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Over the course of his 40 years (1963-2003) with Cerritos College, Hal Simonek spent time as the school's wrestling coach, instructor, Athletic Director, Dean of Athletics, women's cross country coach, women's water polo coach and women's swimming coach. On January 2, Simonek passed away, less than a month after his 90th birthday. The weekend of his birthday (December 11) was celebrated with family, friends and former wrestlers, all of which didn't know it would be that last time they'd see the person that influenced them during their formative years.

"(Simonek) is probably responsible for most of the things I've done (in wrestling)," said Jeff Smith, who was a state wrestling champion for Simonek in 1967 with the Falcons and then returned to the college as the wrestling coach and Athletic Director. "He had a great influence in my life. When I first met him while I was in high school, my first impression of him was that he was a really dynamic person. He got my attention right from the start."

That start came when Smith wrestled in a high school tournament at Cerritos College and upon receiving his first place trophy from Simonek, was encouraged to come wrestle for him. That request became a reality, thanks in part to Smith's father, who told him that since Simonek helped teach him how to wrestle, he should remain loyal to him.

"I was considering playing football and had a few scholarship offers," recalled Smith. "But when I decided to wrestle and play football, I only received one scholarship offer, and I didn't have the grades to get into UCLA. I decided to wrestle for Hal and it changed everything in my life."

Simonek (pictured, left), who was no 98-pound weakling, was a three-time CIF Champion in wrestling at Inglewood High School, winning his first title in 1948 at 98 pounds. He also joined the swimming and diving team and won another CIF championship. He started his collegiate career at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and after one year, enlisted with the Navy, where he competed on the Naval wrestling squad in San Diego. At the conclusion of his military service, he enrolled at El Camino College in 1957 and joined the program led by Dave Hengsteler. Simonek won 90 percent of his matches and was named co-captain. After earning his AA, he went back to Cal Poly where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree and Masters in 1960.

During his stay at Cal Poly SLO he won a conference title in wrestling in 1958 and was a member of a Pacific Coast championship team. Simonek majored in Physical Education at Cal Poly SLO, and in one semester, was roommates with NFL Hall of Fame coach John Madden. While on the wrestling team, Simonek took third place in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Championships, first place at the Far Western Championships, and first at the Regional Olympic Trials in California. In 1958, he joined five other Cal Poly wrestlers to become the first to qualify for NCAA Nationals, where he went 1-2.

Upon graduating, Simonek taught and coached his first three years at Hawthorne High School, where he led his team to a Bay League championship in wrestling. He spent three seasons there before being hired at Cerritos College in 1963. In his time with the Falcons, Simonek coached the team to the 1971 State Championship, had 19 individual state champions and 55 All-Americans.

Even with all of his success as a coach, the one common thread that connects Simonek with all of his opposing coaches: he was the most well-liked person they all met. Simonek had the ability to out-smart you on the mat and then warm you with his smile.

"It is a very sad day for Cerritos College wrestling with the passing of Hal Simonek" said Donny Garriott, who's been the Falcons head coach since 2006. "Hal set a standard here for Cerritos wrestling that every coach after has had to work very hard to maintain. He truly was the father of Cerritos College wrestling."

"Hal was one of the best wrestling coaches I ever coached against," said John Woods, who coached at Palomar College. "He had an uncanny way of developing student-athletes. They would struggle to place in early tournaments and end the season as an All-American. It was his passion for the sport and the genuine concern for his athletes that made the difference. I learned a lot from Hal."

Tom Hazell, who wrestled against a Simonek-coached team in 1971 and then coached against him at El Camino College, recalls Simonek being wiley and pulling out all the stops in order to win.

"When I was a freshman at El Camino in 1971, I was wrestling at heavyweight and had beaten their guy, Dave Campbell, four times during the season," stated Hazell. "But by the time we got to the state championships, Campbell suddenly had improved dramatically and ended up beating me in the championship match. I found out afterward that Hal had brought in Jeff Smith (a former Cerritos state champion and Michigan State national champion) to work out with Campbell and he taught him how to counter everything I did to beat him during the season. Hal was very smart that way and made everyone around him better."

Smith, who still ribs Hazell 50 years later, saw several similarities his his coaching career compared to Simonek.

"We both won a lot of matches in our years and had a lot of state champions," mentioned Smith (left, with Simonek). "But the main difference was that everyone he beat still liked him. Everyone I beat didn't like me. People just liked him, regardless. That's just a perfect example of who Hal was."