If a coach helps to launch a wrestling program at a Virginia high school; proceeds for 24 years as head coach to win a state team title, three regional championships, and 408 matches; and starts a girls team--all the while fundraising to build a wrestling room and offer an annual scholarship--he would fit comfortably in any chapter’s Hall of Fame.

If this coach is Jon VanSice, we would add another honor, the Medal of Courage.

Born in Pennsylvania, Jon attended and wrestled for DuBois Area High School, graduating in 1973. He married Anita, his lifelong love and partner, and started his family with Kyle (born 1983) and Zachary (born 1985). He also started a venture as the proprietor of a nursery business.

Then came the life-changing trauma: a traffic accident in 1986 that left him paraplegic and wheelchair-bound.

He had the courage it took to adjust to the hardships, turning his limitations into the advantage of working from home to raise his boys. Recalling the wrestling days of his youth, he offered his services at his sons’ high school, Clarke County High School in Berryville, Virginia. As Kyle entered Clarke County, Jon was establishing in 1999 a wrestling program, complete with a feeder youth squad, for the Eagles. (Kyle would be one of his state champions.)

Jon raised $80,000 to move practices out of the cafeteria and into a purpose-built wrestling room, while setting up with Anita a yearly scholarship of $1,000 for a deserving senior.

The new program soon became a perennial contender. Coach VanSice’s boys finished in the top five a total of 12 times in state Single-A and later, Division 2 competition, coming away with two four-time state champions, 21 individual gold medals (plus two for his recent girls program), and three regional team championships.

The glory year came in 2015, when they captured the Division 2 team state championship, nosing out the famed and feared Grundy program. Jon was named the Winchester Star’s Coach of the Year for the region in 2010, 2015, and 2016.

Coach VanSice retired from coaching in 2024, after providing for a successor who had wrestled for him.

We are proud to honor Coach as the founder of Clarke County wrestling and an inspiration everywhere for overcoming adversity.