Heidelberg Athletics Hall of Fame
Heidelberg College was not only a place of great athletic achievements, but it also served as a starting point for a great coaching career for Edward S. Heglaw who graduated in 1943.
The 1939 graduate of Euclid Shore High School was also highly successful as an instructor and coach.
Lettering four seasons in football, four in basketball and one in baseball, Heglaw played for the Student Princes that went with the single wing and players played on both sides of the line. He was captain of the football team his senior year under head coach T.R. Turney.
Heglaw was tabbed as "one of the best pass snaggers to appear on the hilltop in years" while playing end with some other familiar names in Heidelberg history as Louis Cellini, Fenton Wolfe, Art Hossler, Bill McKenna and John Spezzaferro.
It was common place to see the name of Heglaw in the headlines of newspapers during his playing days as was the case when the Student Princes rolled past Hiram 33-0 as the headline read, "Wolfe's Pass To Heglaw Scores Twice." Those scores at Armstrong Field covered 64 and 84 yards that went with a 95-yard scoring run by Doyle Nutter.
In a 20-12 upset of Mount Union he scored a key touchdown on a pass from Wolfe.
Football was not the only sport that Heglaw excelled. On the basketball court he was also known for his quickness and speed and was often called the "Kid" from Euclid and "Long Ed."
His backcourt ability as well as his fight and determination were exceeded by none. A great team player, Heglaw was a constant inspiration to the players on his team.
Following graduation from Heidelberg he played some semi-professional football in the east with the Motor Torpedo Boat Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island and while with his Navy team played against the famed Army players, Glen Davis and "Doc" Blanchard at Michie Stadium on October 20, 1945 at West Point, New York.
He was a Lt. J. G. with Motor Torpedo Boats and Executive Officer and Captain in the South Pacific area while serving as Personnel and Education Officer in Rhode Island and Transportation Officer in the Soloman Islands.
A decorated World War II veteran, Heglaw began teaching and coaching at Cleveland St. Ignatius High School in 1946 and moved to Ashtabula Harbor in 1947.
From 1948-53 he was at Cleveland Holy Name before leaving to take a salesman's job. It was in 1963 he returned to teaching and coaching at South High School in Willoughby where he became the assistant principal in 1969 and served in that capacity until 1984.
He was inducted into the Willoughby South Hall of Fame as an administrator and in the Euclid Shore Hall of Fame as an athlete.
He is currently retired from education and serves part-time as a consultant at the Willoughby-Eastlake Schools and has been an Ambassador for Eastern Airlines since 1984.
Heglaw and his wife Barbara Ann reside in Euclid. They have three daughters and five grandchildren.
(This profile appeared in the 1994 Hall of Fame Banquet program. Â Mr. Heglaw passed away in 2009.)
