EMIL DUPKE

A gifted athlete and leader, he was a four-year football letterman at Wheeling High School. At Bethany College he became a mainstay for the Bison. As a junior he was All-Tri-State as an end and as a senior, AllWest Virginia as a guard and team captain. He became a teacher at Tridelphia High School in 1935 and was assistant football coach until 1943 when he became Tridelphia’s head football coach. After the season he was called to duty in the U.S. Navy as a Physical Training Instructor. After serving in the military he returned to Tridelphia and coaching football. His 1947, `48 and `49 teams won the City of Wheeling Championships and the OVAC Championships. The 1948 & `49 teams were undefeated. He coached the North team of West Virginia North-South game in ’48 & `49 to victories.

A fundamentalist with a great gift of organization who taught the single wing offense to perfection, he was considered one of the giants in the Ohio Valley coaching circles.

In 1950 he departed Tridelphia for Washington High School where he brought the football program out of mediocrity to one of the WPIAL’s elite football programs. He quickly endeared himself to the Washington fans and is one of the legendary coaches of the school. His record at Washington (1950 thru 1958) was 60-18-3 for a outstanding winning percentage of .769, the best in school history.

In his first three years at Washington his teams lost only three games and were undefeated in 1954, losing to Aliquippa 13-12 in the WPIAL championship ‘game at Pitt Stadium. He was victorious coaching the 1953 WPIAL All Stars and was named the Washington County Coach of the Year.

Dupke earned his Masters at the University of Pittsburgh and was named Principal at Washington in 1960 and ten years later became administrative assistant to the superintendent. He was inducted into the Bethany College Hall of Fame. Class of 1983

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