National Wrestling Hall Of Fame Pins Russ Camilleri
Stillwater, Okla.----San Jose State wrestling great Russ Camilleri is one of four former Olympians who will be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Saturday, June 5.
Stillwater, Okla.-----Russ Camilleri, a two-time Olympian and San Jose State College wrestling star, will be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in ceremonies taking place on June 5.
Now living in Richland, Mo., Camilleri dominated not just one Olympic style of wrestling in the United States, but both freestyle and Greco-Roman during the 1960's.
A high school standout at Campbell (Calif.) High School, Camilleri won three league championships and two state titles compiling a 48-0 win-loss record. At San Jose State, his 78-4 record for a .951 winning percentage clearly is tops for all Spartan wrestlers. He was the Pacific Coast Champion in 1958 after finishing second the previous two years.
After college, Camilleri rolled to more national titles than any other wrestler, winning freestyle in 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1971 and Greco-Roman in 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1972. Six times he was honored as the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament, a feat that no other wrestler has ever accomplished.
Even more remarkable, in those days, the Greco-Roman and freestyle tournaments were wrestled back-to-back, requiring winning six matches per style at scratch weight to win.
Camilleri competed in two Olympic Games, placing eighth in Greco-Roman in 1960 and seventh in 1964. In two different years, 1961 and 1965, he competed in the World Championships in both freestyle and Greco. He also wrestled in the Greco-Roman World Championships in 1962 and 1966 and in the freestyle Worlds in 1963. He finished sixth in freestyle twice.
An Air Force officer from 1958 to 1963, he won six Inter-Service Championships and was undefeated in 13 years at the Naval Training Center Tournament in San Diego with a record of 78-0.
Besides Camilleri, a member of the San Jose State University Sports Hall of Fame, the 2010 inductees include former Olympian and two-time NCAA champion David Auble of Ithaca, N.Y., 2000 Olympics champion Rulon Gardner of Logan, Utah and three-time NCAA champion Lincoln McIlravy of Iowa City, Iowa.