AMY (WHITBECK) GOLDING

Amy Whitbeck and six of her girlfriends started wrestling for Duanesburg in sixth grade.  The other six girls all quickly quit but Amy kept wrestling and competing at the highest levels possible. While Whitbeck wrestled in high school for Hall of Fame Coach Joe Bena in Duanesburg, she would literally write the record book in Section 2 for girls wrestling.  Wrestling at 96 Lbs. in 2006 as a sophomore, Amy would become the first female wrestler in Section 2 history and NY state to win a sectional title. Whitbeck became the first girl in NY state to win a match at the state tournament that year when she defeated Penn Gottfried 5-3 in wrestle backs.

As a junior, Amy would win her second consecutive Section 2 Championship at 103 Lbs. She competed again in the State tournament and won her first match that year. Whitbeck also competed in the Eastern States, was seeded 3rd, and was the first girl to advance into the quarterfinals. 

This same year Whitbeck would also become a member of the United States female junior Olympic wrestling team and would finish 5th in the world during the Beijing Junior Olympics.  Whitbeck would move up to 112 lbs. in 2008 and would have another stellar year going 36-3 during the season. She would lose a close match in the semifinals to end her streak of Section 2 Championships and she would finish 3rd for the year. During her four years of wrestling for Duanesburg she won 116 matches and was the first female in the State and Section to break 100 career wins.

Amy’s other accomplishments during her amazing high school career include two time ASICS Girls All American in 2007 and 2008. She competed in two Eastern States Championships, winning matches in each. She was also a 2005 USGWA-NJ Girls Wrestling Champion and a 2007 USGWA National Champion. She was also a 2008 USGWA National Champion at 120 Lbs. Amy was a bronze winner in the 2008 USA Wrestling National Championships in Fargo in women’s Jr. Freestyle and a 2007 FILA Junior National Champion. She was a two time Woman’s Body Bar Champion in 2007 and 2008.

Whitbeck wrestled her freshman year in college at Northern Michigan at the US Olympic Education Center. She transferred her sophomore year to wrestle for Missouri Baptist. She transferred again to finish her college wrestling career with Coach Don Murray at Brockport.

During her college career Amy would achieve the following accomplishments: She was a Junior World bronze medalist in 2010 competing in Budapest, Hungary when she dramatically came from behind to beat Russian Valentina Brik. She was a Gold Medalist in the 2009 USGWA National Tournament. She was 3rd in the 2009 University National Championships. She was a 2010 Body Bar National Champion. She was 2nd in the 2010 Women’s Collegiate National Tournament. Amy was 5th in the 2011 US Open Championships. She was a 2011 World team member and was a runner up in the US World Team Trials.

Amy would train and qualify for two Olympic Trials Tournaments in 2012 and 2016.  She missed making both Olympic teams in a very stacked weight class. At the beginning of 2016 Amy was still ranked 5th in the nation.

In 2014, Golding was inducted into the New York Section 2 Wrestling Hall of Fame. 

In 2019, Golding fought on the regional mixed martial arts promotion Cage Wars and won the atomweight (120 lbs) belt. 

In 2022, she became head coach of the women's wrestling team at the University of Jamestown in North Dakota.