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Show RMAC Wrestling Tournament opens at Gunnison Saturday Vernal) or Howard Baca (junior, St. Johns, Ariz.) at 118, Craig Mizufuka (senior, Inglewood, Calif., 134), Mark Jones (freshman, (fresh-man, Hatch, 142) and Phil Howa (freshman, Price at 190). Sanders leads SUSC in wins with a 12-10-2 record. Sams stands 10-2, with Marshall 10-8, Mizufuka 8-6-1, Ritter 9-4, Tripp 7-13-1, Howa 7-9, Moat 6-8, Jones 4-8 and Humphrey 2-8. Adams State is probably the odds on favorite to win its fifth straight RMAC title. The Indians are currently ranked number one in the NAIA and return three champions and a second place finisher from last year's action. Henry Flores (126), John Flores (134) and Rich Aggen (HWT) were champions last year, while Jim Wood (142) placed second in the RMAC but went on to win the NAIA. Western returns defending champs Steve Linsacum (142) and Dave Hill (190). Linsacum won at 150 while Hill was at 177 last year. The Mountaineers have lost two duals to Adams but Coach Tracy Borah has made some lineup changes and it could make Western a strong challenger. Mesa, according to Lopour, could be a darkhorse. The Mavericks dropped a couple of wrestlers down a weight, and this could help them make some noise in the fight for the championship. cham-pionship. Dean Shauers (158) placed third at 167 last year, and he is joined by Allen Abeyta (118), Monte Griffith (150) and awesome heavyweight Greg Williams (410 pounds) to make Mesa a tough tournament squad. Colorado Mines and Ft. Lewis return four place winners. Mines has Jim Kenny (134) fourth at 126 and Gary Weihs (142) also fourth. Ft. Lewis has Andy Carnero (118) third and Mark Trostel (190) fourth. Ron Owen (150) has been a standout all year for the Raiders and could be a challenger for the championship. T-Birds who are expected to get in the top four seeds are Marshall, Mizufuka (who has a 4-3 4-3 win over John Fores), Sanders, Sams and Ritter. To qualify for the NAIA nationals at Eastern Washington State March 2-5, a wrestler must place in the top three in his weight class. By Jim Bayly "It will be the toughest tournament tour-nament since University of Nebraska at Omaha and Northern Nor-thern Colorado were in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference." That is how Southern Utah State's wrestling coach, Joe Lopour, foresees the 1977 RMAC wrestling tournament. The T-Bird grapplers join Adams State (defending champion), host Western State, Mesa College, Ft. Lewis, Colorado School of Mines and New Mexico Highlands Saturday in Gunnison, Colorado, for the annual affair. Lopour will send a squad that returns five place winners from last year's action when SUSC finished fourth. Eusebio Sams (167, senior, Lawndale, Calif.) leads the way. He won SUSC's first RMAC championship last year at 158. John Marshall (126, junior, Springville, Utah) placed second at 118. Bob Sanders (158, senior, Garden Grove, Calif.) and Wayne Ritter (177, senior, Aztec N.M.) captured third. Sanders place at 150. Dave Moat (150, junior, Duchesne, Utah) fiasihed fourth at 167. Another RMAC placewinner for the T-Birds is Dan Humphrey (HWT, sophomore, Cedar City). Humphrey earned second place in the 1974 meet. Ritter is a three-time j placewinner in the RMAC. Besides placing third last year, he finished second at 158 as a freshman and moved up to 167 to also place second as a sophomore. "We have been working in certain areas where we need to improve," says Lopour, "and we have done some extra work so that we can be in the best mental and physical shape." The rest of the lineup will include in-clude Jim Tripp (freshman. |