VIC PEELISH
"Lifetime Service to Wrestling"
Coach Vic Peelish was one of the pioneer coaches to initiate the first state wrestling tournament. He was a native of Raleigh County, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1939.
 

Vic Peelish received a football scholarship to West Virginia University, where he lettered three years in football. He played in the Blue-Gray All-Star football game at Montgomery, Alabama in 1942. After his junior year, Coach Peelish joined the armed forces to fight in World War II for three years.
 

Coach Vic Peelish returned to West Virginia University after the conflict and earned his fourth football letter under Coach Bill Kerns. He received his bachelor's degree from West Virginia University in 1948.
 

Coach Vic Peelish coached the Beckley "Flying Eagles" Wrestling Team from 1948 until 1971. During his tenure as the school's first wrestling coach, Vie Peelish's teams won three state championships in 1949, 1952, and 1954. He also produced 25 individual state titlists, which ranks him in the top ten coaches of developing state champions. Three of Coach Peelish's wrestlers were two-time state champs-Mike Techak, Tom Slater, and John Summers.
 

Coach Vic Peelish retired from coaching wrestling In 1971. He was among the first class of inductees in the Raleigh County Wrestling Hall of Fame (1981).
 

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors Vic Peelish with a "Lifetime Service to Wrestling" award, class of 2003