Matt Lindland named Oregon Wrestling Classic Man of the Year
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
01/12/2001
2000 Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland (Oregon City, Ore./Sunkist Kids) was honored as the Oregon Wrestling Classic Man of the Year. The 18th annual Oregon Wrestling Classic is being held in Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore., Jan. 12-13. A total of 56 top high school teams and 13 college teams will participate this year, plus an elite women's freestyle division and over 700 of the Northwest's top youth wrestlers. Lindland claimed a silver medal at 167.5 pounds in Greco-Roman at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. He was one of three U.S. Greco-Roman athletes to win a medal, leading the United States to a strong third-place team finish. Lindland was the 2000 U.S. Nationals champion at his weight class. He won a gold medal at the 2000 Pan American Championships in Cali, Colombia, the final opportunity for the United States to qualify for the Olympics in the weight class. He is a native of Oregon, and has participated in past Oregon Wrestling Classics. Lindland wrestled in the Classic 3A High School finals as a senior for Gladstone High School in 1988. In 1991, he won the Classic 158-pound College title to Clackamas C.C. Lindland is currently at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., beginning his serious training for the 2001 international wrestling season.