Richard Sanders

Richard J. Sanders (born January 20, 1945 , † October 18, 1972 in Yugoslavia ) was an American wrestler .

Career

Rick Sanders learned to wrestle like almost all American wrestlers in college. He also continued wrestling very successfully at Portland University , where he then studied. He won seven different US university championships from various associations between 1965 and 1967. During this time he was one of the few wrestlers who could bring a defeat to Dan Gable , the later 1972 Olympic champion. As a newcomer to the international mat, he wrestled in a FILA world championship for the first time in 1966 and immediately won a medal. Until 1972 he was one of the absolute best in the world.

Rick Sanders was an unconventional person, free thinker, long-haired, bearded. He had his own training and fighting style and was considered a technically excellent and risk-taking wrestler. Rick Sanders was killed in a car accident in Yugoslavia, the circumstances are unknown.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, F = Freestyle, Fl = Flyweight, Ba = Bantamweight)

• 1966, 3rd place , World Championship in Toledo / USA , F, Fl, with wins over László Ölveti, Hungary , Tschimedbadsaryn Damdinscharaw , Mongolia , Chasen Jafari, Iran and a draw against Chang Chang-Sun, North Korea , Yasuo Katsumura, Japan and Tariel Alibegashvili , USSR ;
• 1967, 1st place , Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, F, Ba, ahead of Moisés López, Mexico and José Ramos, Cuba;
• 1967, 2nd place , World Cup in New Delhi , F, Fl, with victories over Leslaw Kropp, Poland , Tapalaga, Romania , Oh Jung-Yong, North Korea, Nasar Albarjan , USSR and defeats against Mohammed Ghorbani, Iran and Shigeo Nakata, Japan;
• 1968, silver medal , OS in Mexico City , F, Fl, with victories over Defron, Dom. Rep., Ghorbani, Badsaryn Süchbaatar , Mongolia, Kumar, India , Boris Dimovski, Yugoslavia and a loss to Nakata;
• 1969, 1st place , World Championship in Mar del Plata , F, Ba, with victories over Ivan Dinkov, Bulgaria , Castillo, Panama , Ghorbani and Yasu Genekasu, Japan;
• 1972 silver medal , OS in Munich , F, Ba, with victories over László Klinga , Hungary, Maggiolo, Argentina , Premnath, India, Iwan Schawow , Bulgaria, Hatzioannidis, Greece , Nicolae Dumitru, Romania and one defeat against Hideaki Yanagida , Japan.

National successes

Rick Sanders became the US bantamweight, freestyle champion in 1970.