Famed Brentwood High wrestling coach Joe Campo dies

Legendary wrestling coach Joe "Gov" Campo, who led the Brentwood High School wrestling team to seven county titles in a row and eight in nine years from 1968-69 through 1976-77, died Thursday of congestive heart failure at the California home of his son, Jose. He was 85.

Joe Campo, who was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1990, was 261-20 in his 20 seasons as Brentwood's head coach. In 2008, the school's gymnasium was named in his honor.

Considered the governor of New York State coaches, "Gov" coached 89 league champions, 37 Suffolk champions and nine New York State titlists. His first state champ, Carl Adams in 1968, went on to win two NCAA titles at Iowa State University and currently is Boston University's head coach.

Current Brentwood coach Ralph Napolitano wrestled under Campo.

A physical education teacher, Campo also coached the Brentwood football team to back-to-back Rutgers Trophies in 1970-71. His football teams were league champions seven times, said his son, a high school wrestling coach in San Diego and one of Campo's six children.

"My dad really was like a legend," said daughter Jacque Thoreson, of Portland, Ore. She said her Long Island friends tell her that whenever men gather at a party, "if they have anything to do with wrestling or football, they talk about my dad."

Jerry Goodfellow, now a Hauppauge High School coach, wrestled under Campo as a student and then worked as his assistant for five years.

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"He left a tremendous impact on the lives of every Brentwood athlete, football and wrestlers, as well as other students who were not as fortunate to have him as a teacher and coach," Goodfellow said.

"Anybody who has followed high school wrestling for a long time knows that Joe Campo . . . was one of the greatest high school wrestling coaches in history," writes Gary Abbott of USAWrestling on Lighthousewrestling.com.

"He treated all of his athletes like they were his sons," his son Jose said. "His athletes never had anyone who cared so much about them, not only on the athletic field but off the field also. He built an unbelievable relationship with all of his athletes. In return, they would do anything for him."

Campo was a child of the Depression, moving around the Northeast with his family as his father searched for jobs. From the age of five, Campo and his twin brother put on boxing expositions, including a 1930 appearance at Madison Square Garden with Jack Dempsey, his son said.

An Ithaca College graduate, Campo began his coaching career at a high school outside Utica, amassing a 191-18 record, but jumped at the chance to teach and coach at Brentwood when the opportunity presented itself before the 1965-66 school year.

"I knew Long Island was a tough area for wrestling, so I wanted to see what I could do there," Campo said on Jan. 22, 2008, the evening of the ceremony to name the gym in his honor.

Retiring from Brentwood after 22 years, he never lost his interest in coaching. Even in failing health, after moving to San Diego from his retirement home in Stuart, Fla., Campo went with his son to wrestling practice every day.

In addition to his son Jose and daughter Jacque, Campo is survived by his sons, Mike Campo of Redondo Beach, Calif., Rick Campo of Temecula, Calif., and Manny Campo of Denver; daughter, Mary Ellen Campo of San Diego; brother, John del Campo of upstate Alfred; and nine grandchildren.

Arrangements are pending.

"Our goal is to go back to Brentwood into his gymnasium and have a celebration of his life and have all of the former athletes come back," Jose Campo said.