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. I did not know at the time that he was living in Wilsonville, Oregon, a mere 20 miles away from his alma mater, Portland State University.
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. Anderson “outlasted me,” 3-2 in overtime after ending regulation tied, 6-6. Losing a close match by a point in overtime is hard, coming in 2nd place was a nice consolation prize. 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 from Michigan State in the University Division finals. Despite being up by five points with two takedowns and an escape in the first and second periods, Anderson came back and topped me by a 9-5 final score.
Uncharacteristically, Rick 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 two other small schools, Lock Haven State and Cal Poly.
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 the Wrestling Mat
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.
Off the Wrestling Mat
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 strong 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 for many years.
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” (pictured above) for long-standing service to Scotland. The framed award was delivered to the Yatabe’s during Covid-19, by the Friends of MacDonald, from the Scottish Samurai.
December 13, 2025
At the ninth annual Rick Sanders Invitational wrestling tournament, held at Lincoln High School in Portland, OR, Hooper wrote an introduction for three guests and each of whom were PSU legends: Marlin Grahn, Rick Sanders, and Masaru Yatabe. Below is the speech Henry spoke about Mas Yatabe over the intercom to the crowd.
“Masaru was born in 1944, in Tatara Village in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. After spending one year at Waseda University in Tokyo, Mas transferred to Portland State University in the US in 1964. The year before (1963), his high school coach, Mr. Kubota, had arrived in Oregon with the Japanese High School Cultural exchange. Coach Kubota wanted to find a “host family” for Yatabe to live with in Portland. He selected the home of Grant High School wrestling coach, Mr. Robert Shewbert, who lived with his family of five in NE Portland. From that East-side location Mas Yatabe communted daily to Portland State as a dedicated student / athlete. ‘The Shewbert’s were my second family,’ he said. ‘They had a son close to my age, who showed me around. We all got along well and their home was my safe haven.'”
“Over his US 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, ending on a positive note, 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 and into the Portland State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. Please join me with a round of APPLAUSE for Mr. Masaru Yatabe!!!”
Fast Forward and Backwards
In December, 2025, Mas Yatabe had a lunch conversation at the Multnomah Athletic Club with Hooper and Jeff Putterman. During that lunch Mas Yatabe mentioned that when Dale Anderson visited Japan, Mas’s parents opened their home for his time in the country. It was a grand gesture for the two fierce competitors. Mas brought along a picture of his All-Star wrestling team (above), which he had carefully wrapped in construction paper.
After a question about training, he painstakingly went through the mental and physical preparation his high school teammates endured for the sport; for example, beside the rigorous reading of literature, study of science and mental-computational math, every day of the year (365 days) the wrestlers would run from the high school to the top of the Soshinzan Kosen-ji Temple, known throughout the prefecture for its tall steps, and back to the school. There was no such thing as a “day off” from wrestling. And boys also spent at least two of their three hours of daily team practice on takedowns.
While wrestling on the mat is important for a “complete wrestler,” Yatabe and his coaches emphasized takedowns. Every Japanese wrestler is an all-around technician and tough as nails on his feet. In one of the latest Japan-Oregon High School Wrestling Cultural Exchanges (2023), all but one of the victorious Japanese wrestlers pinned his Oregon opponent and executed a standing back flip, before shaking his opponent’s hand and having his hand raised by the referee. Impressive Japanese athletes exist well beyond the Yatabe era.
Today, Mas Yatabe, with his multiple All-American seasons, is often mentioned today alongside other pioneering Japanese collegiate wrestlers of that era, most of whom attended Oklahoma State. For example, brothers Tadaaki Hatta and Masaaki Hatta, and Yoshiro Fujita, all of whom wrestled under coach Myron Roderick at Oklahoma State. Tadaaki Hatta was an NCAA Champion and runner-up, before winning the World Championships in 1962. And Masaaki Hatta, who was a three time NCAA finalist and one time winner (1962) and silver medal winner in freestyle. Perhaps the best wrestler of all, Yojiro Uetake, also from Oklahoma State, won three NCAA championships and finished with a perfect 58-0 record in the US. (He also won two Olympic Gold medals for Japan.) More recent Japanese stars, such as Masanosuke Ono at Penn State, were part of the wave of Japan-to-NCAA cultural exchanges, and they were all winners.
Masaru Yatabe – Personal Life
Masaru Yatabe met the devoted Scotlander, Alice MacQueen, in the US and they married in 1969. The couple remained in the States and in 2010 Masaru became a naturalized citizen. According to his family, Masaru had a plethora of talents and personal qualities beyond wrestling: he was a businessman, a consultant, an avid golfer, a gifted singer, a great dancer, a performer, stand-up entertainer, an artist, a skilled photographer, a newspaper editor, a prolific storyteller, an entrepreneur, THE best wrestling official ever, an elite athlete, and a master technician. Lastly he was a kind and gentle soul.
Masaru was well-known and admired in the Japanese-American Community locally in Portland, regionally in the Pacific Northwest, and nationally. In 2023, the Minister of Foreigh Affairs of Japan, Yoshimasa Hayashi, presented Masaru with the Certificate of Commendation for his outstanding efforts to promote mutual understanding and strengthen the friendship between Japan and the United States. Masaru cared deeply for his community and, as evidenced by his awards and enduring relationships, he valued fostering long-lasting connections.
At the time of his passing, Yatabe was 81 years old. He is survived by his loving wife Alice MacQueen Yatabe (57 years of marriage), his remarkable children, Arisu Lisa, Masaru Michael and Kohzo Mark, 10 wonderful grandchildren, and a multitude of personal and professional friends. According to his family, “Mas had the very best smile!” He was a beloved Teammate, Referee, Husband, Father, Brother, Uncle, Friend and “Papa.”
Throughout his remarkable and extraordinary life, Mas always remained unassuming and humble, and when asked, would simply refer to himself as “a by-product of the first Japan-Oregon High School Wrestling Cultural Exchange in 1963.” For that exchange, Oregon and the United States have been richer places for the rest of us to live.
Henry E. Hooper 