CARROLL, ALFRED D. (29 Dec. 1913 - 11 Jan. 1999) was regarded as Greater Cleveland's godfather of wrestling (See BOXING & WRESTLING) and served as the secretary of the Greater Cleveland Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association. He was born in Mexico City to (Pearl Rodriguez) and James Carroll. As a young child he moved to Cleveland and was a wrestler at John Marshall High School. He was a battery inspector for Union Carbide Corp. before World War II and returned to the company following the war. He stayed with the company until his retirement in the late 1970s. During the war, Carroll served with the Army in Europe and participated in the campaigns of Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, Central Europe and the Ardennes. He was a clerk whose duties included filing reports and statistics, taking information by telephone and sorting and distributing mail. These same activities would dominate his work as the wrestling association's secretary.
Carroll officiated his first wrestling match in 1936 and dedicated himself to improving the sport for young athletes. He was selected as the secretary of the Greater Cleveland Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association in 1946 and served in that position for fifty years - retiring at the end of the 1996-97 season. He was a co-founder of the state high school wrestling tournament, and with the exception of his years in the military, he was the tournament's official scorer every year from its inception in 1938 until 1997. For many years he was considered the finest wresting referee in Ohio; he officiated many state tournament matches as well as matches at the college level and at Olympic trial contests. He also co-founded the Brecksville Holiday Wrestling Tournament, which started in 1961 and set the standard for other holiday tournaments.
Carroll married Esther M. Boker in 1942 and had two children with her: Judith Anne (Wachs) and Linda (Fox). He died at the Rae-Ann Center nursing home in Cleveland and is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery.