Jerry Blew
Class of 2003
Lake Park
Born in 1940, Jerry Blew attended Chillicothe Township High School in Chillicothe, Illinois. He was a 1958 graduate. Chillicothe had no wrestling program, but he played, football, basketball, and baseball.
He attended Western Illinois University where he played football. Jerry graduated from WIU in 1962.
The first match that Jerry witnessed was one that he coached at Barrington High School in 1962 as the sophomore coach. Jerry continued to learn the sport of wrestling on the job by asking questions, reading books and practicing.
In 1964, Jerry was named the Head Wrestling Coach at Lake Park High School. In 1966, his team won the first trophy (district championship) in the school’s history. After eight years of coaching, Jerry moved on to administration, first as Assistant Principal then as Principal. He served with Lake Park High School for 32 years, retiring in 1994. He currently serves as the assistant football coach at Riverside-Brookfield.
Jerry continued to follow the sport as a volunteer worker for the IHSA State Tournament. He began as a bench official in 1966. After three years, he became a team scorer. He later became head team scorer and then the supervisor of the head table. He has worked 38 consecutive state tournaments through 2003.
He kept the team score at the 1970 NCAA Tournament at Northwestern University, the NCAA Regional at Northern Illinois University and the Midlands.
Jerry is a member of the Western Illinois University Hall of Fame and the Chillicothe High School Hall of Fame.