A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Sandiford became interested in wrestling in 1961 when his son, Ben, wrestled for Myers Park High School in Charlotte. From 1968 until his retirement at age 75 in 1985, Sandiford was the official scorekeeper for the NCHSAA state wrestling tournament, scoring every tournament during that span. Scoring for wrestling at this time was done by hand, so Sandiford developed scoring and bracket sheets for area schools for their tournaments. Schools often sought his expertise, so he created a booklet for pairing and keeping team scores for up to 16 teams. Each year, Sandiford would also personally present the Outstanding Wrestler in the Charlotte Sectional tournament. For his dedication and service, Sandiford was presented with distinguished service awards from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg High School Athletic Association (1969), the NCHSAA (1973) and the Southwestern 4A Conference. In honor of Sandiford, Myers Park named their annual invitational the Ralph Sandiford Wrestling Tournament. Retiring as General Manager from Stewart-Warner Alemite Company after 41 years with the company, Sandiford lived in Charlotte up until his death at the age of 82 in 1993.