By Esther Davis McKenna
So it's no surprise that the former head wrestling and football coach at Baldwin Senior High School will be given one of the highest honors a matman can receive. On Friday, April 15, Coach Shippos will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.
For 34 years, Shippos taught phys. ed. and coached wrestling and football at Baldwin High, while simultaneously molding young boys into men. He instilled as much admiration in his charges as he did qualities like "dedication and a strong work ethic," said Ray Adams, head wrestling coach at Long Beach High School, a 1988 Baldwin High graduate and a former Bruins wrestler. "I became a wrestling coach because of him."
As did dozens of other coaches throughout Long Island. According to members of the Friends of Long Island Wrestling, the Long Island branch of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum, no less than 20 Long Island wrestling coaches have been disciples of Shippos, including those in Oceanside, Valley Stream South and Central, Lynbrook, East Meadow and many others.
"Coach told us that no one was going to hand us anything in life," said Baldwin's current head wrestling coach, Mike Robinson, who competed for the Bruins under Shippos. "He was hard on us, for our own good. He took young, immature boys and made us into men."
Robinson said that much of his coaching style was taken straight from "the Shippos book of wrestling."
Shippos embarked on his life in wrestling under the instruction of coaches Orlando Turco and Bill Layton at Ithaca High School in upstate New York. He was a county runner-up in his sophomore and junior years and a Section 14 and state champion in 1961, his senior year. Shippos earned a wrestling scholarship to Iowa State, where he was a three-time All-American and a Big Eight champion in 1966. After college he competed for the New York Athletic Club.
Through his contacts at NYAC, including Vince Zuaro, who was then chancellor of New York Public Schools, Shippos was made aware of coaching positions on Long Island. "Even as far back as high school, [upstate wrestlers] were aware of the talent on Long Island," he said. "Nassau and Suffolk counties were becoming a hotbed of wrestling, and when an opportunity came to coach here, I jumped at it."
Shippos interviewed for several positions before deciding on Baldwin, where he coached from 1968 until 2002. His record speaks for itself: 355 wins, four dual-meet county championships in the 1980s, a New York State Cup title in 1983 and dual meet and tournament titles in 1986. Shippos, according to Baldwin school board member and former Bruins wrestler B.A. Schoen, "knew how to get the most out of his wrestlers."
Shippos also ran the Baldwin Kid Wrestling program for over 30 years. This led to at least two stints in Europe, one with his son Kevin, who won a world championship in Hungary in 1995.
In Baldwin, where Shippos lives and raised his family, he is known as a generous and caring man. He keeps in touch with former students and athletes, and always asks about families when he meets former colleagues and students. Shippos is an unabashed admirer of his coaching predecessor, Ed Reinisch, and credits his success to his wrestlers, his family and his wife of 40 years, Susanne. "My family made many sacrifices for my career," he said. "I would never have enjoyed the same kind of success if it wasn't for them."
These days Shippos is enjoying his retirement, spending time with his family and on the golf course.
B.A. Schoen contributed to this story.
Comments about this story? Baldwineditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
Annual dinner and reunion
The 11th annual LI Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Awards Banquet.
Friday, April 15, 2005
Huntington Hilton
598 Broad Hollow Road
Melville, N.Y.
Join old friends and competitors at this annual reunion, honoring wrestling greats Jack Mahoney, Steve Shippos, Brick Stone, Charlie Gadson and Kerry McCoy.
For more information, call the Friends of Long Island Wrestling at (516) 799-3554. The FLIW is the Long Island chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum and is a not-for-profit organization celebrating its 11th year. The FLIW promotes and supports wrestling programs in Nassau and Suffolk counties, such as the televising of the county championships, and sponsors tournaments throughout Long Island.
