In 1903, Columbia University was a much different place than it is today. Nicholas Murray Butler was just beginning his 43-year term as University President, most of the buildings south of 116th Street had yet to be constructed, and it would be 16 more years before the Core Curriculum was introduced. But for all of the things that have changed here in the past 100 years, at least one has stayed the same: Columbia's wrestling team, which is the oldest in the nation. 100 years ago, on Feb. 8, 1903, Columbia met Yale in the first ever intercollegiate wrestling meet. And on Feb. 8, 2003, Columbia will celebrate a century of college wrestling.

Columbia is commemorating the historic occasion with a weekend of celebration that will focus both on the history of wrestling and on the present team. A reception will be held Feb. 7 night for former Columbia wrestlers and supporters of the team after the Lions take on Cornell at the New York Athletic Club. On Feb. 8th, following the Light Blue's match with Princeton and an event for past letter winners, a black-tie banquet in Low Library will honor Columbia's 100 years as a wrestling school. As evidence of the importance of this anniversary, 1972 Olympic Gold Medallist and famed wrestler Dan Gable will be one of the guests. "Coach Gable is probably the most recognizable wrestling figure in the world," Associate Athletic Director Thad Dohrn said. "He's a great ambassador for the sport of wrestling."

Gable is something of a legend in the wrestling world. After winning every one of his high school matches, he went 99-1 in college, losing only his final match, a loss that kept him from becoming a three-time national champion. He won a gold medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics and went on to coach at Iowa University. As a coach, he has led his team to 17 NCAA national championships and coached 45 individual national champions. Gable's willingness to help honor Columbia's contribution to college wrestling has added more excitement and anticipation to the upcoming ceremonies. "It's such an honor," Head Wrestling Coach Brendan Buckley said, reiterating that "he is the most prominent name in wrestling."

Despite Coach Gable's very high profile, it was not hard to convince him to attend the banquet, a testament to how important Columbia's foundation of intercollegiate wrestling was for the entire sport.

"Coach Gable was approached by Coach Buckley after a meet. He was very willing to be a part of such a momentous occasion," Dohrn said.

Buckley and his team will play a large part in the events. In addition to playing Cornell on Feb. 7th, the men's wrestling team will take on Princeton prior to the banquet in a match commemorating the 1903 Columbia-Yale meet.

"It's going to be an honor to play in front of Dan Gable," Coach Buckley said. "This would be like the basketball team getting Michael Jordan."

The meet will be held in the Blue Gym, as opposed to the usual location of Levien Gym, in an effort to recreate the 1903 meet as much as possible. That event took place outdoors and in the middle of campus.

The wrestling team is looking forward to playing a role in the celebration.

"The guys look at it as a source of honor," Coach Buckley said. "The guys look at it as a source of motivation. There's going to be some added pressure that night, sure. We want to put on a show in front of all that publicity."

Buckley sees this celebration and the attention that comes with it as key to Columbia quest to become one of the nation's big-name wrestling schools, at a time when college wrestling is struggling to find both a large fan base and a large financial base.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to put Columbia University in the national spotlight," Buckley said. "The sport of wrestling has taken a big hit in the past few years. There are only about 80 Division I teams now. It makes everyone proud that Columbia has supported this team so well so that it could survive for long." Coach Buckley also takes pride in Columbia's critical role in the history and tradition of college wrestling.

"People always associate wrestling with Oklahoma State or Iowa," he said. "People don't realize we had the first program in history."

For information or to reserve tickets for the 100th Anniversary of  Columbia Wrestling Banquet, call the Columbia University Office of  Communications at 212-854-7064 or go on-line at www.gocolumbialions.com.