Ed and Shirley Aliverti honored upon their retirement from announcing
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by Sandy Stevens
Ed and Shirley Aliverti pose with their microphone awards, which were presented by USA Wrestling during the tribute to their careers held at the World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Photo by Ginger Robinson/W.I.N. Magazine
Reprinted with permission from W.I.N. Magazine
It was 1958 and new vocal music teacher Ed Aliverti had inherited just 13 singers in a school of 700 students. He set about recruiting and one day six guys, calling themselves "wrestlers," joined the choir.
"I didn't know what 'wrestlers' did," Ed recalled.
He asked the Edmonds (Wash.) High School coach to explain, but the coach said he'd need to demonstrate. So Ed joined wrestling practice.
"My wife told me I was crazy," he said. "When I tried to get up the next morning, I thought so, too."
After two weeks, the coach said, "OK, you've got to do something for me: announce our first match."
"What does that mean?" Ed asked.
"Read the names," the coach replied.
Not only did Ed amass 129 vocalists by their first concert that winter, wrestling got a hold on him that would last for 50 years.
He recalls that first season of announcing the school's meets.
"I didn't know what I was doing, but I realized the audience wasn't really involved," he said. "I came home and told my wife that I need to do something to bring the fans down to the mat - 'Folks, as you can see, this is a caution …'
"I tried very hard to make them think I was talking to them, but to still be respective of (the wrestlers) so that they'd have the information that matters."
After a half century of announcing - including the Olympic Games in Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney; more than 20 World Championships; several decades of NCAA and NAIA Championships; countless high school tournaments; and induction into five halls of fame - Ed, 76, is retiring from the wrestling mic.
"We figured we're pushing a half million matches," he said.
"We," of course, means Shirley, Ed's wife of 55 years. The Alivertis are parents of former Edmonds mat maids Jann, of Washington State; Leslie, Alaska; and Gina, Alabama, and grandparents of four.
Shirley has been matside with Ed almost from the beginning. Early on, she sat in the stands, but after an Ed remark during one meet, she moved down to ask him, "What did that mean? Say it so I understand it."
"I used her as my sounding board," Ed said.
From that day on, Shirley partnered at nearly every meet, serving as Ed's liaison to the press table, pointing out wrestlers' biographical notes or placing notes of on-deck matches in their places.
"She did it all," Ed said. "She kept me organized. Since when are Italian men supposed to be logical?"
Continuing to announce, Ed went on to serve as a high school counselor and director of student activities and eventually, Edmonds Community College's first public relations director.
Wrestling fans also associate Ed with his powerful singing of the National Anthem, but his first wrestling-related performance came unexpectedly at the state high school championships, when the scheduled musician didn't show. "And I've been singing it ever since," Ed said.
Later he would add the Korean, French, Russian, Japanese, Canadian and Cuban national anthems to his repertoire.
Ed has performed extensively for more than 40 years, and he directs the Fabulous Stardust Follies, a group of singers and dancers ages 65 to 83. (Google the group to view a video.)
For the last six years, Ed has also battled three types of cancer. "The first two we've battled very successfully and won the fight," he said.
With the third type, pancreatic cancer, he underwent chemotherapy and 23 radiation treatments, the heaviest treatment available. His weight dropped from 185 to 122, and he lost his dark, wavy hair.
"But the third (battle) appears to be successful only because we caught it so early," Ed said.
Also successful has been two musical appearances with his oncologist, Dr. Vincent Picozzi, duets spearheaded when Ed told the doctor, "You pull me through this, and we'll sing a duet."
Last year, with just a brief practice after a chemo session, the duo surprised attendees at a black tie fund-raiser for pancreatic cancer research. "The place fell apart," Ed recalled.
Recently he and "Vinny Pic-line" returned to perform. "We didn't even finish before the 300 people were on their feet," Ed said.
From the perspective of experience, Ed urges beginning announcers to "maintain sincerity, loyalty and dignity to the sport, to the competitors and to the fans at all times."
That philosophy may explain, then, the moments Ed holds closest to his heart from a treasury of memories. He thinks, for example, of Ali Reza Dabir, "a little kid from Iran" winning his first world championship. At a reception that night, an interpreter accompanied the boy to the table.
"He has a story he must tell you," the interpreter told Ed. "When he was a little boy, he used to sit by the radio and listen to international events and your voice. He told his mom that some day you would announce him."
Ed also remembers that the first time he met Korean wrestler Kim Tae Woo, they exchanged small gifts. At subsequent meets, the wrestler would come to say "Hello" via an interpreter.
At the Toronto World Championships, Kim lost third place by one point. "Our hearts just dropped," Ed said.
Twenty minutes later, Kim came to the head table. "Neatly folded in his hand was his beautiful white team warm-up," Ed said. "I hugged him and he went on his way and I cried."
Of deciding to retire, Ed said, "We've been a lot of places, met a lot of wonderful people, but Shirley and I haven't had much time to follow our agenda.
"But what you feel is one thing," he added, "but it's hard to say."
