Sunday Chat with former NCAA champion, Olympic team wrestler Greg Wojciechowski

Without dispute, former wrestling great Greg “Wojo” Wojciechowski is one of the best handful of athletes ever produced by the University of Toledo, or by the city itself.

Born to parents Richard and Elaine Wojciechowski in 1951, Greg was a protege of local wrestling icons Dick Torio, Joe Scalzo, and UT coach Dick Wilson while working out as a youth at Torio’s health club. He won back-to-back heavyweight state wrestling championships with unbeaten seasons for Whitmer High School in 1967 and ’68.

Because of his three trusted mentors, Wojciechowski chose to wrestle at UT when he could have gone to any program in the country.

He posted a 55-2 career record in three seasons for Wilson’s Rockets, reaching the NCAA heavyweight finals each year, winning the national championship as a junior in 1971, and ending as runner-up in 1970 and 1972. Between 1969 and 1979 he also won eight freestyle national AAU championships and five Greco-Roman titles.

Dating back to his senior year at Whitmer, Wojciechowski competed for a spot on the U.S. Olympic freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling teams four times (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980), three times ending as runner-up in one or both to become the team's heavyweight alternate three times, before finally earning a spot as the U.S. freestyle heavyweight in 1980.

Wojciechowski never got a chance to compete at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, because then President Jimmy Carter called for a U.S. boycott of the games in protest of the host Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

He later transitioned to the world of professional wrestling, competing for 12-plus years in the Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association under the moniker “The Great Wojo.” He first won the WWA heavyweight championship in 1984 and later regained the title in 1985 and 1987 before retiring.

Having earned his degree in education from UT in 1972, Wojciechowski was a teacher for more than 30 years, all but one year in Toledo Public Schools. He also served as head wrestling coach at Archbold, Libbey, and Bowsher high schools.

In 2009, Wojciechowski suffered a dissected aorta in his heart while working out and had life-saving open-heart surgery. He recovered, but was forced to retire on medical disability. Although unable to lift heavy weights, wrestle, or coach wrestling after his surgery, at age 72, he has remained involved in the sport.

Labeling himself a wrestling “booster,” he helps young wrestlers with everything from equipment necessities to transportation to workouts and tournaments.

The Blade: How valuable was the early start you had with weightlifting and wrestling?

Wojciechowski: The weight training was all Dick Torio. He was the only one that had a good program with full range of motion at Torio Health Club. Joe Scalzo was the founding father of wrestling in Toledo, and Dick Wilson was my college coach. When I was at Torio's, Dick Wilson was training for the Olympics in 1960 and 1964. I watched him train. I was an 11-year-old rolie-polie kid [in 1962], and he was on the mat rolling around with me. Torio's was a mecca for wrestlers in the area. No doubt about it, that gave me an early start being in that environment. That gave me a tremendous advantage.”

The Blade: What stands out from your high school career at Whitmer?

Wojciechowski: Winning my first state championship in 1967. That was probably the highlight until I won the NCAA, and then finally winning the Olympic trials [in 1980]. That was my junior year. I wasn't sure how good I was going to do. My sophomore year I didn't even make it to states. I was adjusting to the heavyweight class.

The Blade: How discouraged were you after those three near misses at the Olympic trials?

Wojciechowski: I retired for about a month [in 1976], and then started working out with some heavyweights at Torio's. I said, 'Well, let's try it one more year.' I'm glad I did because that was the highlight of my wrestling career. I won every freestyle national going into 1980, and I won three of the four Greco nationals. I think I was at my peak then. I was 29 years old.

The Blade: What is your take on the U.S. Olympic boycott in 1980?

Wojciechowski: I wouldn't say that was a disappointment for me. I just wanted to make the team. I had another life to come home to, so it didn't hit me that hard. Reporters were always looking for that agony-of-defeat thing, but I had three kids to come home to. My boys were 9, 6, and 3 at that time. I had a part-time job at Roadway loading trucks, and my full-time job [teaching] at Libbey. I was already eight years into my teaching career. And, I was seven years into a 30-year mortgage. So, I had another life to come back to. A lot of those other guys put their lives on hold, but to me there was something else I had to do.

The Blade: You had a near-death heart episode at age 48. How did that experience change your perspective on life?

Wojciechowski: I was just warming up to work with a high school kid at Torio's, and I felt something like a bolt of lightning through my head. I was dizzy and almost lost consciousness. I sat and rested for about a half hour, and I was ready to continue the workout. Then I felt some pressure under my sternum, and I knew that was a warning sign for heart problems. I asked Dick Torio to call me an ambulance. It was 97 degrees that day. It took them a couple hours to find out what was wrong with me. The cardiologist, Dr. James Bingle, figured it out [and] called in a surgeon, Dr. Michael Morant. I was lucky he was on call that day. His six-and-a-half-hour open-heart surgery saved my life. I was lucky. After that, I was just grateful to be alive. You start appreciating every moment.

The Blade: Who were your main influences in your path through life?

Wojciechowski: I'd start with my dad. He got me started, and he taught me to set goals for myself. He used to say, ‘If you set your mind to it, you can do it.’ After that, a real close second would be Dick Torio. He was like my second father. I was lucky. I had one good father and Torio was like a second father. He gave me a lot of great advice throughout my life. He motivated me. Of course there's Joe Scalzo. I had my first airplane ride with him. And then there's Dick Wilson. People ask me how I became a national champion. Well, I was just surrounded with good people. Good role models.