School: Harry S. Truman
Wrestling
By Alex Frazier
One day recently, Harry S Truman wrestling coach Steve Given found himself alone at practice because all his assistants were committed to other duties during midterms.
The team was working on leg counters, and heavyweight Quinton Bryant was having trouble picking up on the drill.
Because Given was busy leading practice, Bryant asked Sean Edmondson to help him.
“That’s how much trust Quinton, who is ranked top 25 in the state, has to ask Sean ‘How do I do this right?’ That’s how he’s thought of by his teammates, too, let alone the teachers in the school,” said Given.
For Edmondson, it was no big deal.
“People always helped me so I might as well return the favor,” he said.
Once in a blue moon does an athlete like Edmondson come along who is a program maker.
When Edmondson joined the Tigers’ wrestling program as a freshman, the team went 9-10.
“Between him and (James) Bak as a sophomore, the team started to mold,” said Given.
That year they won 18 matches and followed up with 17 the next year.
Now, with Edmondson in his senior year, Truman has already equaled those 17 wins with four matches to go.
“Sometime a program takes over what their leader’s done,” said Given. “It’s going to be tough next year because we aren’t going to have those kids. Every day we let every single kid in the room wrestle Sean live so they know what’s it’s like, even Quinton our heavyweight.”
In the past three years, Edmondson has won two sectional championships, qualified for districts three times, placing twice, and qualified for regions twice.
Edmondson was undefeated in the league as a freshman and junior. As of Jan. 27, he had a chance to do that again this year.
“That would be another nice accolade to add,” said Given.
“I go out and wrestle the same way every match,” said Edmondson, who seems to avoid the spotlight. “Rankings really don’t mean much anyway.”
Back on January 19, Edmondson set the Truman career wins record by pinning William Tennent’s Frank Puccio in 29 seconds for his 124th victory.
As he inched closer to the record, people would ask him how many more he had to go, but he couldn’t answer them.
“It just kind of came,” said Edmondson. “I just go out and wrestle every match, and whatever happens, happens.”
The landmark wasn’t lost on school administration. The district superintendent Dr. Samuel Lee as well as Truman principal James Moore left a school board meeting to witness the historic moment.
“They wanted to know what time Sean would wrestle so they could leave the school board meeting and make the presentation,” said Given.
Here are a couple more amazing statistics: Edmondson has been undefeated in or won 18 individual high school tournaments and racked up 72 career pins.
He started wrestling at the age of four, prompted by his father, who had also been a wrestler.
“I picked up on it pretty quick,” said Edmondson, who also briefly tried T-ball and football.
Edmondson is team captain this year, but he has been a leader all along.
“He’s been trying to take a leadership role in the room probably since day one,” said Given. “Since he was a freshman, he wanted to make a statement in that room.”
But not authoritatively.
“I don’t like having one leader,” said Edmondson. “I like to let other people step in once in a while too.”
Given calls him a “student of the sport.”
“He’ll sit there and help us make lineup moves,” said the coach.
Edmondson has unselfishly volunteered to wrestle at any of three weight classes this year to help out the team.
“You don’t get that a whole lot in kids anymore,” said Given. “If he has a fault, it’s that he worries about the program too much and other kids too much. Sometimes I have to remind him to let me worry about that and you take care of you.”
Edmondson has been a member of the Varsity Club for three years, which requires a GPA of 3.0.
Naturally, that was no object for Edmondson who has held a 4.0 GPA for most of his time at Truman. Recently it dropped to 3.85 because of the difficult curriculum he chose.
“I’m taking harder classes than normal this year,” he said. “I could have made it easy.”
This year he’s taking calculus, advanced placement government and honors physics.
“I think in the classroom, Sean tries to make everybody better too,” said Given. “He’s just not selfish.”
Last summer, Edmondson spent a week camping with a group of special needs kids at Camp Hidden Falls.
“He slept with them, camped with them, built fires with them, roasted marshmallows with them,” said Given.
“It was different seeing how they interact,” said Edmondson. “It was pretty fun and interesting.”
He plans to do it again this summer.
Edmondson is still trying to figure out what direction he wants to head in. He could pursue engineering at Drexel and be on course to make some big bucks, or he could head toward Lock Haven or Bloomsburg and pursue a teaching career.
“It depends where I go,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to be a math teacher.”
He’s waiting to make a decision to see if he is offered any scholarships.
The one goal that has eluded Edmondson over the past three years has been a trip to the PIAA Championships.
“I have to make it to states,” he said. “It’s my last year. I have to push for it.”
Edmondson believes he has improved this year.
“I work hard every day in the room and get better every day,” he said. “I’m older and a little stronger than most of the kids.”
“Hopefully Sean can get there this year,” said Given.
In any event, it will be his last on the Truman team.
“He’ll be sorely missed,” said Given. “His leadership and his value are unquestionable to the program. He’s one of the most likeable kids in the school by far.”
