Ron FinleyFinley then focused on international competition, first earning a spot on the U.S. Greco-Roman national team in 1961. He placed fourth at the World Championships in 1962 and 1963, then sixth at the 1966 Worlds at 63 kilograms/138.75 pounds. Finley made the 1964 U.S. Olympic team, placing fourth in his weight class at the Tokyo Games, one of the highest placers on the U.S. Greco squad.
In 1970, Finley took the reins of the University of Oregon, and remained head coach for 28 years until stepping down in 1998. In that time, Finley led the Ducks to an overall dual-meet record of 309-186-8. Three of his teams won conference titles; 42 Ducks won individual conference crowns.
Finley also served as the coach of the U.S. Greco-Roman team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. That Finley-led squad earned a total of four medals, including gold medals for Steve Fraser and the late Jeff Blatnick, according to his bio in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame where he was inducted in 1982.
More than once, Finley was credited with saving wrestling at Oregon when the program was slated to be eliminated for financial reasons. He met with a university vice president and athletic director Rick Bay in 1981 to keep the program off the chopping block.
"He told me a story about sliding an envelope across the table because he saw it once in a movie," Chuck Kearney, who wrestled for Finley at Oregon before serving as his assistant and then replacing him as coach following his mentor's retirement, told the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard. "In the envelope, he wrote down the number of what it would cost to run the program. They were impressed with how low the number was and said, ‘Plus your salary?' He said, ‘No, my salary is included.'
"We dodged that bullet."
"He had a great balance of being a coach, being tough on you when he had to be tough, and at the same time being one of the finest human beings and caring about everyone," said Kevin Roberts, a two-time all-American under Finley at Oregon who is now the associate head coach at Oregon State. "As a coach, the thing I always remember from Fin is that all these guys are trying their best and they want to be the best they can be.
"That's the biggest thing I take from him is the way he treated his athletes. Whether you're an all-American or fourth-string, just treat them well."
In addition to his accomplishments as wrestler and coach, Finley was a tireless champion for the sport in his native Oregon. In recent years, he had fought to get wrestling reinstated at Oregon. The Ducks dropped the sport in 2007. In addition, Finley headed up the Save Oregon Wrestling Federation, as well as executive director of the National Wrestling Restoration Foundation, whose goal was to prevent further cuts to collegiate wrestling programs.
"He's going to be missed," NWRF president Paul Fenley told The Oregonian. "The wrestling community has lost a great man. He was one of those figures that everyone looked to as a guiding light. His entire life was wrestling. He didn't go off and do business or get into sales. He dedicated his entire life to the sport. Everything is wrestling with this guy."
Through the NWRF, Finley and Fenley launched the Zero Quit clothing brand, whose proceeds go directly into a fund to create an endowment for an Oregon wrestling program.
"I guess the best way to put it, when Ron Finley was a wrestler he won because he was tough," said Chuck Kearney. "He refused as an athlete to give in. As an athlete that defines who he was, and he coached the same way. When he was fighting cancer, it was the same way.
"He just refused to give in."
Finley is survived by his wife, Linda, a son, Michael, and a daughter, Kelly Sopp. Memorial services were still being planned as of Tuesday night.
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