohio state champ Mike Tolar (St. Edward) at Elite Duals, then won eight straight to close out the regular season. In the D11 Tournament, Rute made it to his third final with a fall, major, and 5-2 decision. There he locked horns with Andy Cote (Nazareth) the returning state finalist who had a long history with Rute, Jamarr Billman, and Bryan Snyder. Cote claimed his first victory over Rute and sixth win against an Easton wrestler in seventeen tries. At Northeast Regionals, Rute won a pair of decisions on his half of the bracket while Cote took care of business on his side to set up a rematch in finals. Here, Rute pushed the pace of the match and really got to his offense in a 9-5 win over Cote to take te NE-1 spot in the bracket for the state tournament. Rute and Cote were both in the mix to win the 1997 state title at 130 pounds. Rute opened his tournament with an exclamation point, pinning Jim Capozzoli (West Allegheny) in the third period. Due to the random bracketing, Rute fell into the quarter that matched regional champ vs. regional champ, where he saw fellow title contender Hunter Guenot (Bald Eagle Area). Rute and Guenot waged war in the Friday afternoon session, with the match finishing 1-1 at the end of regulation and overtime. Rute’s second period escape was the first score of the match, and he chose bottom in rideout. Guenot was able to throw in legs and hold down the Red Rover for thirty seconds and end his dream of a state title. Rute dropped down to the consolation bracket where he beat Brad Kleckner (Pottsville) to move onto the medal match. Or so he thought. Near the end of his bout, Kleckner knocked his head on Rute’s chin. Afterwards, Rute checked in with the Hershey Park Arena doctor. When Rute did not know the exact score of his match, the doctor determined that Rute had “temporary amnesia” caused by a concussion and barred him from wrestling the rest of the tournament. Easton had him evaluated by Lafayette doctor Jeff Goldstein, who cleared Rute to wrestle both on Friday night and before Saturday’s session, but the PIAA would not budge and Rute had to forfeit out of the tournament without a medal. It also stopped his contribution to the frighteningly close team score between Easton and Nazareth. Although the Rovers came out on top, Rute had to sit out, finish off of the medal stand, and watch rival Andy Cote beat Guenot in the state final.
After Easton, Rute wrestled at Bloomsburg and spent years as Tom Mertz’s assistant at Pocono Mountain, Wilson, and Pen Argyl.
History of Easton Wrestling 