His career in wrestling spanned the whole gamut of the sport. Joe Scalzo was wrestler, coach, referee, administrator and international delegate. There were other roles, such as pioneer, innovator and crusader.

He was a high school champ in New Jersey and an NCAA finalist for Penn State in 1939. During his early years as a chemical engineer, he coached wrestling as a volunteer at the Toledo YMCA, where his teams were unbeaten for a decade and won three national titles.

He became the first wrestling coach at the University of Toledo in 1950. Scalzo promoted all styles of wrestling, but was particularly fond of Greco-Roman. After years of resistance, he lived to see the USA stand tall among the nations, with two gold medalists in the 1984 Olympics and its first World champion a year later. He was Olympic coach in 1956 and one of his collegiate stars, Richard Wilson, was a three-time Olympian.

In Toledo, he organized the first two World Championships held in the USA, in 1962 and 1966. Scalzo conceived the idea of a World Cup among continental champions, convinced the international federation, and served as host 13 of its first 14 years. He was one of the first to see wrestling as an "event" to be planned and conducted for the spectators.

As an international referee, he held the highest rating for 23 years, and was an active participant--as coach, official or administrator--in nine Olympics and more than 100 continental and world championships.

He was vice president of the International Wrestling Federation and a lifetime member of the FILA Bureau. He died in the midst of wrestling friends and colleagues, stricken by a heart attack while attending the awards banquet of the 1986 World Championships in Budapest.

His life in wrestling was that of a volunteer, a sidelight to his professional careers of engineer, labor negotiator, business executive, attorney at law, management consultant and civic leader. In recognition of his leadership in the growth and promotion of wrestling, Joseph R. Scalzo is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.