Official

Dan Hartung has dedicated most of his life in service to wrestling.  His lifelong contributions to wrestling include thirty-five years in the state of Florida as a coach and official of both high school and college wrestling, as well as coaching for five years in Pennsylvania.  Dan’s service and dedication to wrestling has been an inspiration to many student athletes, coaches, and officials.                                             

Dan has been a member of the Florida West Coast Wrestling Officials (WCWO) for twenty-four years, including ten years serving on the Executive Board as a Member-at-Large and Training Director.  As an official, Dan has worked many dual meets and tournaments each year during the season. Dan has officiated twenty-three District tournaments, fifteen Regional tournaments, and four Florida State tournaments.                        

Dan began wrestling in western Pennsylvania in 2nd grade and had an illustrious career, highlighted by being chosen to wrestle in the very first Dapper Dan Wrestling tournament in 1975.  He earned a full scholarship to wrestle at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Recruited by Joe Boone, Dan had the privilege to wrestle for one of the best wrestlers in the world, Gray Simons.  After college, Dan worked as a grad assistant coach at Slippery Rock State College for the legendary Fred Powell.  The highlight of that 1981 season was coaching an All American at the NCAA Tournament, Anthony Calderaio, who was from Boca Raton, FL.  After moving to Florida in 1985, Dan officiated for WCWO for three years.  He then coached for eleven years in Tampa at three different high schools; Plant City, Hillsborough, and H.B. Plant.  He coached multiple District and Regional place winners, and three State place winners.  He organized several wrestling camps and also traveled with his teams to other camps, including Clemson and Slippery Rock. In 1999, Dan began officiating again.  He went all-in by starting to officiate national tournaments during the off season.  He officiated for the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA), working their preseason classic at Wake Forest University for four years before officiating at the Super 32 tournament for ten years.  Dan represented Florida at the NHSCA Senior Nationals for eleven years.  There he was selected to officiate a Senior Finals match eight years in a row.  Dan also officiated in thirteen NHSCA Duals Championships, where he was selected to be the Head Official for four years. Dan officiated for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), at the prestigious Disney Duals for eight years, the World Championships at Ford Field in Detroit, and other Florida AAU events. Several other high-profile events where Dan represented Florida are the Reno Worlds, the Las Vegas Classic, the Dixie Nationals, and The Clash Duals.                                                                                                                                                               

In 2008 Dan began officiating college wrestling as well. He officiated for the Florida college teams that are members of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA).  Dan officiated in seven NCWA National Duals Championships, six NCWA National Championships, and many collegiate tournaments with DII and DIII teams including the Luther Duals, the Citrus Open, and the Sunshine Open.  He also officiated at the Citadel and NC State Opens.  Dan officiated Southeastern University’s inaugural home dual in 2015 against the University of South Florida, as well as several other home dual meets.                                                       

Family has always been important to Dan.  His parents, Paul and Mary Kay Hartung, supported his wrestling career and raised him with a sense of fairness and high moral standards, which guided him while wrestling, teaching, coaching, and officiating. Dan has had a positive influence on many student athletes throughout these years of service.  His time and effort have been rewarded by all of the friends he has made in the wrestling community and appreciation shown by the athletes, coaches, and parents.