Courtesy of Chuck Langerman

As an 87-pound Thomas Williams Junior High School student, John McHugh never pictured himself in the sport of wrestling. In retirement, he could not have pictured his life without it.

As a wrestler at Cheltenham High School, he won three district titles, three regional titles, and in 1953 he won the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship at the 103-pound weight class. John is the third and last PIAA state wrestling champion from Cheltenham High School. The first CHS state champ was Tom Boggs at 98 pounds in 1939, and the second Panther state champion was Joe Tropp at 165 pounds in 1940.

Upon graduating from CHS, John received a scholarship to the University of Maryland where he became a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion and made the NCAA tournament three times. Following his schooling at Maryland, John served in the US Marine Corps as 2nd Lieutenant and served active duty from 1959-1962. From there it was on to college coaching at Catholic University, American University, and his alma mater the University of Maryland where he was the head coach for 25 years.

Overall, in his college coaching career, he recorded 287 victories as a head wrestling coach. At Maryland, John coached seven All-Americans and 23 ACC champions.

In 2002, John was enshrined in the Cheltenham High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame.

For his successes on and off the mat, John goes down into the record books as the most accomplished wrestler to date in Cheltenham High School history.