NJDan 674 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 Apparently, Yeshiva University is dropping varsity wrestling. That Yeshiva even has a team may be fodder for jokes. But there is a bit of history worth mentioning. Yeshiva was once coached by Henry Wittenberg, who won an Olympic gold medal in '48 and a silver (while injured) in '52. Before Smith and Baumgartner came along, Wittenberg, a NYC cop, was arguably America's best wrestler. He went undefeated in more than 300 consecutive matches during the 1940s, according to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. I knew him a bit when he was in his '60s and '70s. He was still a bull. Here is his NY Times Obit: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/sports/10wittenberg.html 2 2td3nf and silver-medal reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach_J 2,080 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 These small, low-cost programs used to be the life-blood of college wrestling, giving so many kids a chance to have a collegiate athletic experience while earning a meaningful degree. Very sad news. 1 HurricaneWrestling reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pinnum 799 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 If I remember correctly, Yeshiva was one of the biggest institutional investors that had invested money with Bernie Madoff. The school, with 3,000 undergrads, lost $110 Million, on paper, from the ponzi scheme. As a result, it really impacted the school's budgets and strategy. It is a very good school but their wrestling program has resembled more of a club program than a varsity program. Unfortunately, I don't think there is much of a demand for collegiate wrestling opportunities with their students. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SetonHallPirate 846 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 Pinnum, must have been difficult to draw student-athletes to the team with no opportunity to participate in the NCAA (Division III) Championships either. Presumably they have a policy of no Saturday competition for religious reasons. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pinnum 799 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 Pinnum, must have been difficult to draw student-athletes to the team with no opportunity to participate in the NCAA (Division III) Championships either. Presumably they have a policy of no Saturday competition for religious reasons. Though rare, they do sometimes compete on Saturdays. http://yumacs.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SetonHallPirate 846 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 Yes, but all of those are Saturday night, with 8:30 PM start times (after sundown). You can't really run the entire NCAA Division III wrestling championship in such a manner. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pinnum 799 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 Yes, but all of those are Saturday night, with 8:30 PM start times (after sundown). You can't really run the entire NCAA Division III wrestling championship in such a manner. Ah, yes. You're correct. I didn't consider that fact. I should have caught it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stove_Pipe 15 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 ^^I believe that Wittenberg was coached at City College of New York by Joe Sapora (went to high school at Renovo, PA), who won the NCAA tournament in 1929 and 1930 for the Univ of Illinois. Joe Sapora was Pennsylvania's first NCAA champion. Sapora, after college, coached CCNY from early 1930's into late 1960's. Coach Sapora was a fine and interesting person. I had the opportunity to talk with him a couple times about late 1950's at the Wilkes Open. Wittenberg, obviously one of American's all-time greats, started wrestling late, but did have a good coach in college. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigApple 86 Report post Posted June 18, 2015 My high school coach Bob Williams wrestled at Oklahoma A&M in 1939 on Ed Gallagher's last team. He took third that year behind Henry Wittenburg who took 2nd. The champ was from Indiana U, who later was a long time head coach there. I got to know Josh Henson fairly well, i wished I'd have asked him about Wittenburg, they were the two old guys on the 1952 team. Tommy Evans (2nd), Bill Smith (1st) and Dan Hodge (5th) were the young guys on the 1952 team. Henry was one of the first wrestlers to be active in weight training. Art Griffith the Oklahoma A&M head coach after Gallagher, didn't believe in strength training. Griffith was the head Olympic coach, i think in 1948. Henry informed Griffith he would be lifting on the boat trip to London. Griffith reportedly told him okay, just do it so others don't see you. It's a shame when wrestling i s dropped at any school. Many of the small private schools have found adding a wrestling program has increased their male enrollment. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kenshap 3 Report post Posted June 19, 2015 Stove_Pipe, yes, Henry Wittenberg was coached by Joe Sapora at City College. My Dad, Clarence Shapiro, was Henry's teammate. My Dad always spoke so fondly of Henry and Joe, and told me many times what a tremendously positive influence Coach Sapora had on him. He loved the "Coach." I suppose, in an indirect way, Coach Saparo (through my Dad) had a pretty big influence on me. I met Coach Sapora when I was much younger, and he was older, but still have fond memories of that day because my Dad was so excited for me to meet him. Coach seemed very personable and charismatic, and if I recall correctly, he greeted me with an arm drag instead of a handshake :-). Wonderful memories! And to brag a bit on my Dad (who passed away four years ago after a long and, by any account, terrific and meaningful life), he, Henry and Joe are the only three wrestlers in the City College Athletic Hall of Fame. 3 silver-medal, DuckFor2 and Coach_J reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stove_Pipe 15 Report post Posted June 19, 2015 ^^Kenshap, Thank you for the reply. I appreciate it. 1 Kenshap reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2td3nf 547 Report post Posted June 20, 2015 NJDan, thanks for the OP, never knew that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bloate 61 Report post Posted June 20, 2015 (edited) Yeshiva U, #1 or #9 train uptown. Never dreamed they had any athletic teams let alone wrestling. They also have a Bronx location with a well respected psychology dept. Edited June 20, 2015 by Bloate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2td3nf 547 Report post Posted June 21, 2015 Yeah, knew they had basketball and baseball, but didn't know about the wrestling program. Speaking of respected departments, how about the Einstein school of medicine at Yeshiva. I hear it's very competitive to get accepted there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr.White 1 Report post Posted June 25, 2015 I almost went there! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Brown 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2015 I started a separate thread, but, Arno Niemand, author of The Dream Team of 1947 is writing a biography of Henry Wittenberg. If you have any information or personal stories you'd like to share with Arno, contact me at jbrown@wrestlingforlife.org and I'll put you in touch with him. Jim Brown (gg121and2) Wrestling for Life Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swoopdown 485 Report post Posted June 29, 2015 Yeshiva has significant financial issues. http://www.takepart.com/feature/2014/06/17/yeshiva-university-loses-endowment-hedge-funds Don't know if any of this has impact on wrestling but maybe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
