The print modeling led to dozens of offers to star in adult film. In December 1978, Barresi was the first man ever to appear on the cover of Hustler. The following year he was selected by Rip Colt as an early Colt model and featured on the cover of the November 1975 of Mandate. In March 1974, Barresi was featured in Playgirl magazine with Cassandra Peterson. Upon returning to civilian life, he soon began working as a fitness trainer at a gym in nearby Riverside, California. Barresi served at bases in the United States and the Philippines, and he was honorably discharged as a sergeant in 1971 after completing his tour at March Air Force Base. Barresi was offered a wrestling scholarship to the University of Maryland but opted to instead enlist in the United States Air Force during the height of the Vietnam War. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, when Barresi was 12 his family moved to Annapolis, Maryland for his father's job at the United States Naval Academy.
