Princeton University Athletics
A Sibling Tribute
April 10, 2001 | General
If you stop by Dillon Gym on a winter weekend for a home wrestling meet, you might catch a glimpse of a woman with long blonde hair in a vintage black "P" sweater, her chin set firmly on her hand as she clutches a Princeton wrestling program and stares intently at the mat. She doesn't care that many of the parents don't know who she is, though they should. She has not only lived and died with this program for decades but also has quietly joined in the push to help ensure its survival.
When Kim Ritrievi '80 handed her brother Chris '79 a letter she had recently written to Princeton detailing the specifics of the gift she was about to give to the wrestling program in both of their names, it was difficult for him to read. For the usually stoic Chris, it was a "very emotional moment." The two have always been close and consider family to be extremely important in the decisions that they make.
Kim Ritrievi, a successful managing director and specialty chemical analyst for Goldman Sachs in New York, decided it was time to show her brother how much he meant, through a gesture that reflected both of their commitments to a sport they loved: wrestling. This past December, Ritrievi donated a quarter of a million dollars, one of the largest gifts most recently given to wrestling by a woman, and though the gift shares both of their names, she insists that the honor focus squarely on her brother and the program itself.
"Chris was constantly accomplishing something, and he sort of dragged me along in his success," Kim says.
Kim was the manager for Princeton wrestling throughout Chris' four-year career as a 158-pounder from 1976 through 1979 under coach Johnny Johnston. She was no stranger to the wrestling culture, having managed Chris' high school team, and she spent her teen years in a house that was "constantly full of wrestlers, eating, watching TV and even sleeping on our couch in the den." It was a culture she grew to love and respect.
"People have no idea how tough the sport of wrestling is until they've watched a roughshod team against one that is really skilled and athletic. It requires so much consistent focus, it's so demanding on so many levels."
Chris Ritrievi echoes his sister's assessment, but is more pointed about what the sport demanded of whom in their years together at Princeton. "My sister has always been the more talented, more successful of the two of us, a great leader. Her role on our team [at Princeton] was so crucial, she was getting the meal money, organizing our trips. She was like another coach for us."
And though their experiences with Princeton wrestling were different, they both believe they shared a tremendous opportunity to be a part of something special. So special in fact, that Kim felt compelled to insure that Princeton's wrestling program would remain intact and have the financial support it needed to again reach national prominence as it did in the late '70s. In 1978 Princeton captured the Eastern championships, defeating several scholarship schools en route to the prestigious title.
"Our wrestlers had 80-pound hearts," Kim fondly recalls. "They just gave it everything they had. They were tremendous people. It's been so satisfying to see the program's successive progress and to know that there'll be 25 to 30 guys who will have that linkage to one another. We wanted to guarantee that for them."
But Kim's gift does not strike her as noteworthy.
"I've always been a big spectator of the sport, so my involvement in wrestling doesn't seem that unique to me. This idea [for the donation] was a natural one, although when it was done I thought, `Why didn't I do this sooner?'"
Probing deeper into the Ritrievi family, one finds that humility and commitment are simply part of the fabric. She initially wanted to donate the gift in only her brother's name, but her parents encouraged her to add hers, too. Chris stresses the importance of Kim's singular role in supporting Princeton wrestling.
"I have to give all of the credit for this, as usual, to my sister, Kim. I've been supportive of the program from afar, but Kim has been the one directly involved in bringing this about." Chris has been involved in some rebuilding of his own, though, as he has been working in athletic development for the past 10 years. Currently working at Michigan State, Chris helped to rebuild the University of Pennsylvania's wrestling program into a national powerhouse as its director of athletic development.
"I worked closely with Roger Reina at Penn to raise the funds necessary to move that wrestling program to another level," Chris says. "The small part I played in that resurgence leads me to believe that anything is possible for Princeton wrestling. That's a vision that my sister and I share with other alumni who are willing to put their money behind their convictions." And for the Ritrievi family, this gift expresses even more than that.
"I have a 2000 national championship ring from our basketball team [at Michigan State] in my bureau drawer, but that letter Kim wrote is framed and hanging in my office," Chris offers. "And it's not that the ring doesn't represent something great, but this endowment is the greatest honor anyone has ever given to me."
As the woman in the "P" sweater cautiously surveys the scoreboard and the time remaining for the wrestler on the mat, her eyes glance over at the large crowd of wrestlers dressed in Princeton sweats cheering for their teammate. She suddenly smiles.
"Look at how many of them there are."
For her, that is thanks enough.