Andrew Barth
Founder & Chairman of the BoardAndrew F. Barth, is the founder of the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, which supports Senior-level athletes in men’s and women’s freestyle as well as supporting wrestling on the local level in California. The Titan Mercury WC is the reining 10x US Open National Champions.
Mr. Barth also helped found the Beat the Streets Los Angeles organization, for which he serves as the President of the Board of Directors. Included in the mission of Beat the Streets Los Angeles is the provide wrestling opportunities “to cultivate and support youth development programs in underserved communities in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.” In just its first full year, BTS-Los Angeles is already making an impact on the lives of young people in the community.
In June of 2012, Barth received the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Outstanding American honor, the 48th recipient of this prestigious award. This honor demonstrates wrestling’s pride in those who have used the disciplines of the sport to launch notable careers in other walks of life, such as science and technology, business and industry, government and the military, and the arts and humanities.
Barth and his wife Avery, made the largest charitable gift in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s 36-year history with a $1 million multi-year pledge for the organization’s Wrestling Beyond the Walls Campaign. He was also instrumental in obtaining a replica of an ancient training manual on wrestling for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
As Columbia University’s top wrestling supporter, his major gift in 2004 endowed the Lion wrestling program and helped renovate its wrestling room, later named in his honor. In 2005, Columbia announced the endowment of its head wrestling coach post with the title of Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling.
Andy Barth was a member of Columbia University’s varsity wrestling team from 1979-83 and was a team captain as a senior in 1982-83. The Lions won three consecutive Ivy League titles in his first three years on the team. Barth competed in the 177-pound class as a walk-on first-year in 1979-80 and bumped up to 190 pounds as a sophomore the following year. He earned All-Ivy League honors (honorable mention) in his junior year, 1981-82, when he played a key role in helping Columbia to its third straight conference title.
Barth also represented the New York Athletic Club in Greco-Roman and freestyle events from 1980-85 and in 1985 he won the New York State Greco-Roman title, the Eastern AAU Greco-Roman title and placed sixth at the Andre Guerin International in France.
Barth graduated summa cum laude with a degree in economics from Columbia College in 1983. Upon graduation from Columbia Business School in 1985, Andy moved to Los Angeles to work as a financial analyst for The Capital Group, a global financial investment firm. Over the past two decades he has risen through a series of executive and investment roles to become the Chairman of Capital Guardian Trust Company and Capital International Limited. His leadership led to the growth of Capital Group from $25 billion dollars in assets in 1985 to $1.2 trillion dollars in assets in 2011.
As civic contributor, Andy was twice elected to the Board of Governors of the San Marino Unified School District from 1997-2005. Among his honors include the John Jay Award from Columbia in 2011, the International Medical Corporation Global Humanitarian Award in 2011 and the Golden Apple Award in 2006.
Jonny Ruggiano
Executive DirectorJonny serves as the Executive Director for TMWC and has a long history with our club. Prior to the position of Executive Director, Jonny served as Director of Operations for Titan Mercury from 2018 to 2023. He was also the Director of Media, Marketing and Design from 2014- 2018.
As Executive Director, his prime responsibilities are to work with TMWC Founder/ Chairman of the Board, Andrew F. Barth, to execute all directives of the club. Furthermore, Jonny works with TMWC’s board of directors to execute the club’s mission, and to further advance the vision and scope of the club. In addition, Jonny serves as the main liaison to our athletes and coaches, as well as our partners, such as USAW, at the senior level for development.
Jonny comes with a wealth of experience in operations and production. He has been instrumental in the production of several World Cups, serving as a chairman for the 1999 World Cup in Spokane, WA. Jonny was also the Grassroots Coordinator for the 2014-15 World Cups and the Director of Operations for the 2016 World Cup, all held at the LA Forum in Los Angeles, CA. During COVID 19, Jonny served as the Executive Producer of the America’s Cup, Captains’ Cup and the RTC Cup. In addition to event productions, he has produced and presented artwork through “the Wrestler’s Esthetic” productions in both Los Angeles, CA and Paris, France.
Jonny also serves on the USA Wrestling Board of Directors as the United States Federation of Wrestling Clubs representative and also sits on the Men’s and Women’s Freestyle Sport committees.
Lee Schneiderman
Media Director & TMWC Youth Beginner Head Coach
Martin Flores
Board Member & TMWC Youth Director
Debbie Preister
Travel Coordinator