Greenhalgh: That goes back to remembering that as a young kid I didn’t know anything about wrestling. I thought about what helped me and what another kid would want to know. As a coach, you take that kid aside and you work with him. I really like helping others get better. Every day, I get emails from peo- ple thanking me for teaching them something along the way. These kids had what it took, but they just needed direction. You talk with them about being a better wrestler, and how to take that into success in life. That really makes me feel good to help them take those steps forward.
USA Wrestler: What were the circumstances which led to you becoming the Wrestling Chairman for the New York AC? Greenhalgh: In 1977, they gave me the chairmanship of wrestling. It really came to a situation where, in order to be chairman, you had to have a lot of time. I learned from Bill Farrell at his company, where he taught me how to be in control of my time. What happened is that Bill brought me in when he wanted to take it to the next step. He had been the Olympic coach and he went on to become the President of the New York Athletic Club. I didn’t make a wrestling decision for the first four or five years without consulting with Bill for his advice.
USA Wrestler: Explain why the wrestling program is impor-
tant to the NYAC, and what have been the key factors for the team’s success for so many years. Greenhalgh: That goes back to 1887 when they sat down and decided to form an athletic club for New York City. There were six or seven guys who were very strong in their sports who were part of that. One of them was a wrestler. We were involved right from the beginning. The NYAC had good coaches, were proud of their wrestlers and wanted them to succeed. They always had four or five good sports, and one of them was always wrestling. Even before Bill Farrell, we had a few guys who were successful internationally. Once we had Bill Farrell, we had more and more guys who were very good. After Bill, I felt that we had to be strong with the colleges, since they had all the good wrestlers.
USA Wrestler: One of the great NYAC stars during your 31 years as chairman was four-time Olympic medalist Bruce Baumgartner. What made him such a great wrestling champion and why was he such a loyal member of the NYAC for his entire career?
Greenhalgh: Bruce Baumgartner is a loyal, honest guy. Other clubs offered him more money, but he started with the NYAC and didn’t ever want to leave. Early on, one time he lost a match for us, and he came back and asked if he could still be part of the NYAC team. I love to tell that story. He liked the club and we did what we could for him. Some day, I would love him to become the athletic director of the NYAC. He is the No. 1 sports legend of the NYAC. As a wrestler, his muscles are in the right place. He has the strongest back muscles. He also learned a gut wrench better than any heavyweight I’ve ever seen. And he is so smart. He knew how to stop people from taking him down. He didn’t ever want to lose. It was our job to open the doors for him and he stayed loyal.
USA Wrestler: The NYAC has been committed to all three Olympic styles of the sport. Why was it important to work with athletes from all of the programs? Greenhalgh: The athletic director and captain of the club were never involved in that decision. We picked up some Greco wrestlers here and there and the team started building. It was my choice to put more resources into Greco. We had coach Joe
DeMeo and the wrestlers from the ATWA club nearby. Then there were wrestlers at the Olympic Training Center in Greco we picked up. Greco just grew for us. We put some money into Greco and we got results. It also happened with women. We started with one here, one there and suddenly we had a com- petitive female team. Now, we are very competitive in all three styles.
USA Wrestler: Kristie Davis competed with the NYAC when she won her nine World medals and two World titles. What made her such a great competitor for such a long time? Greenhalgh: She was from right here in New York. She lived only 2 ½ hours away. She was showing up at tournaments and doing well, but was not with our club. I asked if she needed any help. She said she did. She wrestled for the NYAC and did very well. It was a perfect catch for us. She was a great leader. Her name drew a lot more women wrestlers to the NYAC. Off the mat, she was gentle and sweet. When she crossed the line onto the mat, she was a killer. She had a great attitude.
USA Wrestler: You have worked hard to develop the NYAC International into a premier tournament which attracts great wrestlers from around the world. What makes this event so spe- cial?
Greenhalgh: It was a natural. Every foreigner wants to come
to New York City. We had to find a way they could come here inexpensively. It took awhile to make the system go. I wanted this tournament to be one of the best in the world. Back in the day, it was small, with only about 10 athletes in each weight class. Then we put it onto the USA national schedule. Every year, we bring the Russians in and that brings in other good countries. This year, it should be very good again. It is a great weekend of wrestling. We have a dual meet before the tourna- ment. We have done this every year since I was wrestling back in the 60’s.
USA Wrestler: The NYAC has always had a commitment to wrestlers from the Eastern United States. How important was it for the club to support that region? Greenhalgh: We defined ourselves as being the next step forward for Eastern college wrestlers. All of a sudden, the line moved to the west. Suddenly we got some wrestlers out to the Mississippi. Then in some cases, we would get a guy from California or Oregon. But most of them came from Eastern schools or from the Big Ten. We were big with Michigan, Lehigh, Penn State and others. It has now changed, but we still have the pick of the litter from the East. It comes down to money and tradition. Sure, we had some money, but the biggest thing we sold them on was the tradition. They would get written up in Winged Foot magazine, and we had an all-sports dinner. As a wrestler, you could walk through the lobby of the NYAC and people knew who you were.
USA Wrestler: You worked with the great Bill Farrell in build- ing the program and the sport. What kind of leader is Bill, and how big was his impact on wrestling? Greenhalgh: Everybody respected him. He loved wrestling. He was a football guy. He didn’t wrestle until he was 28. When he started, he wasn’t with the NYAC. He formed a relationship with the club and then became its wrestling chairman. He got a budget and got more people into the NYAC program. He started with Doug Blubaugh, who was training at West Point and didn’t have great workout partners. Doug would come down into the city and train. Bill had no enemies. He believed in the sport.
Continued on page 38 25 USA Wrestler
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