Rich Appelbaum was first introduced to wrestling in ninth grade and knew instantly that this was the sport for him.

So did coach Lionel “Bud” Meredith. Coach Meredith’s passion and love for the sport was quickly passed on to Rich. Four years later, Coach Meredith would write in his college letters of recommendation that he had never coached a wrestler that was more dedicated and enthusiastic about wrestling than Rich.

Appelbaum would go on to dominate his weight class in his senior year with coaches Bud Meredith and Mike Bloom by his side. Not only did he win all his matches, he was also unscored upon for the entire season through the Section 8 county championship. It wasn’t until Rich won the New York State championship finals that Rich had the first point of the year scored against him in an overtime match.

 His continued dedication to maintain peak physical fitness was evidenced by Rich competing in the Marine Physical Fitness competitions and obtaining the highest level of Master.

His achievements on the mat and his excellent academic record caught the attention of many Ivy League colleges and universities. Jerry Seckler, the president of The Friends of Long Island Wrestling was the head coach for Columbia University at the time and was among the coaches actively recruiting Rich. He chose to attend the University of Rhode Island. A nagging back injury ultimately forced Rich into making the difficult decision to stop competing. He did however meet his future wife Kim at URI.

Returning to New York, Rich volunteered to coach the Oceanside youth wrestling team in 1989. He continued to head the program until 2012 and ran the very popular annual Oceanside youth wrestling tournament for many years. He stressed to both the young wrestlers and their parents that wrestling should be fun and put less emphasis on competition. Nothing gave Rich more satisfaction than watching many of his young wrestlers continue in the sport through middle school, high school, and college.

Recognizing Rich’s desire to assist the wrestling community, Scott Arnel invited him to become part of his newly formed Long Island Wrestling Association. Rich has been an active participant with LIWA, helping and assisting wherever possible.

Rich is the founding chairman of the New York chapter of The Wrestlers in Business Network. The formation of Wrestlers In Business network (WIBN) opened up a new door for Rich to help the wrestling community. WIBN is a national non-profit business networking organization which is committed to connecting college wrestlers with job opportunities. In addition, the wrestling network is dedicated to helping former wrestlers network with each other to strengthen their respective businesses. Owning a commercial printing business in New York, Rich understands how wrestlers make the best employees and how valuable and rewarding it is to conduct business with other wrestlers. A strong network of former wrestlers is the best advocacy for our local wrestling programs.

Rich resides in Oceanside with his wife Kim, their son Adam, daughter Courtney and son in law Erik. Their daughter Katie lives in Boca Raton, Florida.