In 1965, John watched his first wrestling match and attended his first wrestling practice. In 2022, he is still raising the winner’s arms, having already worked as a referee at a dozen wrestling events, and working to continue the sport by attending five meetings planning wrestling tournaments.                                                                                          

John wrestled for four years in high school, winning a district title in 1969 for North Hunterdon High School in Annendale, NJ. He wrestled one semester at American University, Washington, D.C., and went 7-1 in varsity bouts and won two intramural ribbons.                                                            

He began as an assistant coach for the Hunterdon Hills Wrestling program; then served as Head Coach for the first-ever Midget Wrestling program at Voorhees High School, Glen Gardner, NJ, where he coached one state champion. In 1975, John started as a cadet referee for the Central Area Chapter of New Jersey. He is presently in his 47th consecutive season as a registered high school wrestling referee, working since 1995 in Florida.             

John joined USA Wrestling in 1996 and has worked over 100 National and Regional wrestling tournaments for USA Wrestling plus AAU, NHSCA, and Rocky Mountain Nationals. As a member of the Florida Amateur Wrestling Association, John served as Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, National Teams Director, Central Area Director, and, in 2011, Team Leader for Team Florida that placed 2nd in the Junior Nationals at Fargo in Greco and 3rd in Greco in the Junior National Duals in Oklahoma. He was also a registered NCAA referee for a decade, working college wrestling events in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee Florida.

As a journalist, John has covered the Florida High School States for eight different publications. He also covered the 2003 NCAA Championships in Kansas City, the 2003 World Freestyle Championships in New York’s Madison Square Garden, and the 2004 Team USA World Team Trials in Indianapolis.