Gene Bowman"Gene and Manny Pihakis and all those guys out there were Canonsburg wrestling," Vulcano told the Observer-Reporter newspaper. "Gene meant a lot to the sport. He directed the Wrestling Classic for 25 years and it is the Rose Bowl of wrestling."
In addition to his involvement with the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic, Gene Bowman was a wrestler and coach in southwest Pennsylvania.
Before graduating from Canonsburg High School in 1947, Bowman made a name for himself on the wrestling mat. He was a three-time WPIAL champion, and a Pennsylvania state tournament runner-up in 1947, losing in the finals by referee's decision to Don Maurey of Clearfield at 120 pounds.
Bowman then shared his knowledge and love of the sport as a coach, serving an assistant coach at Waynesburg University, as well as an assistant at Canon-McMillan High and as head coach at Chartiers-Houston.
Chris Mary, head coach at Canon-McMillan when the Big Macs won five state team titles in three seasons, said he remembers Bowman sitting in the stands for those matches, wearing his trademark cowboy hat.
"Me, my brother Phil, Sam Romano, we looked up to these guys," said Mary. "There will never be another Gene Bowman. Gene was so liked by everybody."
"Our wrestling family is so tight," Mary said, "and Gene was the father."
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
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