Eric Greshko ’96
Career Record: 69-14, D11 Champ, Regional Champ, 2x State Medalist, State Finalist
1996 – 140 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Runner-Up, State Third (37-6)
1995 – 140 lbs.: District Runner-Up, Regional Champ, State Runner-Up (33-7)
Eric Greshko was a high impact transfer who solidified the middle of the Easton lineup in their 1996 championship runs. His cement job was deadly and helped put Easton on the map with a massive upset at the 1996 Reno Tournament of Champions, and nearly won him a state title in 1995.
Greshko was a twenty match winner in his freshman and sophomore seasons at East Stroudsburg and was a Pennsylvania freestyle state champion in the summer.
Greshko joined the Red Rovers for the 1994-95 season and had an immediate impact. He started the year with four falls, including a second period pin of Rick Arnold (Walsh Jesuit) which put Easton within striking distance of the Ohio powerhouse. He took third place at Walsh Ironman, losing on the front side to Tony Marcellino (St. Edward) before ripping through the consolation bracket, pinning Oklahoma medalist Shane Olson (Broken Arrow), then beating Delaware state finalist Don Fromal (William Penn), and West Virginia state champ Bobby Roberts (Parkersburg South) before whipping Marcellino in the bronze medal match, 10-0. Greshko was also third at Manheim, losing in semifinals to Bruce Cridge (Canon McMillan). He returned to the local schedule with three straight pins before dropping a 4-1 match to Dave Cote (Nazareth) in their match up with the Blue Eagles. He also dropped a match to Cridge at the Pat Reilly Duals, but recovered nicely by beating future state champ Christian Luciano (Northampton) 8-7 in the nightcap as Easton defeated two-time defending state champ Northampton for the first time since 1987. Easton repeated the feat in the District Dual semifinals, with Greshko teching Jeff Miller in the third period for what ended up a decisive bonus point. He majored Jason Bucchi in the D11 finals as Easton rolled past Nazareth, 34-15 for their first D11 Duals title. At the D11 tournament, Greshko pinned his way into the semifinals, then scored all of the offensive points in a 6-3 win over Marc Abert (Nazareth). He met nemesis Josh Lesoine (Stroudsburg) in the finals, where Lesoine got the better of him for the second year in a row, this time with a 7-6 decision. The following week at Regionals, Greshko opened with an 8-3 win over D2 champ Dave Shafer (Hazleton) then won his second straight 6-3 match over Aber. In the finals, he’d meet the freshman phenom Luciano again, and would score the bout’s only takedown and hang on for a 4-2 win and his first Regional title. At the state tournament, Greshko opened with a 7-5 win over Brady Eddy (Norwin), then cruised past Yuri Svec (Lock Haven) to make the semifinals. Greshko dazzled in the semis, building up a big lead before he pinned Joe Lucas (Connellsville) with one second left on the clock to become Easton’s first state finalist since 1990. In the state finals, he took on Chamie Hooks (Kittanning) who thwarted Greshko’s cement job three times to build a 10-3 lead into the match’ s final minute. That’s when Greshko brought the Hershey Park Arena to its feet with a flying cement job in the final 20 seconds to Hooks on his back. The referee was looking for a fall as Hooks desperately tried to kick out when time expired and Greshko fell just short with a 10-8 loss for a silver medal.
As a senior, Greshko started the year by pinning Keith Rawling (Walsh Jesuit) in the first 30 seconds of their match in a nip-and-tuck dual with Walsh that came down to criteria, with the Warriors escaping 29-29 on most matches won. Easton would travel out to Cuyahoga Falls for the second Walsh Ironman, where Greshko beat future Olympian and NCAA All American Andry Hrovat (St. Edward) before falling to future NCAA champion Joe Heskett (Walsh Jesuit) in the finals. Greshko majored Marc Aber (Nazareth) in Easton’s dual win over the Blue Eagles, who were both ranked in the top 5 in America. Greshko took third at Manheim. In early January, Easton traveled to Reno, Nevada for the first true in-season national tournament at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Greshko drew California state champion and future NCAA champ Alex Tirapelle (Clovis) in the quarterfinals, and stunned the gym when he cement mixed and pinned Tirapelle to give Easton six semifinalists. Greshko was one of four Easton semifinal winners, which put them in firm control of the team score. In the finals, he lost 2-1 to future All American and Utah state champion Cole Sanderson (Wasatch), as Sanderson rode out the third period to win the match. Greshko returned from Reno and ran off a nine match winning streak to end the regular season. At the D11 Tournament, Greshko went fall, fall, 10-0 major decision to become Easton’s seventh finalist in the first seven weight classes. He put an exclamation point in the greatest showing in Easton D11 tournament history when he pinned Todd Yohe (Stroudsburg) in 1:01 to give Easton seven straight champions to start the tournament. Greshko was one of six Northeast Regional finalists for Easton the following weekend, but dropped his championship bout to Jim Pope (Shikellamy), 4-1. At the state tournament, Greshko fell victim to a first round upset when Justin Shue (Gettysburg) took him down and reversed him in a 4-1 loss. With a nip-and-tuck team score, Greshko was a hero on the back side, winning four straight matches, including a 3-2 revenge win over Pope to make the consolation finals, where he dropped his final match to Josh Shaner (McGuffey) to finish fourth.
After Easton, Greshko wrestled at East Stroudsburg.
History of Easton Wrestling 