Joe Naternicola, Jr. attended Fairmont Senior High School where he began wrestling his sophomore year under Coach Jim Feltz. Following high school, he went on to Fairmont State College and earned 2 WVIAC Wrestling Championships under Coaches Bill Kerr and Sam Church. He served as a team captain during his senior year. After graduation in 1975, Naternicola began his teaching and coaching career at his alma mater, Fairmont Senior, where he coached football (20 years) and wrestling (19 years). During his 19 year wrestling career, Joe coached a total of 14 state champions while compiling a dual match record of 265-79-2 (.770). Ten of his teams recorded top 5 finishes at the state tournament, including 3 runners-up and 2 thirds. Sixteen of his 19 teams finished in the top 10. Including the 14 state champions, Joe coached a total of 98 individual place winners: 17 runners-up, 17 thirds, 16 fourths, 18 fifths and 16 sixths. He coached 31 total finalists, and had at least one wrestler reach the championship finals in each of his final 13 seasons. On two occasions - 1982 and 1984, his teams featured placers in 10 out of the possible 12 weight classes. Joe was named Regional Coach of the Year on numerous occasions. He received the Big 10 Conference Coach of the Year on 4 different occasions and was also a 2 time NCAC Wrestling Coach of the Year. After the 1994-95 season, Joe retired from wrestling, but coached one more season of football in the fall of 1995. His football teams at Fairmont Senior qualified for the state playoffs 6 times, reaching the semifinals in 1992. In 1996, he volunteered as a coach in Fairmont State's football program, and in 2001 moved to WVU to coach under Rich Rodriquez, continuing on in 2008 under Bill Stewart. He has been the tournament director for the Winners Choice (formerly PEPSI Invitational) Wrestling Tournament for the past 35 years. Also he has' directed numerous Regional and NCAC wrestling tournaments while assisting with seeding meetings on all levels. Joe still resides in Fairmont with his wife, Nancy. They have three sons: Aaron 38, Adam 33 and Aric 32. They also have 4 grandsons: Colin 13, Caleb 10, Austin 11, Alex 2 and a granddaughter due in February of 2010.