Stanley Joseph Dziedzic, Jr. (born November 5, 1949) is a retired American welterweight freestyle wrestler.

High school

Dziedzic attended high school at William Allen High School in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

Collegiate and amateur career

He was a 1972 graduate of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, where his collegiate record of 118 victories and only two defeats served as Dziedzic's springboard to international achievements in the sport. Dziedzic won three NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships while at Slippery Rock in 1970, 1971, and 1972, three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference titles, and a University Division title as a junior. His only two losses in his collegiate record were to NCAA champions Mike Grant of

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in the 1970 NCAA semifinals and to Carl Adams of

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in 1972. He won an Olympic bronze medal in the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

and the world title in 1977.

Coaching career

While serving as an assistant coach at

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from 1972–78, Dziedzic reached the heights in freestyle wrestling in the 163-pound weight class, which at the time was rated as the toughest in the country and world. He won four national championships and two world cups, in 1975 and 1977, placing third in 1973. Dziedzic then reached the apex of his career by winning a bronze medal at the

and a gold medal at the

1977 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 1977 World Wrestling Championships. Freestyle competition were held in Lausanne, Switzerland and Greco-Roman competition were held in Gothenburg, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,T ...

. After retiring from competitions, Dziedzic served as a national freestyle coach for the Amateur Athletic Union from 1978 to 1984, and his tactical and technical expertise contributed significantly to the resurgence of the United States as an international force in the sport. He authored the United States Wrestling Syllabus in 1983, and was instrumental in founding the Olympic 200 project, a developmental program for high school wrestlers. He furthered the modernization of techniques and training methods of USA international teams, and served as vice president of the Coaches Commission of the International Wrestling Federation. Dziedzic was manager of the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

freestyle team and played an active role in Atlanta's successful bid to host the Centennial Olympics in 1996. He was elected wrestling's Man of the Year in 1980. Dziedzic is honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He served as president and then vice president of USA Wrestling.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dziedzic, Stanley Joseph, Jr. 1949 births Living people American male sport wrestlers Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in wrestling Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania alumni William Allen High School alumni World Wrestling Championships medalists Wrestlers at the 1976 Summer Olympics