Larry Cantor has been committed to the sport of wrestling for 40 years.

His resume is rich with coaching, officiating, and program development.

He has been one of the leaders in bringing the sleeping giant of New York City into the main stream of high school wrestling. New York City had a severe case of arrested development in school boy wrestling, dating back to before the Second World War.

Lately, through the efforts of the Metropolitan Wrestling Association and individuals like Larry who believe that good wrestling programs along with high levels of enthusiasm can serve as great training tool for the youth of America, excellent wrestling programs in the city are evolving.

Larry has been at the center of that development from the beginning.

For the first time, the school system in New York has granted formal recognition of wrestling as a sport. Finally, the first sport man ever participated in has been recognized by the New York City Board of Education.

This long overdue endorsement has opened the door for thousands of youngsters to have an opportunity to participate in a sport that has no regard for size or weight. Cantor helped open the door allowing New York City schoolboys to take advantage of the many opportunities for growth and the life lessons to be learned through their participation in wrestling.

Larry’s efforts grew out of his early exposure to wrestling and as a counselor at Camp Airy Camps he passed his wrestling experience on to hundreds of summer campers from the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area. Cantor helped make wrestling one of the most popular camp activities, incorporating wrestling moves on the mat wiht important life lessons.

Cantor has been a high school coach in Maine, Maryland and New York. He began his formal coaching career at Eastern Military Academy in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, before moving to Trinity School in New York City.

He is also a certified official at the high school, college and international level.

As a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Wrestling Association, Cantor was directly involved in the planning and implementation of the 2003 World Wrestling Championships held at Madison Square Garden.

Following the worldwide success of the event, he was named the full-time commissioner of the New York City Schools wrestling program. Under his supervision and guidance, 35 new varsity programs have been added to the city schools.

Cantor's support of the "Beat the Streets" wrestling program has helped it take hold in New York City and, in the process, become the poster child of wrestling for the nation.

For all of his great contributions to the sport of wrestling, Larry Cantor is a worthy recipient of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Lifetime Service to Wrestling award.