http://www.cleveland.com/obituaries/index.ssf/2013/06/sandy_cageao_was_a_nationally.html#incart_river
[h=1]Sandy Cageao was a nationally acclaimed wrestling referee: news obituary[/h]
Despite open-heart surgery, the nationally honored
Santos "Sandy" Cageao finished 50 years as a wrestling referee.
Cageao, 77, died June 18 at University Hospitals.
In February, 2012, three months after his surgery, he told The Plain Dealer's Tim Warsinskey, "It felt so much better to be on that mat than to be in a hospital bed."
Warsinskey wrote, "Cageao set a high standard for officiating long before he raised the bar by treating his triple bypass like a sprained ankle... Cageao's comeback is another chapter in a career that has been without peer."
Cageao refereed a young wrestler named Toby Dunlap and later took him statewide to train him in wielding a whistle. Said Dunlap, "He had a heart of gold. After a controversial call, he'd talk to the wrestler and let him know what he did wrong and would make him a better wrestler. I finally surpassed him in the ratings, and no one was happier than he."
Cageao was Ohio's top-rated ref for years. He belonged to the state and national wrestling referee halls of fame and won the national hall's lifetime achievement in 2000, 13 years before hanging up his whistle. He was named official of the year in 1987 by the U.S. Wrestling Officials Association and served as the association's secretary from 1988-92.
The freckled, red-headed Cageao (pronounced
kayg-ee-oh) was raised in Cleveland by a mother from Cuba and a father from Spain. He wrestled at Collinwood High School, served in Alaska with the U.S. Army and went to Ohio University. He spent 34 years with East Ohio Gas as a meter reader and benefits administrator before retiring in 1995. Heart trouble finally forced him to retire from refereeing early this year.
By then, he'd refereed 34 state tournaments, believed to be an Ohio record. He refereed five Olympic trials, once as the head referee. He was head ref at two National Freestyle and Junior Freestyle Championships. He worked two Pan-Am Championships.
He kept his cool when others lost theirs. In 2009, when an angry wrestler started kick-boxing his foe, "veteran referee Sandy Cageao calmly defused the conflict," The Plain Dealer wrote.
Cageao's widow, the former Jackie Bruss, said he enjoyed the camaraderie of coaches and athletes. He also got a kick out of refereeing three generations of the same families.
He lived in Bainbridge for many years and finally in Munson Township. He liked to plant flowers and keep up his property.
Santos Cageao
1935-2013
Memorial event: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 23, and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, June 24, at Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 8466 Mentor Ave. Mentor.
Survivors: Wife, the former Jacqueline Bruss; children: Carol Burt of Stateline, Nev., and Steve Cageao of Willowick, O.; and two brothers.
Contributions: National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, 405 W. Hall of Fame Ave., Stillwater, OK 74075,
nwhof.org/support.
I know Sandy and not only did he ref my matches growing up I recently had the pleasure of ref'ing with him at Senior Nationals a few years ago. RIP Sandy!