AHS Athletic
     Hall of Fame

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    JULIUS “JUICE” TONGES    AHS HEAD FOOTBALL     INDUCTED 2003
                             COACH 1975-1980
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JULIUS “JUICE” TONGES          AHS Head Football Coach 1975-1980
          Julius “Juice” Tonges grew up in Massillon playing football for the Tigers. He
served in the U. S. Army during World War II and later graduated from Baldwin-Wallace
College where he played football, blocking for Lee Tressel who later became the Yellow
Jackets’ Hall of Fame football coach. Tonges was hired as an assistant football coach at
Alliance in 1948 by Mel Knowlton, his former junior high football coach. He served in
that capacity for twenty seven years before taking over as head coach from 1975 to 1980.
The football team’s best finish in the ‘Tonges era’ was 1977 with a 7-3 record. Other
highlights were an 8-7 win at Massillon in 1975 and an 8-7 win over Canton McKinley in
1976.
          Tonges also coached the 1948 Aviators golf team to a second place finish in the
state and his record as head coach of the Alliance track team was 104-22.
          Mr. Tonges was an educator for forty years at Alliance High School, principally
teaching American Government. He served the Alliance community in city government
for nearly thirty years including twelve years as a councilman and four years as mayor. In
1999 he was named Alliance Citizen of the Year.
          Coach Tonges passed away March 25, 2002 at the age of 76. In addition to his
wife Dorothy, he is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and Shawn Wise,
son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Cindy Tonges and three grandchildren.