Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Washington

When it comes to the University of Washington wrestling program most fans think of the legendary  Larry Owings.  How can you blame them?  He's the 1 in the 181-1 record (official High school & College) of Dan Gable, the most recognizable name in amateur wrestling.  While Owings will be featured in this article, I'm here to showcase that their was so much more to Husky wrestling. Owings was a part of it, a HUGE part of it, but their are others to be remembered and celebrated. Today we do that.

First off I'd like to say a little about the team that we lost after the 1979-1980 season.  They won two PAC-12 conference titles and finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Division I wrestling tournament on five occasions.  When it came to West Coast wrestling, Washington was one of the best teams.

118 lbs
Mike Downer

My selection for the Huskies best super lightweight was a two time Oregon state champion wrestling for Benson High School in Portland.  While competing for the Huskies he qualified for the NCAA championships in 1970, 72' & 73'.  He also placed third at the prestigious Midlands wrestling tournament.

126 lbs
Toshi Oosishi 

Lost in the mix of names like Yojiro Uetake, Toshi Oosishi was a freestyle wrestler from Japan who came to the United States to get an education & try out our style of wrestling while competing for the Huskies.  He qualified twice for the NCAA championships, garnering All American honors in 1975 with a sixth place finish.

125 lbs
Randy Burg 

Couldn't narrow it down to one as another great in Husky wrestling history in the 120's category is Randy Burg who finished in third place at the 1969 NCAA championships.

142 lbs
Larry Owings

He needs no introduction.  The accomplishments of preeminent Larry Owings speak for themselves.  A four time NCAA qualifier, Owings won a national title in 1970 as a sophomore defeating Dan Gable 13-11 in the most talked about and watched NCAA finals match of all time. He would finish in second place the next two seasons in 71' & 72'.   Owings was also a three time PAC-12 champion and a third place finisher at the Midlands.

158 lbs
Hajime Shinjo 

Along with Oosishi, another Japanese wrestler on the Husky team was Hajime Shinjo a PAC-12 champion who earned three All American awards.  He placed third as a junior in 1972 and took sixth place finishes as a sophomore and senior in 1971 & 1973.

142, 150, 158 lbs
Tom Brown 

It's hard to know where exactly to place Tom Brown considering that he wrestled at three different weight classes and excelled at each one of them. The only thing for sure is that he has to be included because he's one of the best UW ever produced.  A three time PAC-12 champion, Brown took third at the NCAA championships as a sophomore in 1973 at 142 lbs.  He would bump up to 150 lbs as a junior and once again take a third place finish.  As a senior he went up to 158 lbs and finished his career as the NCAA runner-up.   For his efforts he beat out all of the other athletes at the University of Washington and was named the 1976 Husky of the year.

150 lbs
Mike Fitzpatrick

I realize I'm getting a little happy in the middleweights here, but it would be outright wrong to not include Mike Fitzpatrick.  A native of Richland High School where he won the state title as a junior in 1969, he finished in second place as a senior in 1970. He didn't take to kindly to trading in his gold for a silver.  Determined to succeed Fitzpatrick first went to Columbia Basin College in Pasco, one of the best NJCAA programs we've lost over the years.  There he not only won two NJCAA titles but he racked up an incredible 155 takedowns in his 44-0 record. 

Transferring to Washington, he had a spectacular career winning both PAC-12 and Midlands titles, along with finishing in sixth place at the NCAA tournament.

177 lbs
Bill Murdock

One of the best in Husky wrestling history, Bill Murdock won both a PAC-12 and an NCAA championship in 1972.

190 lbs
Rich Calderon

Rich Calderon came to the University of Washington from California.  He wrestled his first two seasons for San Jose City where he finished in third place at the 1972 CCCAA championships before winning the CCCAA title in 1973.  Like Washington, San Jose City is yet another great program we've lost over the years.

As a transfer, Calderon enjoyed a successful career at Washington where he finished in fourth place as a junior at the 1974 NCAA championships.


I hope that with this small article you realize how great of a team we lost when the Huskies dropped their program in 1980.  West coast high school wrestling has always been competitive and its a shame that the kids no longer have this historical program to wrestle for.