Tricia Saunders (born as ''Patricia McNaughton''; February 21, 1966 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American amateur wrestler and pioneer in the sport of Women's Freestyle Wrestling. She earned a total of five

FILA Wrestling World Championships The World Wrestling Championships are the Amateur Wrestling World Championships organized by United World Wrestling. The Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling tournament began in 1904, and the Men's Freestyle Wrestling tournament began in 1951. The Women's ...

medals, four gold and one silver. Throughout her career she never lost to an American, and collected eleven national titles. She was the first woman to be inducted to the

National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of t ...

and the first American woman to be inducted into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame in

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Youth

Saunders's grandfather was an All-American wrestler at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1930; her father, and her older brother, Jamie, were also grapplers. As a child, she would accompany her brothers to practice. Tricia then seven, announced she was bored with watching. Her father asked if she wanted to wrestle and she replied with a yes. In her first tournament, at nine years old, she won seven of her nine matches, all against boys. By the time she reached the "Regional Nationals", she was a force to be reckoned with in the 50-pound weight class. Saunders appeared as a featured guest on a 1975 episode of the syndicated version of '' To Tell The Truth''. She retired wrestling boys in

folkstyle wrestling Collegiate wrestling (also known as folkstyle wrestling) is the form of wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. This style of wrestling, with some slight modifications, is also practiced at high school and mi ...

at age 12, compiling a record of 181-23. She later turned to

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestli ...

, this time wrestling women internationally, after receiving her

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...

from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

, ten years later.

Wrestling

Tricia Saunders won the 1992 World Wrestling Championships in Villerbanne, France, competing at 103.5 lbs, the first American woman to win a World title. She won the silver medal at the 1993 World Championship, and three more Gold medals at the 1996, 1998, and 1999 Worlds, the most World titles of any American woman. In 2006, Saunders became the first woman to be inducted as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 2011, she was inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Retirement

Saunders became one of the first coaches of the U.S. Women's Olympic Wrestling Team at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. Saunders is the namesake of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award, given by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. The award honors the most outstanding high school seniors in women's wrestling. Criteria include wrestling accomplishments, scholastic achievement, and community service.

Personal

Tricia is married to

Townsend Saunders Townsend Saunders (born April 20, 1967) is an Olympic silver medalist in wrestling who was a two-time All-American at Arizona State University. In 1987 Saunders became an NCAA Div. II National Champion for California State University-Bakersfield ...

, the 1996 Olympic freestyle wrestling silver medalist. They have three children, two daughters, Tassia and Tatiana and a son, Townsend.

References

External links

Tricia Saunders - Distinguished Member
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National Wrestling Hall of Fame

Tricia Saunders (USA) - Lutte Féminine - FILA Hall of Fame
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International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Tricia 1966 births American female sport wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 21st-century American women