Anyone familiar with West Greene wrestling knows him by one name.

Buzz.

John "Buzz" Walters put West Greene wrestling on the map, starting the program from scratch and building into a perennial contender. He amassed a record of 284-134-3 at the helm of the Pioneer wrestling team and will be inducted into the school's hall of fame Wednesday, Feb. 10 when West Greene hosts McGuffey.

"It's always an honor to be inducted into a hall of fame," said Walters. "But it means more to me coming from the school I spent so much time at as a coach. In that situation, you're known for more than just a name and number of wins or state titles. They know you as a person."

It's fitting, then, that people know Walters as a person just as much as a coach, considering he was building better people in the process of building a better wrestler.

"We always focused on building the man first, and then build the wrestler," added Walters.

Many quality wrestlers patrolled the mats at Pioneer gym under Walters' tutelage, including the WPIAL runner-up team of 1974-75.

"Buzz was a disciplinarian," said Doug Conklin, co-captain of that team. "We conducted ourselves in a certain way on and off the mat. We went to matches dressed in shirts and ties, in a professional manner. He instilled qualities to use in life, not just on the mat."

That's exactly how those teams were, all business.

"We established the tradition that when you beat us, you had to wrestle for it," added Walters.

That tradition has come a long way, to the tune of 29 years and 28 consecutive winning seasons. But the program needed some work upon Walters' arrival in 1961.

"When I arrived, there wasn't a little league or junior high program," said Walters. "So we had to do some recruiting for not only the high school, but the younger kids as well to feed into the varsity team."

Those programs produced quality wrestlers as well as second-generation quality wrestlers.

"Buzz is the most competitive person I know," said Jeff Hamilton, a PIAA runner-up and whose father was West Greene's first section champion. "He would run every lap that the team ran. That kind of competiveness is what you need in a coach. It made me want to win so badly just for him."

Walters also went beyond the technical aspects of a wrestling coach.

"Buzz would talk to us about more than wrestling. He always reminded us to do the right thing," said Curt Hughes, co-captain of the 1974-75 team and current head wrestling coach at West Greene. "He called the night before a match to make sure we were getting our rest and such. It was just as important to him that he made you a better person."

And if "reaching out and touching someone" wasn't enough, Walters would drive to pick them up.

"I know if there was a snow day but we had practice, Buzz would drive out himself and pick up one of his kids if they didn't have a ride to the school," added Hamilton. "He's an icon. He did more for West Greene than anyone."

If Buzz set the bar at West Greene as a wrestling coach, then his son, Rikk, set it as a competitor. The younger Walters compiled 107 wins in his high school career, the first to break the century mark.

"He was strict, both as a coach and a father," said the younger Walters. "But I respect him for that now. Wrestling was a good way to build our father-son relationship."

Buzz built several other relationships along the way.

"I'm still close to Buzz," said Hamilton. "He taught me so much about work ethic."

That work ethic is something Rikk Walters is trying to pass down. He is also an assistant wrestling coach at West Greene.

"Rikk and I try to instill those same philosophies to the kids now," added Hughes. "Some things have changed, others haven't. We still try to round up athletes just like he did years ago."

Those kids and everyone in attendance Wednesday have a lot of history in store for them.

"I know he was excited when he first heard about the ceremony," said Rikk Walters.

"But I don't think it will hit him until that night."