Ricks wrestlers win titles at national meet; coach honored
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The Ricks College wrestling team recently captured two national individual championships, more than any other team competing, at the National Junior College Athletic Association's finals in Glen Ellyn, Ill.
The team's coach, Bob Christensen, was also named national coach of the year at the tournament.Placing first for Ricks were Andy Howington of Comanche, Okla., who wrestles in the 150-pound category, and Mitch Mansfield of Shelley, Idaho, a 167-pounder. The two are just the fourth and fifth Ricks wrestlers to win national titles in the school's history.
Coach Christensen, a national champion for Ricks in the heavyweight category in 1964, has a 36-10 dual meet record in four years of coaching at the two-year Church-owned college.
As a team Ricks wound up second, its best finish ever at the national tournament. Six Ricks wrestlers placed at the tournament and earned All-American status, also an all-time high number for the school.
Of the nine wrestlers on Ricks' first-string team, four are returned missionaries and three are either planning on or have already received their mission calls. Two of those returned missionaries - 142-pound Bruce Holt and 190-pound Rod Smart - earned All-American status by placing at the naitonal meet.
