Class of 2006
Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Jan Clark

Jan Clark s name is synonymous with wrestling and winning. The 1977 Northern Bedford County High School graduate set some phenomenal records and some very high standards.

Jan is a four-time District 5 champion and a three-time Northwest Regional champion. He was the first Bedford County wrestler to be a four-time state finalist and to be a three-time state champion. Bedford County has only claimed three other state champions, but they each won the state tournament only once. Jan won as many state titles as the rest of the county put together.
At the time of his graduation, Jan set a state record for wins with109. Jan lost five times in his career with three of the losses coming as a freshman (24-3) and two more as a sophomore (25-2). He went undefeated in his junior (27-0) and senior (33-0) seasons. Over the last three years, he won his last 71 matches in high school. Jan pinned 64 percent of his opponents with 73 falls in 114 matches.

In his senior year, he and his twin brother, Jay, helped Northern Bedford to their first win over Bedford  (29-28) with victories in the match.

After he won his third state championship, Jan represented Pennsylvania in the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic (PA. against the United States) in Pittsburgh and won his match. Jan was selected as a Scholastic Wrestling News High School All-American. He won the USWF state freestyle tournament and placed third in the  USWF Toumament. He was recipient of the Grand Champion ring, awarded to the best freestyle wrestler in the state of Pennsylvania.

After graduation, Jan signed with Clarion University, a Division I wrestling program, with a full scholarship. Jan was a four-year starter at Clarion. While at Clarion, J an was a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) runner-up and three-time third-place finisher. He also was a three-time third-place finisher in the Eastem Wrestling League (EWL).

After college, Jan became a high school wrestling coach. He started his coaching career as the head coach at Tussey Mountain, but left to be an assistant coach at Bedford. He later became head coach at Central before retuming to Northern Bedford, his alma mater, as head coach. As a coach, Jan was named District 5 Coach of the Year in 2000 and also named Altoona Mirror Coach of the Year four times. He has a career head coaching record of 185-150-2.

In 1990, Jan was voted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame as a wrestler.

Jan is in demand to do wrestling clinics throughout the area and he has helped for many years at Clarion Summer Wrestling Camps.

Jan and his wife Kim have three daughters and live in the Northern Bedford County School District.


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Class of 2006

Bedford County Sports
Hall of Fame