SOURCE: drive.google.com

February 11, 2016

By Tim Herman, armdrag.com

ROCHESTER - A young Dr. Morris J. Shapiro first stepped on a wrestling mat as a freshman at Rochester's East High School in 1926. He was among the first generation of high school wrestlers in the United States. Back then, regulation matches were 10 minutes long, mats were stuffed with wood shavings or horsehair, and there was no point system. Without scoring a fall, a wrestler was required to have accumulated at least 1-minute of riding time, known as a "time advantage," to be awarded a victory. It was by this method that Dr. Shapiro won his final high school match in the championship bout of the 1930 Interscholastic League tournament. Today, at 102-years of age, his time advantage continues.

Time has changed the world of wrestling from those canvas-covered, wood-stuffed mats to today's rubberized, foam-core surfaces. Dr. Shapiro recalls the injuries those old canvas mats caused with vivid retention. "We suffered mat burns all the time," he noted. Perhaps this unforgiving surface gave the wrestlers of yesteryear more incentive to gain that winning time advantage, and less to succumb to the mercy of the mat.

In Dr. Shapiro's days, the Rochester Interscholastic League consisted of teams from East, Charlotte, Marshall, Monroe, West and Technical high schools. They held dual meets from January through March, with a season-ending all-league tournament. Travel between schools was by streetcar and, according to Dr. Shapiro, "there were a lot of spectators."

In the Interscholastic League, there were 9 weight classes. Today, there are 15. "Some guys had to lose weight," recalled Dr. Shapiro. But as a high school wrestler, he never had to worry about that. "I only weighed 95 for the 105-pound class," he claimed. Since there was no weight class below 105, this is one place where Dr. Shapiro was actually at a disadvantage. Despite this, it didn't stop him from eventually becoming captain of his East High team and winning the Interscholastic League championship in both 1929 and 1930. Back then, there was no Section V or state tournament. The 6-team, all-city tournament was the pinnacle of the sport.

Yet another wrestling vestige of Dr. Shapiro's youth were joint practices between high school and college athletes. Today's wrestlers are not allowed to practice with college teams, as it is against the rules set by the NYSPHSAA. Shapiro recalls practicing alongside the team from the Rochester Mechanics Institute, the predecessor to today's RIT, which was coached by Mark Ellingson. "Mr. Ellingson would actually get on the mat and practice with us," recalled Dr. Shapiro. Ellingson went on to become the 5th President of RIT and has the tallest building on the campus, known as "Ellingson Tower," named in his honor.

Dr. Shapiro certainly didn't have to ride time when it came to his education. When asked if his East High School wrestling team practiced every day, he responded, "No, in those days scholarship was more important." With his priorities in check, Dr. Shapiro received a full scholarship to the University of Rochester and earned a bachelor's degree in biology in just 3 years. He used his fourth year to earn a master's degree in chemistry, and then attended medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He went on to work as a military surgeon in World War II, after which he came home to practice medicine in Rochester. Today, Dr. Shapiro resides in Brighton and is a professor of emergency medicine and professor emeritus of surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He is also their oldest active faculty member.

This evening, the Friends of Wrestling is proud to honor Dr. Morris J. Shapiro as our oldest but newest member of the Section V Wrestling Hall of Fame.

. . .

On February 10, 2016, the Friends of Wrestling honored Dr. Morris Shapiro at their annual Section V Wrestling Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony at Red Fedele's Brook House in Greece, NY.