By Jason Franchuk
Albany TImes Union
Joe DeMeo counts 62 international trips he's taken to represent the United States in wrestling, including 11 to Paris.

But it'll be a visit next month to Minnesota that really sums up his accomplishments.

The 75-year-old Schenectady native will receive the Alan Rice Leadership Award from the Greco-Roman Hall of Champions, located in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.

"Wrestling has been a tremendous benefit to my life," DeMeo told the Times Union by phone Tuesday. "I've had a great life without it, but it's been the frosting on the cake."

At DeMeo's house, one dining room wall is adorned with family photos. Another includes mementos from a sporting career that spans the globe.

He's been a father figure in his sport. The Mont Pleasant graduate of 1960 went on to become a head coach of the U.S. Greco-Roman world team four times, and was a member of the Olympic coaching staff in 1976, 1980, 1988 and 1992. He was named National Coach of the Year three times by USA Wrestling, which named him Developmental Coach of the Year in 2005.

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