Bobby Weaver

Bobby Weaver ’77

Career Record: 87-3

Postseasons: 3x D11 Champ, 2x NE Regional Champ, 3x State Champ

Tournament Championships: 3x Easton Invitational

College: Lehigh (All American)

1977 – 105 lbs. (Sr.): 29-0; District Champ, Regional Champ, State Champ (29-0)

1976 – 98 lbs. (Jr.): 28-0; District Champ, Regional Champ, State Champ (28-0)

1975 – 98 lbs. (So.): District Champ, Regional Runner-Up, State Champ (23-1)

1974 – 88 lbs. (Fr.): District Runner-Up (exhibition weight) (7-2)

Bobby Weaver is only Easton wrestler to earn the sport’s ultimate prize, an Olympic Gold Medal, and is one of the iconic figures in Lehigh Valley wrestling.

Still, he lost a wrestle-off to Henry Callie as a freshman, and was forced to wrestle the 88 pound exhibition weight during his ninth grade season, while Callie was a D11 finalist and state qualiifer. Weaver dropped the 88 pound D11 final to rival and fellow future All American Jim Zenz (Saucon Valley).

As a sophomore, Weaver made his debut against Neshaminy, pinning Chuck Weirnicki in the first period with his patented near-side cradle. That was a stretch of four falls to start his career before beating Tom Showers (Manheim Township), 13-7 in the Easton Invitational finals. Weaver had falls in eleven of his fourteen regular season wins. At the D11 tournament, Weaver had a pin and an 8-0 shutout to set up a varsity D11 final against Zenz, whom Weaver handled 7-2. The following week, Weaver opened Northeast Regionals with a pin, but fell in the semifinals to Zenz, 4-3. Benefitting from the expanded state field, Weaver crushed Bob Kern (Freedom) 13-2 to earn a trip to states as the third place finisher at regionals. At states, Weaver left nothing to chance. He hammered Randy Hoffman (Cumberland Valley) and Kirk Dabney (Ridley) in his first two matches before crushing Northeast Regional runner-up Kurt Nagle (Jersey Shore), 11-1 in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Zenz lost to Barry Blefko (Manheim Township), who would meet Weaver in the finals. Weaver had the lone takedown of the match and won his first state title by 3-1 decision.

As a junior, Weaver dominated the field – pinning his way through the Easton Invitational and rolling to an undefeated regular season. In the D11 tournament, he had three falls and a 5-0 decision of Gene Waas (Bethlehem Catholic) to win his second straight title. The following week, he earned his first Northeast Regional championship the hard way. After two first period pins, he met freshman standout John Brennan (Wyoming Valley West) in the finals. After giving up the first takedown, Weaver came back to beat Brennan 4-3 for the title. The following week, Weaver steamrolled again to finals, with a pin and two shutouts. Brennan did the same thing on the other side for one of the first Regional Final rematches for a state championship. Weaver stretched the margin this time around, beating Brennan 9-6 to become Easton’s first two-time state champion. That summer, Weaver qualified for the Olympic Trials and wrestled all the way to finals, where he lost to Arizona State standout Bill Rosado for the spot on the 1976 Olympic team at 105.5 pounds.

As a senior, Weaver pinned 15 of his 18 regular season opponents, including pinning the field for his third straight Easton Invitational title, joining Chico Lutes, Henry Callie, and Greg Shoemaker as three-time winners. He pinned his way to his third D11 final, where he “only” defeated Lee Billy (Northampton) 14-2, the second time Billy went the distance with Weaver that season. Northeast Regionals saw Weaver display similar dominance, with a pair of falls and a 20-5 execution of Jack Johnson (Berwick) in the finals. The first two rounds of the state tournament saw Weaver crack the 50 pin barrier for his career, an astonishing number in the 1970s, when he had a pair of first period falls. In the semifinals, Weaver took on future three-time Division III All American Curt Ellis (Washington), whom he knocked off 6-4. In the finals, he took on fellow lightweight superstar and future state champion and World Team member Ken Whitsel (Lewistown), knocking off the sophomore 7-4 to become the first D11 wrestler ever with three state championships.

Weaver took a prep year at Blair Academy to try and gain weight closer to the NCAA minimum of 118 pounds, and won a National Prep title for the Buccaneers. He also won a silver medal at the 1979 World Championships following his redshirt year at Lehigh.

He wrestled for Lehigh, where he won two EIWA titles took third at the 1982 NCAA tournament despite weighing under 110 pounds. He made the 1980 Olympic team, but did not compete due to the USA’s boycott of the Moscow Olympics. After waiting four long years, Weaver made the team again in 1984 and took advantage of the opportunity, pinning his way to a Gold Medal in Los Angeles.