Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of eight stories on the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame's 2012 induction class.
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Former Slippery Rock University wrestling All-American Anthony Calderaio will be included in a group of seven individuals and one team honored Saturday, Sept. 29 by induction into the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Induction festivities will be held in the Robert M. Smith Student Center Ballroom as part of The Rock's home football weekend vs. Kutztown University.
Tickets are $40 each and can be purchased online at
www.rockalumnicafe.com/halloffame or by sending a check made payable to “SRU Hall of Fame” to the SRU Alumni Engagement Office, Russell Wright Alumni House and Conference Center,1 Morrow Way, Slippery Rock, PA 16057. For more information on tickets, contact Pearl Shaffer at
pearl.shaffer@sru.edu or 724.738.2768.
Other members of the hall's Class of 2012 include former Rock football student-athletes Gene Collodi (Class of 1963), Ron Hunt (Class of 1973, 1975) and Jim Ward (Class of 1998), former two-sport student-athlete Ken Denne (Class of 1959), women's soccer All-American Sonya Maher (Class of 1999) and former men's soccer student-athlete Todd Olsen (Class of 1985).
The 1989-90 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division champion men's basketball team coached by Bob Barlett will also receive special recognition.
The induction event starts at 1:30 p.m. with a social hour, followed by the formal induction ceremonies at 2:30 p.m. The Class of 2012 will also be recognized during halftime of the football game.
A member of SRU's Class of 1983, Calderaio set the standard by which other Rock wrestlers were measured when he recorded a school record 140 victories during his four-year career (1979-83).
Along the way, Calderaio earned two NCAA Division I All-America honors, a Freshman Division I All-America citation and claimed four Eastern Regional and two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships.
Calderaio also won four SRU Open and four Great Lakes Open titles while wearing the Green and White. He was named as the Great Lakes Open “Outstanding Wrestler” and earned a No. 5 national ranking in 1982.
Following completion of his collegiate career, Calderaio won the 1984 Olympian/Olympic Trials championship in the 114.5-pound weight class as well as four consecutive titles in South Florida and district, regional and national MAWA Folk-style competitions.
Calderaio was the 2004 world Folk-style champion and added the Iron Man Folk-style, Greco Roman, Freestyle and overall master's division world titles to his collection in 2005. At the age of 45, he was the oldest wrestler to ever win a world wrestling championship.
In 2006, Calderaio, a native of Boca Raton and graduate of Boca Raton High School, was inducted into the Florida Athletic Hall of Fame after being named by the Florida State Athletic Association as its ”Athlete of the Decade” for the years 1970-79.
That same year, Calderaio earned his third consecutive Bi-Centennial Athletic League wrestling “Coach of the Year” award and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association's District 1 “Coach of the Year” honor.
Calderaio has served as head wrestling coach at Plumstead Christian School in eastern Pennsylvania since 2000. A former school psychologist, he now owns Custom Classic GTO, a classic car sales and restoration company, and Custom Classic Builders, a home construction company, both of which are located in Doylestown.
A political science major at SRU, Calderaio received a master's degree in educational psychology from the University of Florida in 1987.
With the addition of these individuals, who comprise the Hall's 29th induction class, a total of 189 former Rock student athletes, coaches and supporters have been inducted.
