Known by most as "The Gov", Joseph Campo was a three-sport athlete at Ithaca and was one of the most successful coaches at any level of competition.
At Ithaca, he competed in football, wrestling and track & field, but made his mark in athletics as a high school football and wrestling coach.
As a grappler on South Hill, Campo helped Ithaca to a 14th place finish at the NCAA Championships in 1949, just three years after the college reinstated wrestling as a collegiate sport on campus.
Campo started wrestling programs at three different schools over his 52-year career and amassed an astonishing 453-38 record during that time. He would guide his teams to 20 league championships and three Section III titles. Campo also mentored nine New York State champions and 27 state place finishers.
He has been inducted into four different wrestling hall of fames – the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995, the New York State Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1987, the Long Island (Suffolk County – Section 11) Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Section III Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.
Ithaca College wrote a feature on Campo, titled the "Brentwood Boys" in 2016. TheÂ
full feature can be read here.
Campo passed away in California in 2010 at the age of 85.
