Pages 22-27 - Columbia University Athletics

Columbia ATHLETICS hall of famersNat Pendelton 1916Although Columbia has boasted several standout wrestlers, no one ever captured the spotlight likeNathaniel Greene Pendleton.Pendleton was a powerful, handsome athlete who instantly became one of the most recognized figureson campus. He won the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) championship at 175pounds in 1914, and followed it with another in 1915. Shortly after his 1916 graduation, he won theNational AAU Wrestling Championship, representing the New York Athletic Club.In 1920, Pendleton reached a level that no other Columbia wrestler has achieved. Competing in the1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, Pendleton won the silver medal.About a year after his return, he journeyed to Hollywood in the hope of beginning an acting career. Itwould see him make more than 100 films and appear in several dramatic productions.His first was a silent film called The Hoosier Schoolmaster, in which he utilized his wrestling ability. He continued to appear in silent filmsas an athlete or a simple-minded “heavy.”When sound came to movies, Pendleton was in demand for his Brooklyn accent and comic portrayals. Often cast as the amiable oaf,he acted as a comic foil for such stars as the Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello.Among his credits are Horse Feathers, At the Circus, Buck Privates, Buck Privates Come Home, Lady for a Day, Manhattan Melodrama,The Great Ziegfeld (as Sandor the strongman), Northwest Passage, and Death Valley. He had key roles as Detective Guild in The ThinMan and Another Thin Man, and as ambulance driver Joe Wayman in the Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie films of the late 1930’s. Pendletonhad the lead in Top Sergeant Mulligan and played a wrestler in Deception, which he wrote.Pendleton’s heroics probably prompted Columbia to hire its first full-time wrestling coach, Gus Peterson, who would go on to coachmore than 30 years and 268 dual meets.Born on August 9, 1895, Pendleton was married to Margaret E. Carse. He died in 1967 in San Diego at the age of 72.Dave Galdi ‘82SEASColumbia’s most dominant period in Ivy League wrestling extended from 1979 to 1982. The Lions wonthree consecutive Ivy League titles and posted records of 34-7-1 overall, 14-0-1 in the Ivy League.Some of Columbia’s greatest wrestlers starred in that three-season stretch, none more dominant thanDave Galdi.Wrestling at 150 pounds, the New Jersey native was third in the Easterns in 1980-81, his junior season,finishing with a 44-12 record, the best ever by a Columbia wrestler. As a senior, Galdi earned dualmeet All-American honors and a spot among the East Top 50. He won the East Stroudsburg, CoastGuard and Central Jersey tournaments and the C.W. Post Christmas Tournament, where he earnedOutstanding Wrestler.A fourth-place finisher in the Easterns, he went on to finish eighth in the NCAAs, making All-American,while compiling an overall 38-7 record. He is one of only four Columbia wrestlers to achieve All-American status in the program’sstoried history. Galdi ended his career with a record of 125-41-4, the Lions’ most wins ever.“My fondest memories of Columbia revolve around the fellowship and camaraderie as a member of the wrestling team, traveling tomeets and tournaments, learning from my coaches and having the opportunity to teach and lead my teammates as their captain. Myfondest memory, though, was the week I spent at the NCAAs in Iowa, where I spent quality time with my wrestling coach and friend,Ron Russo. It all culminated in my placing eighth at 150 pounds and standing up on the NCAA All-American awards podium.”Columbia - 27 - wrestling