Mr. Greg Ashton was born in Erie, Pa., and had known about the tradition of excellence at Cathedral Prep when he was growing up. This is why he urged his parents to send him to Prep when it was time for him to attend high school. He knew just how great the Ramblers were in and out of the classroom and he wanted to be a part of that. He looked to improve his knowledge as well as his athletics, and there was no place better in his eyes to achieve these goals than Cathedral Prep.
Ashton’s favorite teacher at Prep was Mr. Delfratte, who was his history teacher. He enjoyed how fair and understanding he was, which is something he didn’t always get from his teachers. His favorite class was English because he was very successful in the class during all four years at Prep.
Ashton was involved in golf, baseball, and basketball at Prep before graduating in 1984. He loved sports and wanted to play as many as he could. However, the one that he was by far the best at was golf. He was on the team during his entire four years at Prep and loved every second of it. He developed his game greatly while he was an underclassman and that turned him into one of the best players in the state. He was primed to make a run at a state championship during his junior year, which is exactly what he did.
Ashton ended up winning the state championship at the Penn State Blue Course with a score of 153 over two days. When asked if he expected to win going into the championship, he responded with a simple “yep.” He described how great of an experience it was to win states and remembers how well he played that week in order to get the job done. It is something that he will never forget as it propelled him to receive a lot of interest from college coaches, who were suddenly intrigued by the state champion.
He recalls the close-knit relationships that all the students at Prep had and says that “it was by far his favorite part of his Prep experience.” It showed him truly how much everyone cared for the person next to him and how they all rallied together to support one another. This is why he believes Prep has such great pep rallies and cheering sections compared to other schools. He remembers how awesome the section was for the state championship football game his senior year. Also, he was blown away by the rally that they had for him when he won the state championship for golf. It showed him how much they appreciate the success he had on the golf course and it made him feel like he won that title for the entire school and not just for himself.
Prep has immensely helped Ashton ever since he graduated in 1984. It allowed him to grow into a great young man who learned how to develop great relationships with others. It also made him a better person who was able to show respect to everyone he came across in his work life. He also loved how Prep challenged him academically and athletically, allowing him to overcome any obstacle he faced in his life after high school. This is why he sent his son Alex there so he could have the same impacting experiences that he had at Prep.
Ashton is married and has a son and a daughter. He currently works for ProSource, which is a flooring company. He continues to stay in touch with his friends from Prep by regularly attending class reunions and talking about or playing golf with classmates such as Phil Sorensen and Craig DeMarco. He is so thankful for the great education and experiences that Prep gave him and is proud to see that the great tradition has continued on over 30 years later. He also loves to see how the brotherhood has not changed and how it is like none other in the country. It is refreshing to him to see such camaraderie and togetherness in the Prep student body, and he believes that it will be a staple of why Prep will continue to flourish for years to come.