Education
Rick Sanders attended Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon. While there he wrestled at 98 pounds in 1961, 108 pounds in 1962 and 115 pounds in 1963. He won three Oregon State Championships, finishing with a high school record of 80-1.
Rick Sanders attended Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon. While there he wrestled at 98 pounds in 1961, 108 pounds in 1962 and 115 pounds in 1963. He won three Oregon State Championships, finishing with a high school record of 80-1.
After the Munich Olympics, while traveling to Greece, he was killed in an automobile accident on October 18, 1972 in Skopje, Yugoslavia. High school University When Sanders arrived at Portland State University, he quickly led his team to national prominence. As a freshman he highlighted an undefeated season by winning the 1965 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships at 115 pounds and earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award.
As a sophomore Sanders lost the first match of his career when he moved up to the 123 pound class and placed third in the National Collegiate Athletic Association College Division Nationals.
As a junior Sanders had a perfect season going undefeated and winning both the 1967 National Collegiate Athletic Association College and University Division National Championships at 115 pounds. He was selected as the Outstanding Wrestler in both meets.
As a senior Sanders moved up to the 123 pound class and went undefeated during the regular season. Two weeks later at the National Collegiate Athletic Association University Division Nationals, Sanders lost for only the second time in his collegiate career when he placed second.
His total collegiate record was 103-2.
He led his Portland State team to a first place finish in the 1967 National Collegiate Athletic Association College Division Nationals, a second place finish in 1968, and a third place finish in 1967. The same three years Portland State also finished fifth, sixth, and eighth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association University Division Nationals. United States. Team and Olympics He returned to the Olympics in 1972 and captured another Silver Meda
Following the Olympic Games in Munich, Sanders began touring Europe.
While hitch-hiking to Greece, he was killed in an automobile accident on October 18, 1972 in Skopje, Yugoslavia when the Land Rover he was riding in crashed head-on into a business He is buried in Forrester Cemetery, Eagle Creek, Oregon.
He won a silver medal in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, the flyweight division, and a silver medal in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in Germany in the bantamweight division. Both medals were won in freestyle wrestling. He won three Oregon State Championships, finishing with a high school record of 80-1. Two weeks later he dropped down to the 115 pound class and won the 1966 National Collegiate Athletic Association University Division National Championship. He won his second National Collegiate Athletic Association College Division National Championship and was again selected as the Outstanding Wrestler. Sanders is the only collegiate wrestler to win National Championships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, National Collegiate Athletic Association College Division, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association University Division, and be designated an Outstanding Wrestler in each. As early as his freshman year in college, in 1965, Sanders won his first of five national freestyle championships and made the United States. World Team. In 1966 he placed third in the World Championships, in 1967 he placed second in the World, and won the Pan American Games. In 1968, Sanders won an Olympic Silver Medal for the United States.A. A year later, at 114.5 pounds, Sanders became the first American ever to win a World Championship. Of the eleven bouts he won in two Olympics, nine came by fall.
