March 12 - American Henry Wittenberg (pictured), who went undefeated for more than 300 wrestling matches and won a gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics, has died at the age of 91.

Wittenberg began wrestling at City College, becoming a star under the tutelage of coach Joe Sapora.

He graduated in 1940 and went on to dominate national and international freestyle wrestling in his weight class while working as a New York City police officer.

With World War Two forcing the cancellation of the Olympics, Wittenberg served in the Navy.

He came back to win gold in the London Games in the light heavyweight class.

His unbeaten streak ended when he won silver at the 1952 Helsinki Games, losing to Wiking Palm of Sweden in the title match.

Wittenberg won his eighth and final Amateur Athletic Union national title in 1952.

He was also a two-time champion at the Maccabiah Games, the international competition for Jewish athletes in Israel.

He retired as policeman in 1954 and went on to coach wrestling at Yeshiva University and City College and guided the United States Greco-Roman team at the 1968 Mexico City Games.

He was inducted into the American National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1977.