Gutches, Reed, Sanders survive Round 1 of Oregon Greatest Athletes poll

Who's the greatest college athlete ever in the state of Oregon? The Oregonian newspaper has put that question to its readers, complete with an online poll, and seeded brackets featuring the names of 64 athletes from various eras who attended college in Oregon.

Les Gutches (Photo/Larry Slater)

In the first round of voting tallied Tuesday, July 21, three wrestlers whose winning reputations go far beyond Oregon -- Les Gutches, Robin Reed, and Rick Sanders -- defeated their opponents to survive another round of voting ... with two other wrestlers with Oregon collegiate connections -- Jess Lewis, and Brock Gutches -- also in the running.
Oregon State mat champ Gutches, the No. 6 seed, received 64% of the vote (288 votes) over No. 11 seed Jordan Hasay, described by The Oregonian as "the most decorated runner" in University of Oregon history, who received 188 votes for 36% of the vote. Third-seeded Sanders, who wrestled at Portland State in the late 1960s, edged out No. 14 seed Joni Huntley, Oregon State track star, by just two votes, 211 to 209 (50.24%-49.76%) No. 2 seed Robin Reed of Oregon State, considered by some historians to be the greatest-ever U.S. amateur wrestler, got a dominating victory over No. 15 Michael Conforto, a Major League Baseball prospect from Oregon State, 66.67% (290 votes) to 33.33% (145).

These results mean that, in the upcoming Round of 32, Gutches will go up against Sanders, while Reed will face Tiffeny Milbrett, a soccer star for the University of Portland. There are two other wrestlers included in the poll. Jess Lewis, two-time NCAA heavyweight champ for Oregon State in the late 1960s who wrestled freestyle in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, is featured in today's poll (July 23) ... and Brock Gutches, who just won his fourth NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) 174-pound title for Southern Oregon in March, and is the nephew of Les Gutches.

Les Gutches, a three-time Oregon state champ at South Medford High School, wrestled at Oregon State where he was a three-time NCAA All-American, winning back-to-back national titles at 177 pounds in 1995 and 1996. As a senior, Gutches was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation's best college wrestler in 1996. After graduation, Gutches won the gold medal in freestyle at the 1997 World Wrestling Championships.

Robin Reed

A wrestling superstar in the first two decades of the 20th century, Robin Reed wrestled at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State), where he won three AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) national championships. (This was before the NCAA championships had been established.) Reed won the Olympic gold medal in 1924 at 134.5 pounds, winning every match at the Olympics by fall. He later coached at his college alma mater, leading the Beavers to the 1926 AAU team title. Reed died in 1978 at age 79.

Rick Sanders, a three-time Oregon state champ at Lincoln High School, compiled a near-perfect 103-2 record at Portland State, where he won an NAIA title in 1965 as a freshman, and claimed two titles each at the NCAA College Division (smaller-school) and NCAA University Division (larger schools) national championships. (Back then, wrestlers who won College titles qualified to compete at the University championships.) In fact, Sanders is the only collegiate wrestler to win National Championships in the NAIA, NCAA College Division, and the NCAA University Division, and be designated an Outstanding Wrestler in each. Sanders won silver medals in freestyle at both the 1968 and 1972 Olympics. Weeks after competing at the Munich Games, Sanders was killed in a car accident in Yugoslavia in October 1972.

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Gutches, Reed, Sanders survive Round 1 of Oregon Greatest Athletes poll

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