Gordy Marchionda was born and raised in Penn Yan, New York in the Finger Lakes region. He is the eldest of six children and has two brothers and three sisters. One brother, Larry, lives in Fond du Lac and was a 1983 inductee into the George Martin Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Gordy went out for wrestling in his sophomore year of high school, wrestling varsity all three years and was captain of the team for two years. Total records were not kept, but he only lost to three high school wrestlers, by one point each time! He was recruited to Winona State University, Winona Minnesota, and went there from 1959 to 1963. He wrestled varsity all four years, placing second in the conference. He also wrestled in the NAIA finals, placing fourth.

Following graduation in 1963, Gordy accepted his first teaching job in Stoughton, Wisconsin. His first coaching position was .. yes! .. Jr. High basketball. He did, however, organize and start Stoughton's city recreation wrestling program. After his first year he became the assistant to the Head Coach Vern Pieper. It was an honor for him to share the early successes of the program and the many excellent wrestlers.In 1973 Gordy accepted the head wrestling coach position in Richland Center. In his nine years as head coach, Richland Center had a state champion and many state place winners. In 1982 he resigned his coaching position to complete his Masters Degree and became district coordinator of physical education for handicapped children. He continues to hold that position today.

Gordy started officiating wrestling when he was a sophomore in college, and continues to do so 40 years later. While in college, his coach officiated high school wrestling and took him along to officiate the JV's. After a few junior varsity matches, Gordy accepted several varsity contracts for high schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin. This was the start of his officiating career. He has officiated Olympic trials, Big Ten duals, Northern Open tournaments, NCAA Division II finals and Wisconsin university duals and tournaments. Gordy has always especially enjoyed officiating high school matches. Even during his 19 years of coaching he always officiated high school matches as well. Since leaving coaching he has devoted time to officiating the full season of wrestling. In 1986 he was invited to officiate the state high school wrestling tournament. He has since been asked to officiate both individual and team state tournaments many times. Gordy's career high was being invited to officiate the first state finals in the Kohl Center, and working with Don Herrmann's last tournament before his retirement in 1998.

Gordy's wife, Nancy, a speech pathologist; a son Mark,  daughter Sara, and daughter Marri, a nuclear engineer with Commonwealth Edison in Illinois; daughter Ronda, a manager at Land's End in Dodgeville.

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