SIUE Hall of Fame Wrestling Coach Larry Kristoff Passes Away
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE Athletics and the SIUE wrestling community mourns the passing of former Head Coach Larry Kristoff. He was 83.
Kristoff started, built and defined the SIUE wrestling program into a national powerhouse that included three consecutive NCAA Division II championships in 1984, 1985 and 1986.
"It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the passing of Larry Kristoff," said SIUE wrestling Head Coach Daryl Thomas. "Larry touched so many lives, and the stories our alumni share are a testament to the person he was and how much he meant to those he coached. His legacy will live on through the people he inspired and his lasting impact on SIUE wrestling and the sport."
"I had the pleasure of getting to know Coach Kristoff and his family over the last 14 years," said former SIUE Head Coach and current Assistant Coach Jeremy Spates. "Getting to coach his grandson Max was special to me and SIUE wrestling. It is amazing to see what he did as an athlete and how he was able to translate that into his coaching career. He was an inspiration to his athletes and the people around him. His influence on SIUE and the Southern Illinois wrestling community will be missed but never forgotten."
A Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Kristoff was known not only for his coaching ability but also as one of the nation's premier heavyweights. A seventh-place finisher at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and a fifth-place finisher at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, he would represent the United States from 1964 to 1971.
He won silver medals at the World Championships in 1966, 1969 and 1970 as well as bronze medals in 1965 and 1967. Kristoff earned 12 senior national titles with nine in freestyle and three in Greco-Roman. The gold medalist at the 1967 Pan American Games, Kristoff competed collegiately at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where he won two Division II national championships in 1963 and 1964 and was a Division I national runner-up in 1963.
His personal experience translated into becoming the head coach for SIUE in 1969, where Kristoff built the program from scratch.
SIUE finished in the top 10 nationally 18 times under Kristoff who spent 30 seasons as the team's head coach before officially retiring in 1999. With Kristoff's direction, SIUE posted 111 NCAA Division II All-Americans, including 18 national champions and 11 NCAA Division I All-Americans. The list of national champions and All-American includes his sons Mark and Kip, both joining their father as members of the SIUE Athletics Hall of Fame.
The family has announced arrangement to include a memorial service Dec. 4 at Hileman and Rendleman Funeral Home, 301 West Spring Street, Anna, Illinois 62906 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. with a post-service gathering from 12:30 to 4 p.m. at Giant City Lodge. He will be laid to rest at Zion Cemetery in Carbondale.
