 A protégé of Joe Scalzo and Dick Torio, he also became 4-time AAU champion in the heavyweight division winning the championship in 1970, 1971, 1974, and 1975.He also made the U.S. Olympic wrestling team in 1980, however he was unable to compete as the United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics.In 1983, he published "Takedown for heavyweights" as part of the Wrestling Coaching Series and was later an alternate on the 1984 and 1988 U.S. Olympic wrestling teams.