Lifetime Service to Wrestling

Chuck Graziano was born in 1950 and raised in Milwaukee, WI. He is the eldest of five children born to Dr. Samuel and Lorraine. Chuck and his late wife Rhonda, were married for 52 years, have three grown children: Gina (Josh), Vincent (Kalyn), and Anthony (Kari), along with eight fantastic grandchildren. He has been retired from manufacturing for eight years.

Chuck attended St. Catherine’s Grade School and Pius XI High School in Milwaukee, WI. He played center on his grade school football team and during his freshman year at Pius XI. He also participated in CYO wrestling. In his junior year, Pius XI finally established a varsity wrestling team. Initially, the team struggled, winning only two dual meets and scoring a total of four points in three tournaments. However, the following year, the team turned things around, losing only two dual meets. Coach Weid worked the team hard, drilling them in basic techniques, and they dominated the third period. The more they won, the harder he pushed them. The team finished second in the conference and won the state championship with four teammates as state champions. Coach Weid was the inspiration behind Chuck's passion for the sport.

In 1970, Chuck became the assistant JV coach for Pius XI and began his officiating career in January 1972. That year, he joined the Milwaukee Officials Association (MOA) - Wrestling and received his American Athletic Union (AAU) license. In 1974, he became a wrestling board member of MOA, and in 1976, he was appointed MOA Wrestling Secretary. Chuck held this role from 1976 to 2016, managing critical responsibilities such as rule interpretations, assignment coordination, and mentoring over 100 officials—21 of whom advanced to state-level positions. From 1972 to 1980, he worked several AAU regional and national tournaments. Since 1978, he has officiated 25 public and private state tournaments.

Chuck graduated from UWM in 1978 with a BA in Quantitative Analysis (Quality Statistics). Two months before graduation, he was hired as a quality inspector by an upstart gear manufacturer and a Falk reducer rebuild center, where he learned manufacturing from the ground up. In 1980, he was promoted to Manufacturing Engineer, overseeing Quality Control and Rebuild Departments. With these added responsibilities, he resigned from AAU. Chuck was hired by Monitor Corporation in 1987 as a Quality Control Manager and promoted to General Manager of machining operations in 1994. In 2000, Chuck was transferred to the fabrication division as the General Manager until he retired in 2016.

As his sons progressed in freestyle wrestling and the need for mat officials grew, Chuck officiated local freestyle events and obtained his USA license in 1987. In 1989, he earned his international license FILA M3. He worked his first national tournament in 1991, received his M2 classification in 1992, M1C in 1994, M1 in 1998, and M1E (Exceptional) in 2002. In 2002, he was promoted from FILA M3 to M1, an unprecedented achievement at the time. Over his USA career from 1987 to the present, he has officiated over forty state freestyle and Greco tournaments, fifty regional tournaments (serving as head official and clinician twelve times), forty-three national tournaments, and fifteen kids folkstyle tournaments (head official seven times). He also had multiple international assignments and retired from FILA in 2007.

In 1987, upon moving to Sussex, Chuck co-founded the Sussex Wrestling Club with Coach Bob Longdin, which remains active today. From 1987 to 1998, he coached folkstyle, freestyle, and Greco, producing multiple All-Americans at the kids, cadet, and junior levels.

Chuck's lifelong dedication to wrestling has been recognized through prestigious honors, including the Dave Riggle Memorial Award for Outstanding Official in 2007 and USA Wrestling’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. He continues to uphold the highest standards in the sport, committed to fostering excellence and integrity in wrestling just completing his 53rd year of officiating.

Wrestling experience 1966 to present

Pius XI High School

1966 Intramural wrestling

1968 to 1969 varsity wrestling.

1969 WISAA State winning team

1971 freshman assistant coach

Officiating experience 1972 to present

WIAA 1972 to Present

Officiated 25 state tournaments.

AAU 1972 to 1980- Freestyle/Greco

Officiated multiple regional and national tournaments.

USA 1984 to Present- Freestyle/Greco and Folkstyle

40 state Freestyle/Greco tournaments

50+ Regional Freestyle/Greco tournaments, head official 12 times

43 National Freestyle/Greco tournaments

15 Folkstyle National tournaments, head official 7 times

FILA (International) 1989 to 2007- Freestyle/Greco

Multiple international assignments

Milwaukee Officials Association Wrestling Secretary 1976-2016

Duties included:

Correspondence to WIAA for rules and interpretations, athletic directors and conference commissioners and officials.

Assignment director for 4 conferences.

Conducted rules and mechanics 6 meetings/yr.

Mentored over 100 officials and 21 state officials.