Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/279748
LATINO WRESTLING EXPERIENCE NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM | 11 Like many wrestlers at "smaller" programs, Jeff Castro found himself in an unusual situation in 1987. Though the Grizzly program began in the late 1960s, and by the early 1980s was beginning to make its mark in the Big Sky Conference, the squad was the victim of cuts to men's sports related to the implementation of Title IX. During the middle of the 1986 campaign, the Conference determined that it would no longer stage wrestling tournaments after the 1987 event. This decision came at exactly the same time that Montana wrestling had reached its zenith. In that campaign, Rob Bazant and Vince Hughes won individual conference crowns, and the Grizzlies were runners up in the Big Sky to Boise State. When administrators informed Coach Scott Bliss and the squad that the Montana program was also being eliminated, the grapplers responded with a 12-match winning streak that did not end until the final match of the 1987 regular season, a loss against a top-20-ranked team from Utah State. In the farewell Big Sky Tournament, four Montana wrestlers, including 142-pounder Jeff Castro won conference titles. More significantly, the Grizzlies won the last team trophy awarded in the sport. The conference champions then moved on to the NCAA tournament at the University of Maryland. Jeff Castro, who was part of an "Iowa pipeline" that Bliss had started to develop for Missoula, then became the University of Montana's one and only wrestling All- American when he finished eighth in his class. He had an opportunity to compete for a higher placement, but was unable to perform due to an injury. He eventually returned to the Midwest and completed his mat career and education in Nebraska. He is now a chiropractor in Iowa. The most interesting aspect of the entire Montana Grizzlies wrestling experience is what became of the championship trophy. After the team's dispersal, the award remained in Bliss's possession until he was finally given the opportunity to present the hardware to a few team members at a brief ceremony in between quarters of a Montana football game in 2000, a fitting if rather delayed tribute to a group of athletes who brought wrestling glory to the Missoula campus, if only for a brief time. JEFF CASTRO Wrestled 1987 University of Montana 142lbs