National Wrestling Hall of Fame Ohio Chapter 2013 Inductions
The Ohio Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame will induct its new members Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. at the Embassy Suites in Dublin.
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum has announced its inductees for 2013. The “Hall of Fame Day” celebration is Oct. 20, 2013 as the Embassy Suites in Dublin, Ohio. The social will begin at 3:00 p.m. with dinner served at 4:00 p.m. with the award presentation following the dinner.
The banquet is held to honor these recipients for their years of service as positive role models to our student-athletes. These men have given countless hours instilling in young people the skills needed to succeed in wrestling, as well as in life.
The “Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award” is given to a coach, official or contributor for their years of dedication to wrestling. The recipients will permanently be enshrined in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Okla.
This year’s honorees include:
Outstanding American from Ohio: John Dobre
As a wrestler at Cleveland State University, Dobre wrestled to an undefeated record of 10-0, which included five pins. After college he went on to a career with the Bureau of Prisons.
In 1980, Dobre designed and implemented the oversight regulations for the first Cuban detention center at the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta, Ga., which then became the prototype for all future Bureau facilities. Dobre also served as a Correctional Specialist at the Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga. There he provided guidance to new recruits in handling firearms, self-defense and evasive driving. Dobre continued his career as the warden of the Federal Prison in Beaumont, Texas and was named 1992 Associate Warden of the Year in the Bureau’s western region.
Medal of Courage: Matt Hamill
Hamill is best known for being a contestant on the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and his subsequent career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Hamill’s four-and-a-half-year career consisted of ten wins and four loses. But his story is about more than his Mixed Martial Arts career.
Hamill was born deaf. But that didn’t keep him from succeeding on the mat. He got into wrestling thanks to his stepfather John Rich, who was the coach at Loveland High School. After a successful high school career Hamill went to Purdue University, but after one year transferred to Rochester Institute of Technology. There he won three straight NCAA Division III wrestling titles. He won those titles in three different weight classes—at 167lbs. in 1997, 190lbs. in 1998 and 197lbs. in 1999. He finished his career with an 89-3 record. Hamill also won gold medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1997 Deaflympics in Copenhagen, Denmark and in 2001 in Rome.
The film “The Hammer” chronicles Hamill’s life.
The Class of 2013 “Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award recipients:
Bill Barger
After earning a Purple Heart as a Corporal in the United States’ Army, Barger returned home to Ohio and began his coaching career. Barger coached at Walsh Jesuit High School from 1976-2011. During his tenure the team won eight state championships (’91, ’93-’97, ’99-00). He coached 41 individual state champions and had 145 wrestlers qualify for the state tournament. Seven of the student-athletes coached by Barger went on to earn All-American status in college, three of which became NCAA Champions (Markus Mollica – Arizona State, Joe Heskett – Iowa State and Mike Pucillo – Ohio State). He was also named National Coach of the Year by Amateur Wrestling News Magazine and NWCA High School Coach of the Year in 2003.
However, Barger was much more than successful coach. He started the North Akron Wrestling Club where he coached youth wrestling. There he touched thousands of lives and taught timeless life lessons through the great sport of wrestling.
Anthony J. Campolo
Campolo is being recognized for his lifetime service to wrestling thanks to his time as one of the state’s most experienced officials. During his 41 years as an official, Campolo has worked 33 state tournaments. He is a member of Ohio Wrestling Official’s Hall of Fame, was an NCAA official from 1973-1995 and was the National Federation/OHSAA Wrestling Official of the Year in 2012.
Campolo was a four-time letter-winner in wrestling at Muskingum College. While there he was a two-time place winner in the Ohio Athletic Conference. He also coached the Groveport-Madison wrestling team from 1973-1977. Outside of wrestling Campolo was a professor of Economics and Finance at Columbus State
John P. Matteucci
In 1948, Matteucci became the first three-time Ohio State Wrestling Champion during his high school career at Cleveland West High School. He also placed second in the Junior Nationals in 1948. From there he went on to wrestle at the Ohio State University and graduated in 1955.
