Gibby Sweet, who starred in wrestling and track at Pearl River and then was a highly successful wrestling coach at Tappan Zee, died at 75.
When Stephen Nevins started wrestling at Div. I East Stroudsburg State, he was struck by how practice was less structured and much less demanding than in high school.
After college, attending the police academy, he watched as others struggled mightily with its physical requirements.
But Nevins had no problem. After all, wrestling workouts at Tappan Zee High School for coach William "Gibby" Sweet had been multiple times tougher.
In fact, nothing in his experience was ever physically tougher.
No team was in better condition than TZ, Nevins said, noting while someone might lose to an opponent with better technical skills, "You never saw a Tappan Zee wrestler run out of gas."
Nevins, who retired in 2016 as a State Police major heading the Governor's protective services, is one of many people this week remembering Sweet, a member of the Rockland Sports Hall of Fame and a man who helped shape Nevins' life, as well as those of many former TZ wrestlers. Sweet, a Pearl River resident, died of melanoma August 13 at the age of 75 at Joe Raso Hospice in New City.
Sweet amassed an 87-10 record coaching wrestling at TZ from 1974 through 1979, after winning a state title at Pearl River. He was a junior college All-American in wrestling at Rockland Community College and later also became a Div. I All-American wrestling for Indiana State University.
Before joining Tappan Zee as a physical education teacher and coach, Sweet, The Journal News Wrestler of the Year as a Pearl River senior in 1968, wrestled for the U.S. internationally and was an alternate on the U.S. World Cup team.
Nevins, a 1976 TZ grad, was part of two of the three teams (1975-76) for which Sweet gained Rockland County Coach of the Year honors. (The other was in 1977.)
Sweet, who was also a Rockland County and Section 9 champion runner at 440 yards, turned the TZ wrestling program around.
Nevins noted before Sweet came on board for the 1973-74 season, he and his teammates thought, at best, their team would finish .500, and wrestling was viewed as "kind of a way to pass the winter."
But Sweet placed the bar high and his wrestlers cleared it. During Sweet's six seasons, TZ won three Rockland County team titles. His wrestlers also won 24 Rockland individual championships, 14 Section 9 championships and eight state championships, all more than any other team in the county during those years. Tappan Zee won the county team title in 2025, its first in 48 seasons.
Nevins, who became a Rockland County and Section 9 champion at 145 pounds, said while Sweet was "very quiet and wasn't a screamer," he delivered a loud and clear message: "If you work hard and pay attention, you'll be a champion."
"He had a way of making it happen," said Nevins. "He wrestled on the international level, yet he could relate to a freshman wrestler."
"It's safe to say he impacted every guy who spent any time in the wrestling room," said Nevins, who noted two years ago a large dinner was held in Congers in Sweet's honor.
Nevins, who traveled from his Tennessee home two weeks ago to visit his ailing former coach, had stayed in regular touch with him over the decades.
It was an unbreakable connection others also shared with Sweet.
Nevins noted classmate Graham Gillespie, who hadn't gotten into many matches and described himself as a "peripheral" member of the team, couldn't attend but penned a letter for the dinner, citing Sweet's impact.
Gillespie, who characterized workouts as "really, really grueling," said Sweet provided life lessons, including that work plus sacrifice equal achievement, lead by example and "be fair to all," and "caring lasts a lifetime."
Gillespie noted in part how moved he was when Sweet showed up 18 years ago at his dad's funeral.
But that, according to Nevin and to John Scanlan, Sweet's wrestling teammate at Pearl River, was just Sweet's way.
Both pointed to Sweet's community involvement.
Sweet, who had multiple careers after teaching and coaching (in part, playing some pro golf and working as a model and actor), founded the Pearl River High School Sports Hall of Fame and three scholarship programs, the Coach Dag Scholarship Golf Tournament (named after his high school wrestling and football coach, Julie D’Agostino); the Craig Marshiano Scholarship at Tappan Zee (in honor of the 1977 grad and All-County wrestler, who died in 1992) and the William G. Sweet Memorial Scholarship at North Rockland High (honoring his late dad, a 31-year North Rockland teacher).
Scanlan, a 1977 Pearl River graduate who lives in Pennsylvania, described Sweet, who he first met in sixth grade, as a "serious guy with a great sense of humor," who "took the same energy and dedication" he showed as a high school wrestler into everything he pursued.
Scanlan noted he and Sweet would stay long after team practices ended to wrestle together to improve.
Working hard was always part of Sweet's makeup, he indicated.
"He's just going to be missed. What a great man he grew up to be," Scanlan said.
"He just had a commanding presence about him," Nevins said. "You think of the talent he had. ... For all of us, he was just larger than life."
Sweet was born November 24, 1949 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois to William G. and Rosemary (Stringer) Sweet. He's survived by brothers John Sweet of Haverstraw and Ted Sweet of Cornwall, a sister, Deborah Sweet of New City, nieces Sara and Casey Mayo and Jamie Sweet and nepthews Matthew, John and Joe Sweet, and Shane Mayo.
Sweet's family also has praised former Clarkstown South wrestler and coach John Laurenzi, who provided support to Sweet throughout his long battle with melanoma.
Sweet was buried Monday at Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack.
Sweet's family has asked that any donations in his name be made to the Joe Raso Hospice Residence in New City, or to the Trust for the Benefit of William G. Sweet, P.O. Box 212, Congers, N.Y. 10920.
Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Gibby Sweet, former state wrestling champ from Rockland, remembered
Category: General Sports
