The local wrestling community lost one
of its biggest supporters on Tuesday.
Emil Branas of Portage passed away at
age 77.
While his name might not be familiar to
some, rest assured, he had a huge impact on the sport over the past
40 or more years. He worked behind the scenes, doing the types of
jobs that aren't glamorous and don't get much notice but that are
vital to the sport we love. He served as a volunteer scorekeeper and
timekeeper at tournaments around the state, whether at the
elementary, high school or college level. He was even honored as
Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling's man of the year in 2002 for his
service.
Mr. Branas was a former coal miner and
Marine who served in the Korea and Vietnam eras in the Asian Pacific
Theater. And, as the saying goes, once a Marine, always a Marine. He
wasn't one for political correctness or to mince words. Whether it
was referring to himself as “that old cripple from Portage” – a mining accident confined him to wheelchair for years, though he later was able walk with crutches and leg braces – or letting
local media members know what he thought of their sometimes sparse wrestling coverage,
he always spoke his mind.
When I saw Mr.
Branas' obituary and mentioned it in the newsroom, the name
immediately resonated, even with those who had not covered wrestling
in decades.
Luckily, I was on Mr. Branas' good side from the start.
He and my father had become friends years earlier with the shared
experience of thousands of hours sitting in stuffy gymnasiums as
their sons and grandsons wrestled across the state and country.
It's quite possible that I met Mr.
Branas when I was in high school – if I did, I no longer remember
it – but I will never forget the first time I heard his voice in
The Tribune-Democrat newsroom. I was working on the copy desk, a
position where I didn't do any writing, the first winter after having
left the Daily American. The late Mike Elswick, who was the TD sports
editor at the time, called me over to the answering machine to listen
to a message. “This is Emil Branas of Portage,” his recorded
voice boomed through the still quiet afternoon newsroom. “I don't
understand why you guys don't cover more wrestling. You've got a guy
there who can do a great job with it in Eric Knopsnyder, and you
don't even have him working in sports!”
I had to ask around to find out who he
was and how he knew about me, but I never forgot him after that
moment. Through the years, I got the chance to talk with him quite often when
I did work in sports and cover wrestle for The Tribune-Democrat. I
would see him almost every year at the District 6 tournament in
Altoona and I'd chat with his daughter, Susan Lucas, who worked at
the newspaper and was raised in wrestling-mad family just like mine.
He'd always ask about my family and fill me in on his.
The impact
that Mr. Branas and, by extension his family, had on wrestling
stretched from Portage to North Carolina. His sons have coached and
worked with many young wrestlers over the years to spread their love
for and knowledge of the sport.
Wrestling was far from Mr. Branas' only
interest – he also worked with a number of veterans organizations
and made more than 600 platelet donations – so I'm sure that there
are thousands of others who have been touched by his contributions.
His death is a loss for their communities as well as ours, but the
impact that he had will most certainly carry on for years to come.
Friends will be received from 6 to 8
p.m. Wednesday and 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Serenko-Claar
Funeral Home in Portage with a Funeral Mass at St. Bartholomew Church
in Wilmore at 11 a.m. Friday.