Matteucci introduced wrestling to Willoughby-Eastlake’s School District and became Eastlake North High School’s first wrestling coach in 1958. He remained in that post until 1990. During his 33 seasons his team went 262-148-5. He coached 31 individual state placers and six individual state champions as well as one team state championship in 1975. He was elected to the Ohio Wrestling Coaches’ Hall of Fame in 1978.
Matteucci passed away in 2001, but his teaching on the mat and in the classroom live on through the young lives he touched during his time at Eastlake North.
Greg Wojciechowski
Wojciechowski is being honored for his championship career. He earned his first championship when he won the Ohio State Heavyweight Championship in 1967 while wrestling at Toledo Whitmer High School. Wojciechowski repeated the next year as state champion. For his college career he stayed in Toledo by attending the University of Toledo. There he continued his championship-winning ways with a NCAA Heavyweight Championship in 1971. He also was runner-up for that honor in ’70 and ’72. From 1970-1975, Wojciechowski was a four-time AAU champion in the heavyweight. He went on to earn a spot on the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, but due to the United States’ boycott did not compete. He was an alternate for the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic wrestling teams.
Wojciechowski then went into professional wrestling in the World Wrestling Association. Wrestling under the name of “The Great Wojo,” he won the WWA World Heavyweight title three times. After he retired from active competition he coached wrestling at Libbey High School and Bowsher High School, both in Toledo.
Stamatis Bulgaris
Bulgaris started his career in wrestling at Fairmont High School. While there he was voted captain of the team and voted most valuable wrestler during his senior year. After earning his engineering degree from the University of Dayton in 1969, Bulgaris stared a wrestling program at UD and coached there for six years.
Bulgaris left UD to start the wrestling program at Wright State. He remained the coach for 13 seasons and developed the program into a NCAA Division II national power. Coach Bulgaris produced ten All-Americans at WSU. He has since coached at Beavercreek High School as the head coach 1987-1991 and assistant coach from 1992-2008.
Besides coaching, Bulgaris has been a wrestling official for 50 years and officiated 23 Ohio High School State Chmapionships. He was the Ohio High School Rules Interpreter for 10 years and has conducted rules clinics across the country.
Greg Urbas
Urbas became the wrestling coach at Cleveland Saint Edwards High School in 1989, taking the reins of Howard Ferguson’s successful program. Urbas is known for his disciplined style derived from his stint in the United States’ Marine Corps from 1973-1977. Urbas has led the program to five national titles. He has also led the team to 14 state championships, including 13 in a row. That is the longest state championship-streak in OHSAA history in any sport.
Urbas has been a math teacher at Saint Edwards High School for over 30 years. Before taking over as the head wrestling coach, he was an assistant coach for the football team and the freshman wrestling coach.
Howard Ferguson
Ferguson took over as the wrestling coach at Cleveland Saint Edwards High School in 1975. The successful businessman became the head coach of what was considered an average program, but quickly changed that perception. In his 15 seasons as the head coach the team won 14 consecutive sectional tournaments, 13 district tournaments, 11 Class AAA State of Ohio Championships and seven National High School Championships. Ferguson’s teams won ten consecutive state titles from 1978-1987. He also started a tournament called the “Quad of Champions,” which was hosted by Saint Edwards and was against three other nationally-ranked programs each season.
Ferguson, affectionately known as “Ferg” by his wrestlers was known as a taskmaster and ran a highly disciplined program. Ferguson died of a heart attack in 1989, but left the program in great shape for Greg Urbas, who has continued the school’s winning ways.
Thomas Talbott
Talbot has earned his “Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award” by leading Uniontown Lake High School from 1961-2002. Talbot ranks 17[SUP]th[/SUP] all-time in OHSAA history with 285 coaching wins during his four-decade stint as the school’s head wrestling coach.