Brown Wrestling Up Off The Mat
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Saturday night at the Westin Providence, the Brown University wrestling program will celebrate its 100th anniversary. This is no small feat for a program which didn’t look like it would make it to its 100th anniversary just a couple of years ago.
More than 200 people are expected to attend this black tie event to celebrate the sport of wrestling at Brown. Many of those will be Brown wrestling alumni who helped save the program from being eliminated a few years ago.
“Two years ago they threatened to eliminate wrestling but it seemed to galvanize our alumni,” said Brown wrestling coach Dave Amato who is in his 29th year as head coach of the program. “Often times in situations of adversity, it can either kill you or make you stronger. It made us stronger as many of our great alumni upped their level of commitment to the program.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWrestling was one a few sports programs that was on the chopping block in the spring of 2011. A Brown University committee recommended that wrestling, women’s skiing and the men’s and women’s fencing teams all be eliminated so that they could increase financial support for the university’s other 34 athletic programs.
But the core group of wrestling alumni and supporters wouldn’t let it happen. “Fortunately, that idea is a thing of the past,” said Amato. “As a program we’re now self supportive as we have I believe about $1.3 million in our endowment with money pledged to bring that total to over $2 million over the next three years.”
Amato also said that it’s not just a select few large donors who have stepped u to support the program. “One thing that makes us great is that we don’t rely on one or two great donors,” he said. “We have at least 50-60 people that give more than $20 thousand.”
Given what Amato and the program have been through over the last year and a half, there’s reason to celebrate Saturday night.
Brown wrestling appears to be on solid ground once again and now they can celebrate their history.
“I’m really looking forward to this,” Amato said. “Some of our alumni like Rob Davidson (69’) and Michael Wallace (75’) thought it would be a good thing to do. We have been working over a year on putting this together with Matt (Jarret) and Sarah (Sceery) and the Brown Sports Foundation.”
Among the things that will be done Saturday night is the presentation of the Brunonian Award which is presented annually to the alumnus that has done the most for Brown wrestling. This year, Robert Hill (88’) will be the recipient. Hill was quite a matsman in his days on college hill. Shortly after Amato got the job in the mid 80’s, Hill began a nice run for Brown wrestling.
“I remember in 1992 we had three Eastern Champs in a row,” he said. “Our first Eastern Champ was Robert Hill in 1987 and 1988.”
Amato has many fond memories of those who have wrestled for him over the years. “I remember the late Willie Carpenter who was our first All-American in 1996,” he said. “We’ve had seven guys in the Wrestling Hall of Fame during my tenure. Even last year was a great year.”
“We had another Eastern Champ last year in David Foxen,” he said. “Our program also had the male Freshman Athlete of the Year at Brown in Ophir Bernstein who made nationals as a freshman.”
And Amato is excited about this season as his program returns everyone with the exception of Foxen. “We have two NCAA qualifiers back in Bernstein and Cortland Choate. We have some other real talented guys like Will VanDoren, Zach Tanenbaum and Jack Roberts just t name a few.”
The challenge for the Bears will be navigating the rough waters of Ivy League wrestling. “A lot of people don’t know how good our league really is,” he said. “Cornell was the #2 team in the country the last two years. Ivy League wrestling is very strong.
Amato also said that those who have wrestled for him in the past have maintained a close bond over the years, so much, in fact, that they get together on an annual basis. “We have a core group of anywhere from 10 to up to 70 guys that get together each year and go to the national wrestling tournament,” he said.
It is those types of relationships that are everlasting that will be celebrated Saturday night as part of the program’s 100th anniversary celebration.
