Wrestling: Masaru Yatabe
I noticed that Mr. Yatabe was going to be visiting in Portland, Oregon, in the winter of 2023, and I had to write him.
Dear Mr. Yatabe,
In 1968 I was a spectator at the NCAA Div. 1, University championships at Penn State, when you and your team competed. I remember you were in college at Portland State. My father took a few of us from Maryland to the Nationals and it was a thrill for me to see that local “small colleges” like Lock Haven and Lehigh could compete with the big ones for a title. You and Rick Sanders, however, stole the show!
I would like to make sure that when you come to town, Oregonians, who are attending the upcoming wrestling tournament, know your story. Do you have a biography that I could use to introduce you to the wrestlers who are in Portland, when the Japanese National Team is here?
Many thanks for your consideration,
— Henry Hooper
Ass’t Coach, Lincoln High School (Rick Sanders is a Lincoln grad)
Mr. Hooper,
Thank you for your e-mail remembering the ‘good old days’ of wrestling in the Portland, Oregon area.
Rick Sanders (Lincoln High School grad) and I were teammates from 1965 to 1968 at Portland State College (PSC) together for 4 years. (The college changed it’s name to Portland State University, in 1969, the year I graduated.)
Below is a chronological list of the collegiate wrestling accomplishments that I shared with Rick Sanders:
1965
PSC wrestled in the NAIA conference, when Rick and I were freshmen. We competed in the NAIA nationals, whereas the NCAA did not allow any freshman to compete in the national tournaments. Instead freshmen were supposed to concentrate on studying, or so I was led to believe. Anyway, Rick and I won the Regional champioships and qualified to go to NAIA Nationals as freshmen. I ended up 5th at 137 lb weight class and Rick won at 115 lb class. Sanders beat the defending NAIA Champion Dave Hazelwinkle in the finals. The coaches selected Rick Sanders as the Most Valuable Wrestler of the NAIA National Tournament that year. As a team, PSC came in 6th in the College Div. Nationals.
1966
In our sophomore year, PSC switched it’s collegiate athletics affiliations from the NAIA to the NCAA “College Division.” That year, I won 3rd place in the College Div. and came in 5th at the NCAA University Div. finals, qualifying as an All-American. Rick Sanders, losing his first college match, came in 3rd place in College Division wrestling at 123 lb, but he went on to win the NCAA University National Championships, wrestling at 115lb in the Division Finals. Rick, again, was chosen to be the Most Valuable Wrestler of the Tournament. As a team, PSC came in 3rd in the College Div. and 9th in the University Div.
1967
As junior, both Rick Sanders and I won the College Division Nationals, which qualified us to compete in the University Division. In the finals that year I lost to Dale Anderson of Michigan State. I lost the close match by a point in overtime, coming in 2nd place. Rick won the first place in both Collegiate and University Divisions. He was voted Outstanding Wrestler at both tournaments. As a team, P.S.C. came in 1st in College Div. and 5th place in the University Division.
1968
As seniors Rick and I won the College Div. Nationals. At the University Division Tournament, I ended up placing 2nd, once again losing to Dale Anderson in the University Division finals.
Uncharacteristically, Sanders also lost. He had again jumbled weight classes, and moved up to the 123 lb class. In the NCAA College Division Nationals that year, he won handily and was again selected as the Outstanding Wrestler. Two weeks later at the NCAA University Division Nationals, Sanders lost for only the second time in his collegiate career, when he placed second to Dwayne Keller from Oklahoma State. Sanders finished his collegiate career with a Win-Loss record 103 – 2. As a team, PSC came in 2nd in College Div. and tied for 6th in the University Division with Lock Haven State and Cal Poly.
Rick Sanders bottom row left, Masaru Yatabe bottom row to far right, 1967
You could say I was a by-product of the first Japan-Oregon High School Cultural Exchange in 1963. Please see the attached doc of my ‘early days’. It may be a little redundant.
I look forward to meeting you in person in the near future.
Sincerely yours,
Mas Yatabe
On And Off the Mat
Masaru Yatabe, wrestling for Portland State, 1967
Masaru Yatabe was a top performer on Portland State’s 1967 National Championship wrestling team and 1968 National runner-up team. He won NCAA College Division individual titles in 1967 and 1968, and was a University Division runner-up both seasons. Portland State University was fifth as a team at the University level ahead of Oklahoma State University in 1967 and sixth in 1968.
Mr. Yatabe compiled a dual meet record of 45-5-5 and, including tournaments, an overall record of 79-11-5. He was an NAIA All-American in 1965, and NCAA College Division All-American in 1966, 1967 and 1968, as well as NCAA University Division All-American in 1966, 1967 and 1968. The PSU Vikings had a perfect 17-0 team dual record in the 1967 wrestling season. Yatabe lost twice at the NCAA Div. 1 Nationals to Michigan State champion, Dale Anderson, but won a ‘revenge match’ in 1968 at NCAA East-West All-Star Duels.
Mr. Yatabe is a member of the NCAA II Wrestling Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the HOF during a special ceremony in March, 1996.
Since his college years, Mr. Yatabe has initiated, maintained and enhanced his business relationships. For the last twenty years, he has served as the Vice-President of International Travel at Azumano Travel Services of Portland. Before that time he was a Vice-President for Cascade Estates Corporation in Portland. Proving his skills in banking, Mr. Yatabe was an Ass’t Vice-President at First Interstate Bank of Oregon and a Manager of Bank of Tokyo, Portland Branch.
Active as a volunteer, for the past decade Mr. Yatabe has been serving as the Chairman and Principal of US-Japan Connect, Inc. Together with his wife, Alice MacQueen Yatabe, he has been awarded the “Taisho Award” for long-standing service to Scotland. The framed award was delivered to the Yatabe’s during Covid, by the Friends of MacDonald, from the Scottish Samurai.
From left: Hooper, Yoshioka Yuzo, Mas Yutabi (second from right) and Bob Tomasovic
December 13, 2025
At the ninth annual Rick Sanders Invitational at Lincoln High School in Portland, OR, Hooper wrote an introduction of Marlin Grahn, Rick Sanders, and Masaru Yatabe. Here are his words to the crowd:
Masaru Yatabe first came to the US in 1964. The year before, his high school coach, Mr. Kubota, came to Oregon with the Japanese High School Cultural exchange to find a “host family” for Yatabe to live with in Portland. Coach Kubota selected the house of Grant High School wrestling coach, Mr. Robert Shewbert, who lived with his family of five in NE Portland. From that location Mas Yatabe daily communted to Portland State as a student / athlete.
Over his collegiate wrestling career of 95 matches, Mas Yatabe compiled a record of 79 wins, 11 losses and 5 ties. He was an NAIA All-American in 1965, and NCAA College Division and NCAA University Level All-American in 1966, 1967 and 1968. The PSU Vikings had a perfect 17-0 team dual meet record in 1967. Yatabe was twice the runner-up at the NCAA Div. 1 Nationals to Michigan State’s, Dale Anderson, AND Yatabe won a ‘revenge match’ versus Anderson in 1968 at NCAA East-West All-Star Duels.
Mr. Yatabe was inducted as a member of the NCAA Div. II Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1996. Please join me with a round of APPLAUSE for Mr. Yatabe!!!
Henry E. Hooper 