Garrett Scott was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, wrestlers the area has ever produced. The Juniata Valley star won three state titles from 2003 to 2005 and was a three-time Mirror Wrestler of the Year.

The wrestling world, though, was stunned when it heard the news of his Feb. 20 death in Michigan. He was only 28 years old. The cause of his death has not been released, but it was unexpected.

Scott, whose memorial service is at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Juniata Valley according to InterMat, appeared to have put together a pretty good life in Michigan. He was working as a stone mason for an engineering company and coaching elementary wrestlers.

Parents of those wrestlers Scott coached in Michigan also talked of him fondly on his Facebook page. A GoFundMe.com page was set up to help his parents, Tim and Connie, bring his body back to Petersburg, and $10,000 was raised in the first 21 hours.

As someone who has written so much about Scott over the years, I had wondered in recent years what he had been up to because, while he had so many glorious moments on the mat, his potential was never really realized because of his problems off the mat.

His career reads like a Shakespearean tragedy. In fact, in a December column during the 2009-10 season, I wrote that his rise and fall was the No. 1 wrestling story of the decade in the area. He went 130-2 in his career and won state titles at 119, 125 and 135 in his first three years.

From his sophomore year to when he won regionals as a senior, he gave up only 10 points. He was voted the Class AA Outstanding Wrestler at districts and states by the media his junior season.

The wrestling world, though, was stunned the first time regarding Scott when he was suspended as a senior 140-pounder on the day he was to leave for Hershey to begin his quest for a fourth title, which had been achieved by only nine other wrestlers in the state at the time.

He was being home-schooled through The Tuscarora Blended Learning Charter School, which suspended him for 10 days for “violating school internet acceptable use policy.”

I still say the timing was horrible, and both sides can be blamed for that.

His problems actually started earlier in his senior season when he broke his jaw working out at the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. And a little more than a month before he was suspended, he and three others were arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia by Huntingdon State Police. Scott maintained his innocence after that.

Despite not wrestling at states, Scott was picked to wrestle in the prestigious Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic, where he won by fall and was named the Outstanding Wrestler for the Pennsylvania team.

The Penn State recruit attended the university during the summer, but he lost his scholarship as he was attending on a part-time basis as a freshman.

The next year, he was on the PSU roster and in trouble again. Former coach Troy Sunderland suspended him before the 2007-2008 season after an arrest for underage drinking.

Scott was allowed to return, and he won the Penn State Open by beating teammate and Forest Hills grad Jake Strayer. Strayer handed Scott the only losses of his high school career in the Green Hornets’ freshman year in two epic District 6 and Southwest Regional finals.

Sunderland couldn’t decide on how to solve having Scott and Strayer both at 141 pounds. When he was in the lineup, Scott went 21-7 and became the starter for the postseason. He placed seventh in the Big Ten Championships to qualify for the NCAAs.

Shortly after that, Sunderland kicked Scott off the team for good. Scott landed at Edinboro University, where he redshirted the next season. Scott, however, left the university in November of 2009.

Despite his short stay, some of his Penn State teammates still remember him fondly. Former Nittany Lion Dan Vallimont, now coaching at Hofstra, offered his condolences and posted photos of Scott on Facebook.

“Another one gone way too soon,” Vallimont said in the InterMat story. “We weren’t as close as we used to be but I’m gonna miss you brother. Rest easy Garrett.”

Todd Irwin win can be reached at 946-7464 or at tirwin@altoonamirror.com. He can be followed on Twitter at ToddIrwin1.