Thomas C. Schlendorf, 1967 (Wrestling)
The 1967 NCAA Champion in the 191-pound weight class, Thomas C. Schlendorf earned first-team All-America honors as a senior. He also won the 1967 EIWA Championship and the East/West All-Star Championship. A three-year letterwinner for the Orange, he posted an 84-8-1 record. In 1967, Schlendorf was named the Syracuse University co-Athlete of the Year, along with Rick Bean and Floyd Little, and shared the 1967 Co-Fraternity Man of the Year honor with Little.
After graduating, Schlendorf became a marketing executive in the textile industry for three companies. He started his career at Greenwood Mills where he worked as an account executive, merchandise manager, sales manager and divisional vice president. He moved to Harmony Grove Mills as the president of a specialty mill, before becoming vice president of sales and marketing at Johnston Industries. The 1988 Textile Man of the Year, Schlendorf is a member of the American Textile Manufactures Institute and has served on the Board of Directors of the Textile Distributors Association.
Schlendorf and his wife, Karen, founded the Peter Schlendorf Foundation after losing their youngest son in 1996. The foundation supports children in their local community and has awarded more than $60,000 in scholarships at three different high schools to promote leadership, responsibility, community service and athletics. In addition, the foundation funds an early literacy program through a health clinic for low income families and scholarships for deserving young people to attend sports camps, science camps, and a leadership seminar in Washington, D.C.
In addition to coaching football, baseball and soccer, Schlendorf co-sponsored and founded the youth wrestling program for Northport/Huntington, N.Y. and is the president of the Youth Center Soccer League. Schlendorf is a member of the Syracuse University Varsity Club.
