Because of Vince Zuaro, America knows the rules. Through half a century of Olympic endeavor, USA wrestlers were handicapped by unfamiliarity with the international styles-the techniques, the rules and their interpretations. That so many excelled is a tribute to their talent and dedication. But for every achievement, there also was a shadow of what might have been.

Today, America's officials, coaches, and athletes, know the international rules better than some of the people who wrote them, largely because of the U. S. Wrestling Officials Association founded by Zuaro in 1970 and the USA Wrestling rule book which he authored for 20 years.

Zuaro himself was a collegiate and international referee of exceptional ability, a model of integrity and fair play. He officiated in four Olympic Games, 34 World Championships, six Pan American Championships and 30 years of national tournaments. Three times he was presented the FILA Cross/Star, highest award of international wrestling, as well as the Gold Whistle, for his Olympic and World officiating.

A 1948 graduate of Holy Cross and a member of its 1946 Orange Bowl football team, Zuaro was a successful wrestling coach for 11 years at Freeport High School on Long Island, and for two years at Columbia University, with an over-all record of 132 victories against 63 defeats.

But it was as an official, and as an educator of officials, that he gained national and international acclaim. As the nation's foremost clinician on freestyle and Greco-Roman rules and officiating techniques, he trained more than 5,000 referee-judges all across the nation and throughout the U. S. armed forces in Europe. Never again will American athletes enter international competition without knowing what to expect from their opponents, from the referees and from the rules.

In recognition of this legacy to wrestling, and of his long years of service to the sport, Dr. Vincent Zuaro is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.