The Lancaster-Lebanon League lost a combined 24 years of wrestling coaching experience when Pequea Valley's Mark Grossmann and Donegal's Dan Bechtold resigned their respective positions.

That 24 years is top-heavy in favor of Grossmann, who led the Braves for the past 20 seasons, while Bechtold's limited four-year run with the Indians was unprecedented — on the local level — in terms of success.

Bechtold, a fifth-place state medalist for Hempfield High School and three-time Middle Atlantic Conference placewinner — and one-time champion — for Elizabethtown College, will return to E-town as an assistant coach.

Grossmann, who had two state medalists, four regional champs, 19 district placewinners (three titlists) and 27 sectional champs, as well as a 2000 sectional tournament team title, will continue to help the Manheim Township youth program. Grossmann's 11-year-old son Matt attends Township and participates in the Blue Streaks' wrestling program.

Additionally, PV assistant and former Conestoga High School head coach Al Wolstenholme, and longtime Donegal assistant coach Tom Konas have resigned.

Wolstenholme, who will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame along with former Ephrata coach Merv Witmer on May 18, had 337 wins at Conestoga and is a member of both the District One and Pennsylvania Wrestling halls of fame.

"About three years ago we decided this year would be a good year to transition," Grossmann said in an e-mail. "We graduate a really fantastic group of kids this year — we went 55-20 with the four seniors."

Grossmann said his best season at PV was 2000, when Dave Finger, Martin Ayers and Jon Campos all qualified for states. That squad finished in the top 10 at the league tournament, won sectionals and was top 10 at both districts and regionals.

This year's team posted the best dual-meet record, going 16-2 and finishing just behind Donegal in the Section Three race.

Grossmann, 43, said a huge part of his decision to leave was the desire to spend more time with his wife and two children — daughter Claudia (14) and Matt. "I really want to be able to watch Matt throughout his career."

Grossmann said he was pleased with his overall record of 148-155, especially considering his early teams were just 3-47. No successor has been named at PV.

No one has been named to replace Bechtold, either, although the new coach will be stepping into some big shoes.

Bechtold's four-year overall record is 59-22, but his league record is a perfect 24-0. He is believed to be the only coach in L-L League wrestling history to win four section titles in his first four seasons as head coach.

"When I came to Donegal, I saw a team with potential," said Bechtold, 29, who is married and has two sons under 3. "Over the past four years, I've had the opportunity to see these kids achieve many goals, both individually and as a team."

Success seems to follow Bechtold, or he seems to bring success to all aspects of his wrestling career.

He went 90-17 at Hempfield before going 82-22 at E-town. He was a volunteer assistant coach at Hempfield in 2000-01, when the Knights won the Section One and L-L League Individual Tournament team titles.

He then served as the head junior high coach at Elizabethtown for two years, before going back to high school as an assistant under Justin Barbush at Manheim Central in 2003-04. The Barons won the Section Two title that season.

Bechtold, who will continue to teach history, replaced John Felix at Donegal for the 2004-05 season, and earned the first of his four consecutive Section Three titles that year. The Indians have 12 section titles overall.

"It's a huge loss. He's good for the kids and good for the school," said Ron Kennedy, the athletic director at Donegal. "It'll be tough to replace him, but we thought the same thing when we had to replace Walt Price, Gene Funk and John Felix. The tradition of the program is still going to be there, and that helps it to be successful."

Bechtold said his decision to leave was made easier because, in addition to the high school program, the Donegal elementary and junior high programs are also in good shape.

"The opportunity to go back and coach where I graduated from was something I really couldn't pass up," Bechtold said of joining Eric Walker's staff at E-town.

Although he was approached about joining the Blue Jays in January, Bechtold put off any discussion until after the high school season ended.

"I wanted to make sure I didn't short-change the kids. I really thought this year was my best year coaching," Bechtold said of guiding a relatively young team that also had to deal with several major injuries.

"Now, I'm looking forward to the little nuances of technique and coaching advanced aspects of wrestling," he said. "Working with college kids is something that will be new and challenging."

Intelligencer Journal Sports Writer Matt Blymier contributed to this story.

E-mail: pkauffman@lnpnews.com