(Sandy Stevens, an Order of Merit honoree from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, has been an on-site announcer for amateur wrestling for more than three decades, including the NCAA Division I Championships, two Olympics, multiple world championships at every age level, and countless national championships in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman competition.)
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Reprinted with permission from W.I.N. Magazine
It was 1958 and new vocal music teacher Ed Aliverti had inherited just 13 singers in a school of 700 students. He set about recruiting and one day six guys, calling themselves "wrestlers," joined the choir.
"I didn't know what 'wrestlers' did," Ed recalled.
He asked the Edmonds (Wash.) High School coach to explain, but the coach said he'd need to demonstrate. So Ed joined wrestling practice.
"My wife told me I was crazy," he said. "When I tried to get up the next morning, I thought so, too."
After two weeks, the coach said, "OK, you've got to do something for me: announce our first match."
"What does that mean?" Ed asked.
"Read the names," the coach replied.
Not only did Ed amass 129 vocalists by their first concert that winter, wrestling got a hold on him that would last for 50 years.
He recalls that first season of announcing the school's meets.
"I didn't know what I was doing, but I realized the audience wasn't really involved," he said. "I came home and told my wife that I need to do something to bring the fans down to the mat - 'Folks, as you can see, this is a caution …'
"I tried very hard to make them think I was talking to them, but to still be respective of (the wrestlers) so that they'd have the information that matters."
After a half century of announcing - including the Olympic Games in Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney; more than 20 World Championships; several decades of NCAA and NAIA Championships; countless high school tournaments; and induction into five halls of fame - Ed, 76, is retiring from the wrestling mic.
"We figured we're pushing a half million matches," he said.
"We," of course, means Shirley, Ed's wife of 55 years. The Alivertis are parents of former Edmonds mat maids Jann, of Washington State; Leslie, Alaska; and Gina, Alabama, and grandparents of four.
Shirley has been matside with Ed almost from the beginning. Early on, she sat in the stands, but after an Ed remark during one meet, she moved down to ask him, "What did that mean? Say it so I understand it."
"I used her as my sounding board," Ed said.
From that day on, Shirley partnered at nearly every meet, serving as Ed's liaison to the press table, pointing out wrestlers' biographical notes or placing notes of on-deck matches in their places.
"She did it all," Ed said. "She kept me organized. Since when are Italian men supposed to be logical?"
Continuing to announce, Ed went on to serve as a high school counselor and director of student activities and eventually, Edmonds Community College's first public relations director.
Wrestling fans also associate Ed with his powerful singing of the National Anthem, but his first wrestling-related performance came unexpectedly at the state high school championships, when the scheduled musician didn't show. "And I've been singing it ever since," Ed said.
Later he would add the Korean, French, Russian, Japanese, Canadian and Cuban national anthems to his repertoire.
Ed has performed extensively for more than 40 years, and he directs the Fabulous Stardust Follies, a group of singers and dancers ages 65 to 83. (Google the group to view a video.)
For the last six years, Ed has also battled three types of cancer. "The first two we've battled very successfully and won the fight," he said.
With the third type, pancreatic cancer, he underwent chemotherapy and 23 radiation treatments, the heaviest treatment available. His weight dropped from 185 to 122, and he lost his dark, wavy hair.
"But the third (battle) appears to be successful only because we caught it so early," Ed said.
Also successful has been two musical appearances with his oncologist, Dr. Vincent Picozzi, duets spearheaded when Ed told the doctor, "You pull me through this, and we'll sing a duet."
Last year, with just a brief practice after a chemo session, the duo surprised attendees at a black tie fund-raiser for pancreatic cancer research. "The place fell apart," Ed recalled.
Recently he and "Vinny Pic-line" returned to perform. "We didn't even finish before the 300 people were on their feet," Ed said.
From the perspective of experience, Ed urges beginning announcers to "maintain sincerity, loyalty and dignity to the sport, to the competitors and to the fans at all times."
That philosophy may explain, then, the moments Ed holds closest to his heart from a treasury of memories. He thinks, for example, of Ali Reza Dabir, "a little kid from Iran" winning his first world championship. At a reception that night, an interpreter accompanied the boy to the table.
"He has a story he must tell you," the interpreter told Ed. "When he was a little boy, he used to sit by the radio and listen to international events and your voice. He told his mom that some day you would announce him."
Ed also remembers that the first time he met Korean wrestler Kim Tae Woo, they exchanged small gifts. At subsequent meets, the wrestler would come to say "Hello" via an interpreter.
At the Toronto World Championships, Kim lost third place by one point. "Our hearts just dropped," Ed said.
Twenty minutes later, Kim came to the head table. "Neatly folded in his hand was his beautiful white team warm-up," Ed said. "I hugged him and he went on his way and I cried."
Of deciding to retire, Ed said, "We've been a lot of places, met a lot of wonderful people, but Shirley and I haven't had much time to follow our agenda.
"But what you feel is one thing," he added, "but it's hard to say."
(Sandy Stevens, an Order of Merit honoree from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, has been an on-site announcer for amateur wrestling for more than three decades, including the NCAA Division I Championships, two Olympics, multiple world championships at every age level, and countless national championships in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman competition.)
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