John Cuvo ’80
Career Record: 50-2-1, D11 Champ, NE Regional Champ, State Champ
Tournament Championships: 2x Easton Invitational
1980 – 98 lbs.: District Champ, Regional Champ, State Champ (29-0-1)
1979 – 98 lbs.: (21-2)
The only pair of brothers to win state titles for the Red Rovers are John and Jack Cuvo. John posted one of the most dominant two year stretches in Easton history and avenged an upset D11 loss to come back for an undefeated state championships season as a senior.
Cuvo cracked Easton’s lineup for the first time as a junior and wasted no time making a name for himself with a 15-4 major decision in the first dual of his career. Cuvo was a bonus point machine, blitzing the field in his first month, including an 11-3 win over future state finalist Jim Albanese (Nazareth) and a massive statement win in the Easton Invitational where he pinned eventual state fourth place finisher Vince Macri (Wilkes-Barre Meyers) at the end of the first period. His first decision of his career was an 8-4 triumph over 1980 state champ Jim Bresnak (Liberty) in an Easton win over the co-favorite in the East Penn Conference. He was pushed again in early February by Mike Levanduski (Whitehall), the 1980 third place finisher, who held Cuvo to a 2-1 win and again by third place medalist Tim Pierce (Red Land) in a 10-9 win. Cuvo then capped a 19-0 regular season by three-time New Jersey state champ John Barna (Phillipsburg) in a wild 7-5 match, where Cuvo scored in the final thirty seconds to kick off Easton’s win over the Stateliners. In the District 11 tournament, Cuvo opened with a 14-2 thrashing of Ken Russell (Freedom), but was shocked in his quarterfinal match, losing 3-2 to Matt Billy (Northampton), who he had pinned in the first period two weeks earlier. He survived a war in his first wrestle-back with fellow future state champ Bill Hershey (Saucon Valley), holding on to win 3-2. But Cuvo’s season was shockingly ended in consolation semifinals when Mike Levandusky avenged their regular season squeaker with a 6-3 win to knock Cuvo out of the tournament. Cuvo sat at home two weeks later as Pierce and Macri made state semifinals and D11 competitor Doug Billig (Parkland) took home the state title.
As a senior, Cuvo opened his season with a rematch against Matt Billy, which ended in an unsatisfying 6-6 draw, and the Konkrete Kids knocked off the Red Rovers, 29-27. Cuvo would win the final 29 matches of his high school career. He caught fire in December, with a major and three falls following the Billy draw, then dominated the Easton Invitational, pinning future state champ John Handlovic (Wilson), destroying state qualifier and future Northampton assistant Scott Moisey (Hazleton) 21-9, and capped his tournament by handling the eventual 2A state champ Kurt Wentz (Northwestern Lehigh) in a 9-4 win. He bonuses his way through January, before getting a revenge shot at Levanduski. The Whitehall star raced out to an 8-3 lead after two periods, but Cuvo took him down then clamped a cradle and put Levanduski on his back for the final 30 seconds of the match in a dramatic 9-8 win. Following the Levanduski win, he made the cut down to 98 pounds, where he hammered John Barna (Phillipsburg) in a battle of 1980 state champions. He would suffer no disappointment at the D11 tournament, where he hammered his first three opponents to earn a third crack at Matt Billy, who ended his 1979 and was the only blemish on his senior season record. Cuvo took him down four times, leaving no doubt in a 9-5 win for a District title. He stretched that margin at Regionals, as he finished bonus pointing the field by hammering Billy 13-4 for a Northeast Regional title. He opened the state tournament with a first period pin of Dave Rusnak (Wet Branch) and a 20-8 thrashing of Brian Adams (Chartiers Houston). His semifinal bout was also a laugher as he stuck Earl Snyder (Phillipsburg-Osceola) in the first period, his 12th pin of the season. That set up a state final against super sophomore Kyle Nellis (Shaler), who had similarly dominated the season and would go on to win a state title and was a future All American for Pittsburgh. However, Cuvo took care of any drama with two first period takedowns, then put Nellis on his back in the third to cruise to an 11-7 win and the state championship. The following week, he rolled to a 19-8 win at the Dapper Dan.
History of Easton Wrestling 