Italian hall of fame to welcome Maggi
It is a rare occasion for a referee or umpire to be lauded and celebrated. In fact, it is only the best of them who get to experience such support and fanfare.
Count Larry Maggi, one of the top high school wrestling officials in the state, as being on one of those special people.
Maggi, long-time WPIAL wrestling rules interpreter and 1968 graduate of McGuffey High School, will be inducted Thursday into the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame at the 32nd annual scholarship sports night at the Priory Hotel in Pittsburgh,
The Washington County Commissioner is being recognized for his excellence in officiating schoolboy wrestling since the early 1970s.
“I’m really excited about it,” Maggi said Tuesday. “I’m honored and humbled by it. You see a name like Franco Harris (a former inductee) and others. I don’t think my accomplishments compare with those folks. But it is nice to be recognized.”
Maggi has been involved in wrestling since he was 8-years old. He describes his wrestling career as “mediocre.”
But he rose through the ranks since taking his test to become a PIAA official in 1971.
It is a day Maggi vividly remembers.
“As soon as I got out of the Marine Corps, I took the test,” he recalled. “I sat next to Dave Cook, a multiple Hall of Fame wrestling figure. I’ve been a referee since.”
Maggi has officiated 14 PIAA Championships and countless PIAA and WPIAL team tournaments, section, WPIAL and regional tournaments and is a veteran of numerous Powerade and Wrestling Classic events. He also officiated multiple years in the U.S. High School Nationals and was named Pennsylvania Wrestling Official of the Year in 1993-94.
Maggi was inducted into the Washington-Greene County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 and currently serves as the master of ceremonies at the chapter’s annual induction banquet each June.
He is a retired Pennsylvania State Trooper.
“Frank Vulcano Sr., got me into officiating,” Maggi said. “It has given me an opportunity to excel and have some longevity. When you’re doing a big match, a state final, it’s hot and emotions are high, and people can get on you. The fans are not there to see the official. You know you’ve done OK if nobody wants to know who the official was of that match.”
The Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 1986. About 100 Italian American athletes, officials and others related to athletics from the greater Pittsburgh region have been inducted into the hall.
The chapter annually gives out achievement awards to outstanding individuals in the community and issues scholarships to exceptional students and student-athletes.
The non-profit National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame is an educational institution dedicated to preserving and promoting the history and heritage of Italian Americans in sports by honoring Italian American heroes, who have made lasting contributions to sports and society. It was founded in 1977.
Harris is this year’s Pittsburgh Chapter Man of the Year while other honorees include, Jerry Veshio – who led Quaker Valley High School to WPIAL and PIAA football championships in the fall. He will receive the Dominic T. Roppa Award as Coach of the Year.
Pitt baseball coach, Joe Jordano, joins Maggi as a Hall of Fame inductee.
Former Italian American HOF inductees from the area include Sammy Angott, Dr. Fred Cox, Raymond J. Fiorini, Val Jansante, Joe Montana, Raymond Campanelli, Dave Palone, Raymond Cappelli, Donna DeMarino Sanft, a Monessen native, and Roger Valdiserri of Belle Vernon.