Former Hawk wrestler Anthony Romano was awarded the James Gordon Bennett Medal for “acting in the highest tradition and without regard for his own personal safety to rescue a fellow member.” He responded to a fire in Richmond Hill, Queens on the morning of February 26, 2008 and was assigned the outside vent position. He climbed the ladder to the second floor, entered a window with heavy black smoke coming out of it, found fellow fire fighter Robert Grover who was trapped in the building and escaped the burning house, saving his life.

A Team player, encouraging, helpful, respectful, disciplined and hard working are just a few words that can be used to describe Romano as a Hawk wrestler during his time at Hunter. Perhaps he was made for the FDNY as his leadership skills and selflessness that were once present during his wrestling career are still flourishing and being put to good use years later as a fire fighter.

A product of Baldwin High School, Romano attended Nassau Community College his freshman year before transferring to Hunter College for the fall 1999 semester. He was recruited by Hall of Fame head coach, Bob Gaudenzi, who was a teammate of his father, Tony, in the early days of the Hawk wrestling program.

During Romano's junior year, he put together a 13-14 record as a heavyweight and placed fourth at the Metropolitan (METS) Championships. After his junior year, he blossomed and had a consistent and impressive senior year. His second-to-none work ethic, determination and drive to be the best paid off. During his senior campaign, still competing as a heavyweight, he improved to 23-12 on the year, placed fifth at the Ithaca Tournament and won the Oneonta Tournament. Heading into METS, Romano continued his improvement from the year prior and finished a notch higher with a third place showing by defeating Andrew Roders of NYU.

Romano is a “natural born team leader” as described by coach Gaudenzi. “He was a great leader and captain; one of the best.” Towering around six feet four inches, his tall, strong frame not only had a commanding presence on the mat, but it was also stoic in nature to fit his role of team captain. Not to be misinformed, his teammates did not respect him based solely on his physical characteristics, they looked up to him because he respected them, was always supportive and encouraged his fellow wrestlers to give it their best at all times.

Not only was Romano an exceptional wrestler, he was a good student as well. His hard work on the mat carried over into the classroom as he balanced and maintained his school work and graduated with a degree in History and Education. Still an active fire fighter with Ladder 142, Anthony is also a supervisory life guard for the town of Hempstead. He currently resides in Oceanside, New York with his Wife, Jamie [Hamilton], of whom he met at Hunter while she was on the volleyball team.

For the full release on Romano receiving the James Gordon Bennett Medal, please click here.