Ducks Mourn Passing of Coach Ron Finley

Ron Finley, who coached Oregon's wrestling program from 1970 to 1998, passed away Tuesday after battling cancer. He was 75.

A native of Newberg, Finley won two high school state titles and was NCAA runnerup at 137 pounds for Oregon State in 1961. After finishing fourth as a featherweight wrestling freestyle at the world championships in both 1962 and 1963, Finley placed fourth in the 1964 Olympic Games in the Greco-Roman division.

As a coach, Finley led the Ducks to conference championships in 1975, 1981 and 1982, and helped 42 wrestlers win individual conference titles. In 1984, he coached the U.S. team in the Greco-Roman division at the Olympic Games, helping Jeff Blatnick and Steve Fraser…