LATINO WRESTLING EXPERIENCE NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM | 51
Born in White Sands, N.M.,
Townsend "Junior" Saunders
did not start out as a two-time
Olympic freestyle wrestler: he
earned it.
Excelling on the mat at Torrance High School,
this Latino wrestler was a runner-up as a senior at the 1985
California High School championships before graduating and
enrolling at California State University-Bakersfield. Wrestling for
the Division II Roadrunners for two years, Saunders won the DII
142-pound national title in 1987 before transferring to Arizona
State University.
Saunders redshirted his first year as a Sun Devil, then marched
into the 1989 Championships as if he had been there before. In
1989 this two-time All-American took second at 142 pounds
then moved up to 150 in 1990 to earn a third-place finish against
the best collegiate wrestlers in the land. Before graduating from
ASU with an undergraduate degree in Sociology, Townsend's
outstanding record was 77 -9 under the Sun Devil's Coach Bobby
Douglas.
But this wrestler was only getting started! After graduation,
Townsend won gold at the Pan American Games in 1991 and
1995 as well as in 1994 at the Goodwill Games, all in freestyle.
Competing in the 1992 Olympics freestyle competition, he did
not medal, but in the following Olympics in Atlanta in 1996,
Townsend "Junior" Saunders won a silver medal for his country.
Graduating from the University of Phoenix with an MBA after
first working as an Assistant Coach at Arizona State, Townsend
is presently an Admissions Representative for the Education
Management Corporation.
Wrestled 1989-1990
Arizona State University
142lbs // 150lbs
TOWNSEND
SAUNDERS
