Wrestling has been one of the premiere sports at the NYAC for over 100 years. Wrestling was one of the founding sports of the New York Athletic Club back in 1868. The first national wrestling championships were held at the NYAC in 1878.

The NYAC wrestling team now consists of the three styles of Olympic wrestling; men's freestyle, women's freestyle and men's Greco Roman. In the Olympic Games, six weight classes are contested in each style; in non-Olympic years, eight weight classes are contested at major even

Over the years, the NYAC has done extremely well in national and international competitions, sending over 50 wrestlers to the Olympics and bringing back eight medals, including four won by one of the most notable NYAC athletes, Bruce Baumgartner, who won two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. In 2013, the New York Athletic Club won the national team championships in men's and women's freestyle and placed a total of nine wrestlers on the US World Championships team, including bronze medalist and 2012 gold medalist, Adeline Gray. At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, six NYAC wrestlers competed against the world's best. At the 2018 World Championships, three NYAC wrestlers claimed medals for Team USA: Adeline Gray won gold; Sarah Hildebrandt secured silver; and Adam Coon took silver. The NYAC men's Greco-Roman team has won US Nationals three consecutive years from 2016-2018.