Chad Pines
Accomplishments: Pines, a physical gifted tactician on the mat, finished his Cedar Cliff career with a 126-7 mark in a time when schools didn't stack up on dual-meet tournaments to pad stats. He is one of 10 wrestlers in the history of the District 3 Championships to win four titles. He was also a four-time state qualifier and three-time placer, finishing third (!988), fourth (1989) and second as a senior.
Did you know: The Colts grad was always into physical fitness, and that continued after his days at Cedar Cliff. Pines is a nationally certified personal trainer and nutritional consultant and founder of Chad Pines Fitness Consulting, LLC. He services hundreds of clients ranging from professional athletes to executives and stay-at-home moms. Pines has also appeared on QVC and was featured in “Exercise for Men Only Magazine” as one of America's top fitness trainers.
Why here: This list is weighted heavily on titles at the district and state level, as well as performance over an entire career. There are also hidden considerations like weight class and quality of opponents To some, Pines might fall short in some of the above criteria. He failed to win state gold and only made the finals once, placing second to three-time Nazareth placer Mike Miller his senior season. Still, every coach and historian we talked to gushed about Pines' ability, work ethic and prowess on the mat. Many of these same people indicated that Pines, who didn't lose a regular season match after his freshman season, is the best wrestler to roll through District 3 in the modern era and not win a PIAA title. That's good enough for me.
What they said: “You just couldn't wait until Chad Pines got on the mat when you attended a Cedar Cliff match, because you knew you were going to see outstanding wrestling. You had to be alert, because it would only last 45 seconds. He was always aggressive and always going for a pin. He was an amazing wrestler, fit, dedicated, talented and in the end, a tremendous sportsman.” — Rod Frisco, former lead wrestling writer for The Patriot-News.