Wyandot Sports Hall of Fame

He graduated from Claridon High School (now River Valley) in Marion County in 1962. While attending the school the track & field bug bit him. That bite blossomed into a life-long love of the sport that still exists over 60 years later. He is still an active member of the Ohio Association of Track and Cross-Country Coaches (OATCCC) as well as an official and meet manager.

Knickel moved to the Findlay area in 1967 and a few years later started a boys and girls track club for his family children and their many friends. He then began his legendary coaching career in 1984 as a specialty coach of high jump, long jump, and hurdles at Liberty-Benton High School under Pat Wagner and the beginning of a championship program at L-B.

Using that experience, he moved on to Carey High School, in 1988, where an outstanding group of high jumping boys excelled for five years. Then was part of the junior high track & field startup, becoming the middle school girl’s first mentor. Following a successful stint in that position he moved up to be a varsity assistant coach, before eventually taking the reins of the girl’s program in 1994. His tenure as the head coach lasted until 2012. During the eighteen years he coached his team’s won eight Midland Athletic League titles while garnering seven coaches of the year. The 1^st girls to win a league championship and a Regional Championship (2004) in Track & Field at Carey.

Twenty-six of the athletes he coached earned a trip to the state meet with nineteen of those earning all-Ohio honors, bringing home fifty medals. There were two state-title winning relay squads and an individual champion (Danielle Jacoby) as well as a pair of relay teams and three individuals who captured runner-up finishes. The 1st girls honor from Carey as an OHSAA state champion in any sport. All of the above happen because of the hard working and dedicated coaches that were always with me.

One of those runner-up finishers was Beth Baldridge, a 2018 Wyandot Sports HOF inductee. Baldridge went on to become an 8-time all-American at the University of Findlay, including a national title and an NCAA runner-up finish in the high jump while Knickel was the jump coach at the University.

In 2009 he helped organize the Wyandot Sports Hall of Fame and has held the position of President of the organization for several years. Not only is Knickel a 2023 inductee into the Wyandot Sports HOF, but he also received the Ed Barker Award earlier this year, the highest accolade that the OATCCC gives out each year.

Knickel and his forever sweetheart Valerie both have two children. John’s daughter, Natalie (Craig) Huff of North Port, Florida and son, Wesley (Nathaly) Knickel of Flowery Branch, Georgia. Valerie’s daughter Kim (Shawn) Connolly of San Antonia, Texas and son Ryan (TJ) Waltz of Lambertville, Mich.