Viking_Yearbook_91

Photo by Deborah Hallick WRESTLERS FALL SHORT; PLACE 5TH IN NATION T he 1990-91 edition of the Portland State Wrestling team struggled to a dual record of 7-12-1, which was not much of an improvement to the prior years 6-15 mark. The team was once again lead by the efforts of four– year letterman 167-pounder Dan Russell and ju– nior 177- pounder Tony Champion. Coach Marlin Grahn returned for his seventh year of coaching. Russell was 24-1-1 in his last season and fin – ished his illustrious PSU career with a stellar 127- 21 -5 record. Champion was 32-4-1, making him a respectable 78- 19-6 for his career. The team headed into the Western Regionals in Golden, Colo. , with hopes of repeating their Division II championship of a year ago. The Vikings had four individual champions and seven of their wrestlers in the top three places of their respective weights. In fact the team just missed winning a fifth straight NCAA Division II Re– gional Tournament. PSU tallied 69.5 points, which was second to Chico State's 8 1.75 points. Getting his fourth straight regional title was Dan Russell, while Champion won his third straight. Also winning were Joey Herrera at 150, and Clay Woodard at 190. Coming in second were 11 8-pounder Ariah Fasana and Eric Winters at 142 pounds. Albert Alcantar, overcoming a late– season injury, finished in third place at 134 pounds. The Vikings headed into Fargo, N.D., with high yet realistic hopes of once again bringing home the NCAA Division II Championship. "We knew going in we didn't have as strong a team as in the past, but the guys really wrestled well and everybody was in every one of their matches, which is great," said Viking head coach Marlin Grahn. This year was a different story for the grapplers. The team finished fifth in the team standings missing a team trophy by a point-and-a quarter. Yet once again the usual stalwarts burned bright for the Vikings. Dan Russell and Tony Champion were successful in their bids for their fourth and third consecutive national titles respectively. Rus– sell also won Most Valuable Wrestler for the third year running. Eric Winters also placed seventh, which coincidentially earned him All-American honors. Russell also advanced to the Division I nation– al tournament and placed a strong fourth. As for the future, it appears to look bright for the wrestling team. "We'll go back next year with more heart and more desire, and definitely with more knowledge. It's exciting really, because we only have one senior [Russell], and we'll go in fighting hard next year and see what happens," Grahn speculated. • • • Tony Ruzicka Left: Chris Claus, Heavyweight, falls towards the mat at a home match. I WRESTLING SCOREBOARD 13 39 2S 18 19 8 38 20 13 1S 14 2S 10 34 19 2 11 . 12 13 23 Oregan ~OM S.F. Slate OlicD 51111 HumWdl Stale OnganSiale Padfk SimonffR' Arizona State tlai1IMslem 50S( m Oregan Padfk Oregan Stale Cal Slale-lakersfield Cal Slale-Fulnn Cal Puly-S.Luis Olispo Fresno Slate Boise Slate Sports/Wrestling 3S ' 16 21 20 33 6 11 32 30 22 9 29 13 19 40 31 3S 21 1S •