Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = City College of New York

The City College of New York commonly abbreviated as CCNY, had varsity wrestling at a few different times during the Beavers years in athletics.  They last had wrestling in the early 1990's after a few different times of dropping and reinstating.   While never a powerhouse team, they did have a couple of wrestlers who stick out.

128 lbs
Clarence Shapiro

A Townsend Harris High School graduate, Shaprio served as a Lieutenant in World War II after getting his education at CCNY.  He was a two time NCAA tournament participant in both 1940 & 1941.   Post college he worked as a CPA.  He passed away in 2011 at the age of 90.

Henry Wittenberg 

A member of the varsity swimming team and a skilled chess player, Henry Wittenberg never stepped on a mat during high school.  In fact wrestling was the furthest thing from his mind until the coach at CCNY took a look at him and thought he he might make a good wrestler. He thought right.

Wittenberg took to the sport like a fish to water capturing a third place finish at the 1938 NCAA's and runner-up honors at the 1939 tournament.  Continuing wrestling success Wittenberg won a Gold medal at the 1948 Olympics and a Silver medal at the 1952 games.

A love affair with the sport that would last up until Wittenberg's passing, he started and then coached the program at Yeshiva (another that we've lost over the years). 

Wittenberg was also a member of the NYPD.