June 5, 1936 – June 10, 2021
Theodore I. Reese III was educated at Noble and Greenough School and then on to Yale University. He graduated in 1958 with a B.A. in English, the Gleason Trophy in wrestling, and all the while winning four New England Freestyle championships. After Yale, Ted began a long and fruitful career in education. He first returned to Noble and Greenough to teach English and Latin and become head wrestling coach. He did the same at Milton Academy. During this time, he also served in the Marine Corps. Soon after, he earned a Master’s degree in Education at Harvard and another Master’s degree, in English, at Brandeis University. He was awarded his PhD in English at Brandeis in 1972. Ted’s thesis was on “The Character and Role of Guenevere in the Nineteenth Century,” an interest in the Arthurian Legend that derived from his early readings with his grandmother of The Boy’s King Arthur. While at Brandeis, Ted started the collegiate wrestling program.
Ted was a gifted, dedicated, and beloved teacher and extraordinary coach; the greater the challenge, the more he rose to meet the challenge. Excellence always mattered. Ted and his wife, Lynn, embraced a career change and moved to Maine in the early 1970s. In Maine, Ted taught English and Latin and coached at Camden-Rockport H.S. (1974-76). In 1976-78 he was at George’s Valley H.S. as an English teacher and head of the Department while, of course, coaching wrestling. He also was head of the English Department and Head Wrestling coach at Tabor Academy from 1978-1981.
In 1981-1995 Ted was back in Maine with major success at Bonny Eagle High School. He finally finished up his active career at the University of Southern Maine as Head wrestling coach, 1996-97. After he “retired,” Ted continued to coach wrestling at Scarborough H.S. and Mt. Ararat H.S. and to teach in Adult Education/Senior College programs throughout the Mid-Coast.
Ted was more concerned with the growth and development of the individual student and his/her contribution to the whole team than an individual win or loss. Although he was a scholar and dedicated classroom teacher, wrestling remained his first love. It taught him how to survive and thrive and he taught that to others. “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” – from Tennyson to Ted. And win, his students did. Ted and Lynn put a wrestling mat in their barn and never looked back. As head coach in Maine public schools (Bonny Eagle – 7 state championships, Scarborough, George’s Valley and Camden), as well as private schools in Massachusetts (Noble and Greenough, Milton Academy and Tabor Academy), Ted had forty-two state champion teams. During this tenure, he coached New England and freestyle champions, as well as three All-Americans and Three Maine All-Class most Outstanding Wrestlers. As at Brandeis, Ted founded the successful wrestling program at USM, where he coached the Outstanding Wrestler in New England and the following year, the University National Greco Champion and Freestyle Runner-up.
Although Ted was dedicated to the idea of creating parts of the bigger whole, he did manage to accumulate a few awards for himself. In 1983,1985,1990, 1993, 1994, and 1996 he was Bonny Eagle All-Sports Coach of the year. Also in 1983, he was the Maine/USA Wrestling Federation Head Coach/High School Coach of the All-Star Freestyle Team. In 1984, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994, and 1996, Ted was Maine State Wrestling Coach of the Year, All Classes. In 1987 and 1995, Ted was named Head Coach of the Maine-Nebraska Cultural Exchange, and in 1986 and 1990 Ted was nominated as National Coach of the year for Wrestling by the Maine High School Coaches’ Association. In addition, in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1994, and 1996 Ted earned League Wrestling Coach of the Year awards. In 1987, he was presented with the Certificate of Achievement from the Moscow Institute of Sport, USSR. In 1988, Ted was also granted the Certificate of Recognition and Nomination for the Jefferson Award for “outstanding public service” by the Maine Broadcasting System. In 1989 and 1991 Ted was named Site Coach in the Maine-Nebraska Cultural Exchange and, in 1991, he was presented with the National Region Coach of the Year. In 1994 he earned his Certificate for 400 wins as presented by the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association. In 1996, Ted was elected to the Maine Wrestling Hall of Fame. That same year, he was named Wrestling U.S.A. National Coach of the Year.
Ted also served on numerous boards and Coaches’ Associations throughout his career, and he was always pleased to use his grammatical skills to enhance any document. The most noteworthy of these was his partial authorship and proofreading for the United States Wrestling Syllabus.
Additionally, Ted was the first person in the United States to earn a Master Coach degree from FILA in 1982 and a Certificate of Achievement from the Moscow Institute of Sport in 1987. He was the Head Coach of a Maine wrestling team that toured Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 1975. He also staffed several World Cup and Olympic Teams as an Assistant Coach. He was always eager to help others achieve their best, in the classroom and on the mat. In the summer, Ted coordinated clinics for high school wrestlers with Olympic champions while providing tutoring for anyone who needed it, offered work on a dairy farm down the road, and, with his wife, provided trips to Portland for entertainment and cultural interests.
Ted’s mission was always to assist any student, young or old, male or female, to achieve their greatest potential, not only through school, but also with self-awareness and confidence achieved through persistence and hard work. It was acceptable to fail, if you learned from it; the coach and the team were always there to help you work harder, “to try and not to yield.” This was the life lesson to be learned from the teacher, the coach, the classroom, or the sport.
Ted leaves behind his beloved wife and loyal helpmate of 60 years, Lynn Bernheim of New York City, his brother-in-law and fellow U.S. Marine, Tom Bernheim, and his nephew Robert Bernheim and his family of South China, Maine. He also has two nieces, Anne Campbell of Starksboro, Vermont and Katy Bernheim of San Anselmo, California and their families. Although he is the last of the Reese line, his name is carried on by the 4 children of former wrestlers named after him. He will be sorely missed.