Spotlight shines on Mt. Lebanon wrestler
Gibbons enters Century Club
Mt. Lebanon illuminates wrestlers during scholastic matches using a single spotlight, but Cole Gibbons doesn’t need one because the senior always seems to be in the limelight.
Not only is he a dual-sport standout – he has three WPIAL lacrosse titles to his credit in addition to more than 100 career wrestling wins – he’s a standout in the classroom with a 4.6 overall grade point average, a champion in Future Business Leaders of America competitions and, last but not least, the school’s mascot taking in the football and basketball frays from the the catbird seat with his spear and horned helmet.
“It’s a tradition passed down and the seniors last season voted me in,” explained Gibbons of his coronation as the Blue Devil. “It’s an honor.”
Gibbons says his duties are to keep the crowd “engaged and excited” as well as “control” the antics of the students in the designated fan section.
“It’s on me what others do. It requires leadership, responsibility and courage, especially when you have to tell them to knock it off,” he said when students demonstrate less than appropriate behavior especially against heated rivals. “The kids respect me. I love doing it.”
Being Lebo’s top cheerleader can be difficult when it comes to balancing his own athletic endeavors. For Gibbons, wrestling season overlaps with the basketball wars, which heat up when Mt. Lebanon visits two-time defending champion Upper St. Clair at 7 p.m. Jan. 13.
“It can be a challenge,” he said.
Gibbons, however, is succeeding. Most recently, he entered the prestigious Century Club when he came-from-behind to beat Ewan Olson for his 100th career victory. During the Moon Duals held Dec. 13, Gibbons scored a last-second takedown to beat the Derry grappler, 7-5.
“I did know,” Gibbons said of the significance of the match. “I was nervous about it.
“(Olson’s) a good wrestler and I knew it would be a tough match. I wanted to beat him but I was losing by a point before I took the shot with 10 seconds left.
“It was special because it was a tough win against a good opponent,” Gibbons added.
The achievement is extraordinary because Gibbons is among only a handful of grapplers to reach the plateau although Mt. Lebanon has produced more than a dozen state champions.
Luke Stout leads the list with 153 career wins followed by his brothers, Kellan (138) and Mac (133). Nathan Hoagland (110), Jackson Gray (106) and Ben Lloyd (104) are also members of the Century Club.
Of 100 career wins Gibbons said, “It’s the standard and to be one of only a few from Mt. Lebanon to have done it is 100 percent meaningful. It feels amazing to finally have accomplished this.”
Gibbons noted the feat is “hard to do” because a wrestler must stay healthy, be consistent and work hard. “I’ve been chipping away at this for a while,” he said. “So I am in awe.”
It’s a wonder Gibbons is competitive on the mat as well as on the lacrosse field because while playing football he fractured his back and was confined to a body brace for a time.
“I didn’t realize it happened when I hurt my back but it slowly got worse, to the point where I couldn’t do anything anymore,” Gibbons said. “Once I healed, I didn’t go back to football. There were no ramifications with my other sports. I don’t worry about it anymore.”
Gibbons just does “lots of stretches” to loosen up and applies heat and ice after matches. “You push through,” he said.
Gibbons has prevailed to become one of the top wrestlers in the WPIAL. Currently, he is ranked among the top 4 at 160. He wrestled at 152 at Powerade reaching the round of 16 to improve his record to 105-40 overall. He is anticipating a good showing at the upcoming Allegheny County Wrestling Championships to be held Jan. 16 and 17 at Fox Chapel High School.
“Powereade is a hard tournament to place but I’m hoping to do well at county championships. Right now I’m comfortable where I am.”
Gibbons noted that his individual goals for the remainder of the wrestling season are to become a WPIAL champion and place high at states, which are set for March 6-8 at the Giant Center in Hershey. He has to decide at which weight (152, 160 or 172) he will compete.
“There are a lot of good wrestlers in the region and states and I will see where I fit in best,” he said.
Wrestling fits best in Gibbons’ post-scholastic plans. He has decided to wrestle, instead of play lacrosse, in college. He will compete at New York University while pursuing a career in business.
“I wanted a high level of academics and NYU offered some pretty good wrestling,” Gibbons said. “I think it’s a perfect fit for me.”
Gibbons added that he would miss lacrosse, but he has one more season to play the sport, he’s competed in since first grade.
“Hoping for a great spring,” he said. “We want to four-peat.”
Gibbons has played defense on all three of Lebo’s previous WPIAL championship boys lacrosse teams.
“Lacrosse has been one of my favorite sports,” said Gibbons, who started playing at an early age because his siblings competed.
“I love being a defender because nobody is hitting you ever.”
Because of his success the past two years, Gibbons’s passion for wrestling surpassed that of lacrosse. He started practicing more to hone his skills. In addition to his routine of 6 a.m. summer workouts and school practices, Gibbons joined the Gladiator Wrestling Club in Imperial two years ago.
“It’s an amazing club with challenging practices and learning techniques. I’ve seen a lot of growth in my wrestling and all I do,” Gibbons said. “I love to learn new things and put them to work on the mat. Once I learn something, I want to apply it.
“When it works, it feels so good,” Gibbons added. “Recently, I have been seeing more results in wrestling because of practicing so much and because all the coaches around me have been awesome.”
While his former coach Marc Allemang (now at Thomas Jefferson High School) and current high school skipper Tyler Daffinee have been leaving a mark on him, Gibbons has been influenced most by his father, Joe. The 1987 Mt. Lebanon alum has coached his son all through the youth program at Mt. Lebanon, where he finished fifth a few times at the state level.
“Coach Allemang has been a part of my whole life and Coach Daffinee has really stepped up to assure we are successful this season,” Gibbons said.
“The greatest lessons that I have learned have been from my father. The main thing is your mentality on and off the mat. On the mat, you have a different attitude. You want to beat up the guy. But you want to be a great person off the mat. I hope people think that about me.”
Mindset, Gibbons concluded, is the “hardest part” of wrestling.
“You are out there alone,” he said. “In the spotlight literally.”
Cole Gibbons
INFO BOX:
Who is he: Mt. Lebanon High School senior who recently entered the Century Club by record his 100th career wrestling win.
Birthday: Jan. 6
Parents: Ed and Collette. Both are 1987 Mt. Lebanon graduates. He was a wrestler. She was a Rockette in the marching band.
Siblings: Joe, Lexi and Megan. Joe played lacrosse at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Lexi is a Lafayette University graduate and Megan earned an engineering degree from Lehigh. Both live and work in New York City, Lexi in the marketing department for Macy’s.
GPA: 4.6
Clubs: Future Business Leaders of America. Recently qualified for the state championships by winning the regional competition.
Sports: Wrestling, lacrosse
College choice: New York University
Major: Business
Food: Chicken Alfredo.
Restaurant: Giovanni’s Pizza and Pasta in Dormont
Book: The Great Gatsby
Color: Blue
People might be surprised to know this about you: I used to play the drums.
Music: Shakira is my favorite artist and I enjoy hype songs, particularly before matches and games.
Life lesson sports has taught you: Be coachable. Listen to what people want to teach you because you will only benefit from the lessons.
Favorite athlete: Tom Brady. “No one believed in him. Once he got his opportunity, he did not leave the field.”
Did you know: Gibbons is the Blue Devil mascot, donning the horns and spear for football and basketball games.
With whom would you like to have dinner: John F. Kennedy. “I’d like to ask why they killed him?”