South Toledo gathered on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, as Escott Avenue became Gregory Wojciechowski “Wojo” Way — a permanent place on the map, in his own neighborhood, for a Toledo kid who made it all the way to the top of the wrestling world.

For the neighbors who turned out for the unveiling, it was more than a new street sign. It was a homecoming for a name South Toledo has carried with pride for generations: “The Great Wojo.”

A Toledo kid who made it

Gregory Wojciechowski was born in Toledo on Nov. 13, 1950. He died of a heart attack on Aug. 12, 2025, at age 74 — but the legacy he left behind filled Escott Avenue on Saturday.

At Whitmer High School, Wojo was a two-time Ohio state heavyweight champion, winning titles in 1967 and 1968. He carried that dominance to the University of Toledo, where he won the NCAA Division I heavyweight championship in 1971, reached the NCAA final three times — finishing runner-up in 1970 and 1972 — and compiled a remarkable 55-2 collegiate record.

His amateur career peaked on the biggest stage of all: Wojo was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team.

“The Great Wojo”

As a professional, he became “The Great Wojo,” a three-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion over a 12-year pro career. He retired as champion in 1987 — going out on top, the way Toledo always knew him.

And when the wrestling was done, Wojo came home to give back. He coached high school wrestling at Libbey for 11 years and at Bowsher for five years, and taught in Toledo Public Schools — shaping the next generation of Toledo kids the way his coaches once shaped him.

Honored in the Hall of Fame — and now on the street

Wojo was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 2025, and into the University of Toledo Varsity T Hall of Fame in 1978.

Now his name is part of the neighborhood itself. Every trip down what was Escott Avenue is a reminder: a boy from South Toledo became a state champion, a national champion, an Olympian, a world champion — and a teacher and coach who never really left home.

Wojo Way isn’t just a street name. It’s Toledo saying, proudly and permanently: this one’s ours.

Photo credit: Featured image shows two wrestlers in action on the mat during a competitive match. Photo by Célio Júnior, via Pexels. This is a representative freestyle wrestling image, not a photograph of Gregory Wojciechowski — no free-use photograph of Wojo was available on Wikimedia Commons.

Sources: The Blade photo gallery: Wojo Way (via NewsLocker) • The Great Wojo — Wikipedia • Greg Wojciechowski — University of Toledo Varsity T Hall of Fame