Charles Griscavage
- Post by: mcalibrary
- January 11, 2024
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INDUCTEE
You can imagine not ever losing a basketball game at home for a full season. But how about a whole career? Charlie Griscavage did just that! During his four-year career at Mansfield University, his teams never lost a game at Decker Gymnasium, home turf for the Mansfield Mountainiers. From the time he entered college in 1958, the Mansfield basketball team would start a 27- year run where they would enter post season play on 21 different occasions. During his career, they were the first PSAC Champion ever and would go on to win it for four consecutive years. His teams were a combined 76-9 during his time with coach Bill Gibson. Charlie would become a three-year starter at shooting guard and would average 14-15 points per game while leading the team as captain in 1962. Some of his teammates like Craig Cooley, Jim Turner, Dave Russell and Dick DiBiaso are also listed in the Mansfield record books
Griscavage’s career started at Mount Carmel Catholic High as a freshman under coach Joe Apichella. He started for four years for the Rams and in 1958 helped coach Frank Ulicny achieve the first winning season in Catholic High history. Charlie would also become the leading scorer in Catholic High history when he posted 1,335 career points, surpassing Billy O’Brien’s 1,068 from 1951-54. Charles led the Anthracite Basketball League in scoring as a junior when he threw in 500 points, including a single-game high of 41. As a senior Charlie lead the Rams into a playoff for the first half title with Pottsville Nativity, and had high games of 35 against Marian Catholic and 30 in a 102-82 victory over Jim Thorpe. That was the highes scoring game in Ram history. Charlie’s 1,335 points still ranks 10th on the combined all-time scoring list of St Ed’s, Shamokin Catholic, Mt Carmel Catholic and Lourdes Regional.
In 1958, Catholic High entered the Bloomsburg State Teachers College Tournament for the first time and were victorious in the opener against Moscow, but lost in the semis to Tri-Valley. But Charlie and his pals Tony Brennan, Earl McGinley, George Richards, Stan Petrovich, Tony Strike, Ron and Larry Joyce and Billy Brown would start Catholic High basketball on the path to great success on the hardwood.
Griscavage would graduate from Mansfield in 1962 with a B.S. in Education and would begin a teaching and coaching career that would last close to 40 years. He would become the head basketball coach at Wellsboro for seven years and serve as the golf and tennis coach for 20 years. His 1983 tennis team would win the District IV Championship. Charlie also helped young basketball players develop as the coach of the Wellsboro Middle School basketball team for 25 years. He recently retired as a PIAA basketball official after 31 years. He makes his home in Wellsboro, where he and his wife, Sandy, are parents of four children, Charles Jr, Susan, Debbie, and Lisa.