Hall of Fame Wrestling Coach Bob Guzzo Dies at 82
For more than 50 years, retired coach Bob Guzzo coached and observed Wolfpack wrestling with a keen eye. The National Wrestling and NC State Athletic Hall of Fame member won 12 ACC tournament titles and produced dozens of champions, including four wrestlers who won NCAA titles.
Two weeks ago, when 82-year-old Bob Guzzo was officially enshrined in the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame, he received one of the biggest ovations of the 10 inductees as he traveled down the red carpet at sold-out Reynolds Coliseum, a celebration of a coaching career that made the Wolfpack a national power.
Guzzo, a native of Easton, Pennsylvania, came to Raleigh in 1974 and within five years, he won two ACC championships, produced the school’s first individual national title and had a top-10 team finish in the NCAA championships. In all, he produced 86 individual ACC champions and 24 All-America athletes.
Four of his wrestlers won individual national titles under his tutelage, just as he had as a wrestler at East Stroudsburg State College in 1966.
As the coach of the Wolfpack, Guzzo won three straight ACC titles from 1981-83, four in a row from 1988-91 and three in the final five years before his retirement in 2005, for a total of 12 in 30 years. In 2006, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
He was joined in the NC State Athletic Hall’s Class of 2026 by 1988 individual national champ Scott Turner, as dozens of former wrestlers cheered on their former coach and teammate. The gala event served as a final farewell for Guzzo, a wrestling room fixture at NC State even after his retirement more than 20 years ago.
Guzzo died Saturday afternoon of natural causes at his home in Raleigh. He is survived by his wife, Janis, four daughters and a son.
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