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Tiger Wrestling to Savor Centennial That Almost Got Pinned by Decision
By Bill Alden
William Fortenbaugh learned plenty about dealing with pain during his wrestling career at Princeton University in the late 1950s.
"We learned to take punishment and persevere," said Fortenbaugh, a 1958 Princeton grad, recalling his college wrestling days. "It was certainly a formative experience."
In 1993, Fortenbaugh and his fellow Princeton wrestling alums, however, were hit with a pain unlike any they had experienced in college when they learned that the University was planning to discontinue varsity wrestling.
According to Princeton, the decision to pull the mat from under the program was based on financial constraints and gender inequity in the wake of Title IX, the law barring sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs.
"We were taken totally by surprise," said Fortenbaugh, a longtime Classics professor at Rutgers.
But showing the same kind of fight they had shown on the mats in college, the Princeton wrestling alums refused to let the program die. One former wrestler, Eric Pearson, put his career on hold to coach the existing "club" team while Fortenbaugh and other alums raised a $3 million endowment and put pressure on the college to reinstate the program.
In 1997, the program was reinstated and this weekend, Fortenbaugh and his fellow alums are basking in the glow of a party that almost didn't happen as they celebrate the centennial of wrestling at Princeton. The Tigers host Rutgers on February 11 and Franklin and Marshall on February 12 with receptions to follow each match.
Reflecting on the recent turbulence in the program's history, Fortenbaugh said Princeton miscalculated on several levels when it decided to give wrestling the axe.
"They made one serious mistake," asserted Fortenbaugh, who credited fellow wrestling alums Clay McEldowney and Stuart Carruthers with also playing key roles in saving Princeton wrestling.
"Six guys had been admitted to Princeton to wrestle. They gave it three years hoping those guys would go away. But we stirred the pot and got them to change their mind. We gave them a one-two punch."
Once wrestling was reinstated, Princeton did make a shrewd move when in brought in Michael New as the head coach.
"Without him, the program wouldn't have survived," said Fortenbaugh, referring to New, whose crowning achievement in his Princeton tenure so far came in 2002 when he helped guide Greg Parker to the NCAA finals at 174 pounds. "He's all enthusiasm and just what we needed at this time."
While there will be plenty of enthusiasm this weekend as the Princeton wrestlers celebrate their centennial, Fortenbaugh said there will be a bittersweet aspect to the proceedings.
"It will be completely festive, dampened by one thing," declared Fortenbaugh. "That is the sober realization that Princeton wrestling has been hurt by the University and that it needs to provide the program with more support."
Without the steadfast support provided by its alums, the Princeton wrestling program wouldn't have anything to celebrate this weekend.
