Former Wash High wrestling great Gizoni dies
Tony Gizoni was considered one of the greatest wrestlers to emerge from Washington High School.
He might have been the best to emerge from Washington County.
Gizoni certainly had the credentials: three PIAA gold medals, two NCAA titles and entrances into three major halls of fame.
Gizoni died Friday, July 28, at the age of 87.
His death comes nearly two months after his induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Gizoni also was among the eighth class of the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame, being inducted with Mike Johnson of Lock Haven, who was the third wrestler in the history of the PIAA to win four state titles and finish his scholastic career with an undefeated record.
“We are sorry to hear of the passing of Tony (Babe) Gizoni, but also grateful that he and his family were able to be here in June when he was inducted as a distinguished member,” said Lee Roy Smith, executive director of the hall of fame. “Tony was a tremendous wrestler, a veteran, an educator and a coach who will forever be immortalized in our sport through his signature move, the Gizoni Special.”
Gizoni said in a video interview by TheMat.com for his induction that he was surprised and happy to be honored by the national hall.
“I never thought I would make it,” he said in the video. “I’m really thankful.”
Gizoni was coached by Dr. William A. Harris at Wash High and said he was happy to wrestle for such a legend of the sport.
“Washington just started wrestling when I got to ninth grade,” he said in the video. “We started from scratch. We didn’t have tights the first year so I took my long johns home and had them died black or gray. We all did that.”
Gizoni became the fourth wrestler in Pennsylvania history to win three state championships, capturing the title at 101 pounds in 1946, 103 pounds in 1947 and 112 pounds in 1948. He finished his scholastic career with a 77-3-1 record but went undefeated in his final three seasons with the Prexies.
Gizoni, whose first name was Victor but preferred to go by his middle name, went to Waynesburg University and became an NCAA champion in his sophomore and junior seasons.
He was voted Outstanding Wrestler after winning at 121 pounds in 1950 and defeated Bill Borders from the University of Oklahoma in 1951.
“If it wasn’t for wrestling, I would have never gone to college,” Gizoni said. “None of my brothers or sisters went to college.”
Gizoni lost his eligibility as a senior after competing in dual meets and tournaments that were not approved by the NCAA Rules Committee.
He developed a move called the “Gizoni Special,” in which he used hand control, back pressure and a hip heist to produce a reversal.
“Tony Gizoni was a true Pennsylvania wrestling legend. Not only does a wrestling move exist that still bears his name, but Tony’s mat prowess was storied with the very best Pennsylvania and the nation had to offer,” Tom Elling, noted historian, journalist and producer of the Pennsylvania Handbook, told Intermat Wrestling. “He was not a large man in stature, but he was, indeed, one of the most prominent men ever to grace a horsehair mat in our wrestling fraternity. Largely because of him, Waynesburg became a town and collegiate name that was synonymous with wrestling.”
Following college, Gizoni served in the Korean War and earned a Bronze Star for bravery in combat. He was part of a tank crew.
A Memorial Mass for Gizoni was held Wednesday at St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church in Troy, Mich. Memorial tributes can be made to Gleaners Food Bank, 2131 Beaufait, Detroit, MI 48207.