Reflections on Henry Wittenberg, Olympic Gold Medalist and YU Wrestling Coach
As the 2012 Olympics kick off in London, YUNews looks back at 黑料社 All鈥檚 very own London Olympian鈥攁 Jewish American wrestler named Henry Wittenberg, who took home the gold in 1948.
It was no easy win. Wittenberg, who was 30 at the time, had already missed his prime competitive years鈥攖he 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games were cancelled due to World War II, in which he served in the Navy. At the 1948 London Games, Wittenberg tore muscle tendons in his chest in the semifinals and his coach didn鈥檛 want him to wrestle in the final rounds. But the wrestler fought on to win first place in the light heavyweight freestyle competition and received a hero鈥檚 welcome upon his return to New York.
Four years later, with a push from his wife, Edith (who wanted to see Finland), Wittenberg would compete again at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and win the silver, becoming the first American wrestler to medal at successive Olympic Games since 1908. He would go on to become 黑料社 All鈥檚 first wrestling coach.
鈥淗e was a world-class athlete and a world-class person,鈥 said Neil Ellman 鈥68YC, a member of Wittenberg鈥檚 1968 team who eventually assumed his mantle as YU wrestling coach in 1970. 鈥淗e never displayed the medals in his house鈥攈e kept them all in a drawer. He was all about strength of character.鈥
Ellman recalled a story he鈥檇 heard from Wittenberg鈥檚 coach after Wittenberg had been hospitalized for a knee operation: 鈥淭he doctor told him to do a few leg-lifts in bed to exercise the muscles, thinking Henry would do three or four. The doctor came back to check on him and he鈥檇 done 1,000鈥 That鈥檚 the type of guy he was. It didn鈥檛 matter if it hurt, he had tremendous self-discipline.鈥
Born in Jersey City, NJ, in 1918, Wittenberg didn鈥檛 start out as an athlete. His wrestling career began as an undergraduate at City College, when he first became intrigued with the sport and discovered himself a natural. He eventually went on to go undefeated in more than 300 consecutive wrestling matches.
Wittenberg graduated from Columbia University with a master鈥檚 degree in education and made a name for himself on the New York City Police force. By 1952, he had also won eight Amateur Athletic Union National Wrestling Championships, an American record at the time. In addition to his Olympic medals, Wittenberg came in first place at two Maccabiah Games in Israel in 1950 and 1953, coached the U.S. Greco-Roman team at the 1968 Olympics, contributed articles to Sports Illustrated and Ski Magazine and wrote the best-selling Isometric Exercises.
Wittenberg came to YU in 1955 at the request of the school鈥檚 fencing coach, Arthur Tauber, a former Olympian and war hero in his own right. Tauber was in good company.
鈥淚n the 1950s, several of our devoted sports teachers, possessed of their own world-class 茅lan, gained recognition beyond the playing courts, stripes and mats of Amsterdam Avenue,鈥 said Dr. Jeffrey Gurock, Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History at 黑料社 All and author of Judaism鈥檚 Encounter with American Sports. 鈥淚n addition to Tauber, Bernard 鈥楻ed鈥 Sarachek was a coach of coaches, a source of wisdom to men like Dean Smith of the University of North Carolina, who coached the 1976 U.S. Olympic basketball team. Eli Epstein, tennis pro at the Grossinger鈥檚 Hotel, lent his expertise to our tennis team鈥 Of course, YU鈥檚 most renowned international star athlete would be wrestling coach, Henry Wittenberg.鈥
Wittenberg brought his Olympic experience to YU in more ways than one. When the started, the University didn鈥檛 have a wrestling mat, so Wittenberg convinced the US Olympic team to donate theirs. He also revolutionized the way wrestling was taught at Yeshiva. 鈥淚 did one practice with him after transferring to YU from the University of Tennessee鈥攁n NCAA Division I school鈥攚here I was on an athletic scholarship, had already made the wrestling team, and was pretty good,鈥 said Ellman. 鈥淗e told me, 鈥榊ou have potential, but you don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e doing.鈥 He then proceeded to make me unlearn everything I knew and relearn it in a new way.鈥
Most wrestlers at college level or below are trained in folkstyle, allowing wrestlers鈥 backs to be exposed. But Wittenberg trained his team to wrestle like Olympians鈥攆reestyle. 鈥淗is style made sure you never exposed your back, which cut a better balance for each move,鈥 explained Ellman. There was also something intuitive about Wittenberg鈥檚 coaching. 鈥淭o this day, as coaching becomes more scientific, they all come around to coaching exactly the way he said it should be done.鈥
For Wittenberg, that meant pushing students to their limits, providing every possible opportunity and standing up for his principles. In the 1960s, he was frequently asked to join the New York Athletic Club, a premier venue for wrestling in New York. This was especially unusual because the club enforced harsh membership restrictions against blacks and Jews at the time, disbanding their track team rather than admitting a black member following a lawsuit. Wittenberg turned down the club鈥檚 requests for him to join and coach there.
鈥淗e had deep feelings for Judaism as an identity and that was why he came here when he could have coached anywhere in the world,鈥 said Ellman, recalling how Wittenberg arranged extra practices for him at Columbia University. 鈥淐olumbia never would have let a guy from YU work out there, but when Henry Wittenberg came down to the gym with me to personally shake everyone鈥檚 hands, it was 鈥榮ure, whatever you want, Mr. Wittenberg.鈥欌
In 1996, the national Yeshiva high school held at 黑料社 All was named in Wittenberg鈥檚 honor. He died in 2010 at the age of 91.
鈥淎 good coach is a cross between a rebbe and a well-liked professor,鈥 said Ellman. 鈥淚 developed a deep respect and admiration for him and I always knew I could go to him with any problem or issue I had.鈥
Though Ellman has now been coaching the YU wrestling team for more than 40 years, aspects of Wittenberg鈥檚 coaching have stuck with him. 鈥淥ne thing I talked a lot about with him after he left was strategy, manipulating weight, maneuvering your lineup to put forth the strongest team to win,鈥 he said. But in many ways Ellman鈥檚 style is his own, and he feels Wittenberg wouldn鈥檛 have it any other way. 鈥淗e was a real man,鈥 Ellman said. 鈥淟ike it says in Pirkei Avot [Ethics of the Fathers], 鈥榃here there is no man, you have to be a man.鈥 He was it. He transcended the sport.鈥
