Stan Dziedzic

Dziedzic at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Birth name	Stanley Joseph Dziedzic, Jr.
Born	(1949-11-05) November 5, 1949 Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.[1]
Alma mater	William Allen High School Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)[1]
Sport
Sport	Freestyle wrestling
Club	New York Athletic Club
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 0 1 World Championships 1 0 0 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships 1 1 1 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships 3 0 0 Total 5 1 2 Men's freestyle wrestling Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1976 Montreal 74 kg World Championships 1977 Lausanne 74 kg Collegiate Wrestling Representing Slippery Rock NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships 1970 Evanston 150 lb 1971 Auburn 150 lb 1972 College Park 158 lb NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships 1970 Ashland 150 lb 1971 Fargo 150 lb 1972 Oswego 158 lb

Stanley Joseph Dziedzic, Jr. (born November 5, 1949)^[2] is an American former welterweight freestyle wrestler.

High school

Dziedzic attended high school at William Allen High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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.^[3][1][4]

Dziedzic won three NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships while at Slippery Rock in 1970, 1971, and 1972, three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference titles, and a NCAA Division I title as a junior in 1971. His only two losses in his collegiate record were to NCAA champions Mike Grant of Oklahoma in the 1970 NCAA semifinals and to Carl Adams of Iowa State in the 1972 NCAA finals.

He won an Olympic bronze medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics and a World championship in 1977.

Coaching career

While serving as an assistant coach at Michigan State University from 1972 to 1978, 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 1976 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 1977 World Wrestling Championships.^[5]

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 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. In 1996, Dziedzic was honored as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He later served as president and then vice president of USA Wrestling.^[4][6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stanley Dziedzic.

External links

• Stanley Dziedzic at Olympedia
• Stanley Dziedzic at Olympics.com