National Wrestling Hall of Fame

LATINO WRESTLING EXPERIENCE NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM | 49 By any measure, Marco Sanchez was a remarkable wrestler at Arizona State University. He has been an equally remarkable educator and community leader since retiring from the wrestling mat. After capping off a very strong mat record in high school in San Jose, Calif., Sanchez was a two-time All American earning third and eighth-place finishes at 134 pounds at the NCAA tournament in 1992 and 1993. Marco, however, did not end his wrestling career when he graduated from ASU, the first in his family to graduate from college. Choosing to honor his father Raphael, a native of Puerto Rico, Marco wrestled Greco-Roman on the Puerto Rican Olympic Team at 136.5 pounds in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In a recent interview Sanchez said, "But when he (Marco's father) found out I could represent Puerto Rico in the Olympics, his eyes widened with excitement. He was really proud of that." Inspired by his mother, who received her general equivalency diploma at 29, and the hard work of his father, a commercial fisherman and baker who never graduated from high school, Marco Sanchez continued with his education, earning not only a Masters Degree in Education, but a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. Along the way, he was also a prestigious Fulbright Scholar. Asked who else gave him the inspiration to continue his education after high school, Sanchez replied to a reporter, "I was planning to be a Marine. Instead, thanks to support and encouragement from my high school teachers and coaches, I was a Fulbright Scholar. I never thought anyone would invest money in me for doing something I loved." First a Principal at Lodi Middle School in Gilroy, Calif., Sanchez has been the Principal of Gilroy High School since 2009. He is well known among his students for doing back flips to show his school spirit at pep rallies for the Gilroy High School Mustangs. MARCO SANCHEZ Wrestled 1992-1993 Arizona State University 134lbs

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