Townsend Saunders

Townsend Saunders (born April 20, 1967) is an Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling.^[1] Collegiately, Saunders was a two-time NCAA Division I All-American at Arizona State University and an NCAA Division II National Champion for California State University-Bakersfield. Townsend was also a Goodwill Games gold medalist in 1994 and won two Pan American Games gold medals in 1991 and 1995.

Biography

Saunders was born in White Sands, New Mexico. Known in college as "Junior" Saunders,^[2] he adopted his given name in international competition. In 1985, he was a California State runner-up while wrestling for Torrance High School in Torrance, California. Townsend Saunders has also competed in mixed martial arts for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, at UFC 16 and UFC 18.

Saunders is married to Tricia Saunders, a four-time FILA World Champion in women's freestyle wrestling, and is the father of three children.

In 2019, Saunders was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.^[3]

Mixed martial arts record

|- | Loss | align=center | 0–2 | Mikey Burnett | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 18 | January 8, 1999 | align=center | 1 | align=center | 15:00 | Kenner, Louisiana, United States | |- | Loss | align=center | 0–1 | Pat Miletich | Decision (split) | UFC 16 | March 13, 1998 | align=center | 1 | align=center | 15:00 | Kenner, Louisiana, United States | MMA Debut.

Submission grappling record

|- ! Result ! Opponent ! Method ! Event ! Date ! Round ! Time ! Notes |- | Win || Andre Pederneiras || Decision || The Contenders || 1997 || 5 || 5:00 ||

References

1. ^ Dan, Gable (1998-12-01). Coaching Wrestling Successfully. Human Kinetics. ISBN 978-0-87322-404-8.
2. ^ Rowe, Reginald E. (2016-05-09). The Golden Era of Amateur Wrestling: 1980S. Archway Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4808-2963-3.
3. ^ Townsend Saunders. National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 18, 2022.

External links

• Townsend "Junior" Saunders at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame site