The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JULY/AUGUST 2026 ■ 49 who recruited both Amato brothers and scores of other Keystone State players to Raleigh en route to seven ACC football titles in his coaching career. Guzzo made dramatic changes almost immediately, specifically by ramp- ing up recruiting. He signed 11 recruits for a program that finished fifth in the six-team ACC Championships earlier in the year. Five were high school state champions and two were junior college regional champs. Most were from Penn- sylvania. Guzzo had been a scrappy 125-pound champion during his college career, and he brought the same intensity to his program. He was named the National Rookie Coach of the Year in 1975, and the Wolfpack won its first ACC title the following year, while adding another two years later. Guzzo also worked to grow the sport of wrestling in North Carolina, through his team's success and his personal ri- valry with UNC coach Bill Lam, who had arrived a year earlier from Oklahoma to revamp the Tar Heels' program. At the time, wrestling had little to no presence at the state's high schools. That changed while Guzzo mentored 86 individual ACC champions, 24 All- Americans and four national champi- ons. He also developed student-athletes through his passion and leadership. One of his former recruits, state champion wrestler Kevin Howell of Shelby, was named NC State's 15th chancellor in 2025. From 1976 to 2007, a total of 32 con- secutive seasons, NC State and North Carolina won 15 ACC team titles each, and wrestling became a popular specta- tor and high school sport. By the winter of 1980, the Wolfpack was a well-established national program when Guzzo took his team to Corvallis, Ore., for the NCAA Championships. An- chored by 167-pound true freshman Re- iss, the Wolfpack finished eighth in the nation. Over the next 14 seasons, the Pack fin- ished in the top 20 11 times and in the top 10 four times. Guzzo was named ACC Coach of the Year six times from 1988 until his retirement in 2004. In 2006, the North Carolina chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame presented Guzzo with a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award for his career impact on the sport he dearly loved. Guzzo never strayed from his wres- tling roots, even after retirement. He was a volunteer consultant to the program under both Carter Jordan and Popo- lizio, showing up for daily practice in the wrestling room at the Weisiger-Brown Athletics Building where the program was headquartered. He also held court with his coaching friends, staff and for- mer wrestlers at several Raleigh cof- fee houses throughout his life, sharing stories and the high-pitched laugh that echoed among the tables. A Lasting Impact As for Reiss, a native of Bethlehem, Pa., he went to the 1980 NCAA Champion- ships as a raw rookie, unseeded and just 18 years old, though he faced little resistance in his five matches. He won the school's first individual championship by beating Iowa State's Perry Hummel, 4-2. He was just the third wrestler in NC State history to win All-America honors; that total is now 61. Reiss won two ACC titles, qualified for three NCAA Championships and finished his career with a 51-10 record. He was named to both the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame. He never lost his connection with the sport he learned in the Lehigh Valley and refined under Guzzo in Raleigh. Reiss re- turned to Bethlehem after his graduation with a degree in vocational education to become a high school coach and wrestling official, positions he held the rest of his life. "He generously shared his knowledge and passion with young athletes, giv- ing back to the sport that shaped him and leaving a lasting impact on count- less wrestlers he mentored over the years," read his obituary. Both Guzzo and Reiss requested that those who wish to memorialize their con- tributions to Wolfpack wrestling con- tribute to the Wolfpack Club's Bob Guzzo Wrestling Scholarship, which supports current student-athletes and the legacy of the foundation they both helped create. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Matt Reiss became the first Wolfpack wrestler to claim an NCAA championship, winning the 167-pound crown in 1980 as a true freshman. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS " One of Willis [Casey's] philosophies was that he didn't think anybody could coach. He thought it was always about getting the best players and athletes. I was from Pennsylvania, and I knew I could get some of the best wrestlers in the country to come down here." Guzzo