Oregon daily emerald., January 28, 1981, Section B, Image 9

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emerald sports
Wednesday, January 28,1981
Wrestling team juggles promotional stunts
Extra, extra, read all about it — the circus has
come to town!
No, not the circus with clowns, acrobats and
lions — the circus with Oregon’s wrestling team.
With ringmaster Ron Finley at the helm, the
Ducks have created a carnival atmosphere for all
their home wrestling meets during the 1980-81
season.
They haven’t gone as far as to hire midgets on
unicycles or high-flying trapeze artists. But there
is a mat spotlight, rally girls and "halftime” enter
tainment.
“I think we needed to increase interest in our
program,” says Oregon coach Finley. “We need
ed to make it more of a spectator sport. We
wanted to add a little more fan appeal to our home
meets.”
In the past, the number of fans at a Duck
wrestling meet averaged about 200. With the new
additions, the total has gone up — but not dras
tically.
One item new to the program — the mat lamp
— is sure to raise eyebrows on a Ducks grappling
fan who hasn’t been to a meet this year. The lamp,
which cost $300, illuminates the mat while the rest
of McArthur Court remains dark.
“We wanted to spotlight the mat so that the
wrestlers are the only ones in the spotlight,”
Finley says. "It really helps my wrestlers because
they don't look at the crowd because of the lamp
and they can concentrate more on their oppon
ent.
"The lamp will center more of the attention on
the competition, plus it will make the crowd seem
bigger, no matter how many people are there.”
The money for the lamp and the other items
came from the wrestling budget. Another chunk of
the budget went to buy uniforms for the Duck
wrestlers’ first rally squad.
"We think that the rally will add more color to
our meets,” Finley says. “I think that it will really
dress up the meet. We can use them for more than
just rally purposes. They can greet the crowd and
help us on promotion.”
One cheerleader, Susan Ramsdell, a Univer
sity freshman from Forest Grove, found out about
the rally purely by accident.
“I went in and talked to coach Finley and
asked him if he needed a scorekeeper," Ramsdell
says. "He said that he already had one but he said
that he needed rally girls.
“I was a cheerleader in high school, so I
thought it might be fun to try it out."
The halftime entertainment, which doesn’t
draw any money from the budget, should be
different for every home meet. "The entertainment
will range from kids wrestling to circus acts,”
Finley says. “It will be basically anything we can
think of."
The “halftime” show will take place between
the 150-pound match arid the 158-pound match,
lasting between 10 and 15 minutes.
But ringmaster and promoter Finley has one
more event in his bag of tricks — perhaps the
biggest happening of all. On Feb. 7, the Ducks will
meet Brigham Young University in a 7:30 p.m.
matchup at McArthur Court, and Finley has
dubbed the meet “Wrestling Appreciation Night.”
An appreciation night is not an untested idea,
Finley says. "Minnesota draws about the same
crowds we do. Last year they had 1,200 for a meet.
It was their wrestling appreciation day.”
And so the Ducks will give it a try. The effort
involved in the event's promotion involves people
statewide, Finley says.
“It will be a statewide effort. We will advertise
hard, work with the media, write letters to wres
tling coaches, just do whatever it takes.”
The Ducks are fighting a battle with the
almighty dollar. At this time last year, the athletic
department staff, strapped for cash, considered
dropping the wrestling program. This year's $17
student fee helped save the program from the
executioner’s blade.
"If you want to win bad enough you can do
it," said Finley. “We will have a program, and we
will compete.”
Story by Steve Turcotte
Photo by Jody Murray
Oregon wrestling cheerleaders lend their support during
the Oregon State match (above) while Ryan Kelly (below)
has his moment under the spotlight.
Photo by David W Zahn