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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, March 27, 2002

HOMEGROWN REPORT
Ex-Moanalua High wrestler Rufo no longer stone cold

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Lifelong Hawai'i resident Chris Rufo wanted to go to college where it snowed when he graduated from Moanalua High in 1997. Nobody told him snow was really cold.

Chris Rufo of North Dakota State is an NCAA Division II All-American wrestler.

North Dakota State University

Rufo also wanted to go to a college with an outstanding wrestling program. Nobody told him he might have to wait four years behind All-Americans and national champions before he would get his turn on the mat.

Rufo got really cold and patiently awaited his turn. He also overcame two injuries in his senior year at North Dakota State and emerged as an All-American with a fourth-place finish this month in the NCAA Division II national championships.

This season, his first as a starter, began sensationally for Rufo in his 184-pound weight class. He beat both the preseason No. 3-ranked Division I wrestler (Damien Hahn of Minnesota) and the then-No. 4 ranked Division I wrestler (Travis Pascoe of Nebraska) at the Las Vegas Invitational Dec. 1.

But fate wasn't finished testing Rufo. First he hurt an elbow, forcing him to miss two matches, and when he came back for the National Duals at Ohio State Jan. 19, he tore cartilage in his left knee. It was repaired with arthroscopy but he was out about a month and never fully regained his mobility.

Still, Rufo was good enough to amass a 23-9 record and reach the Division II national final four.

"He is a very different style of wrestler from what I'm used to seeing," coach Bucky Maughan said. "Because of his judo background, he uses foot sweeps a lot and has great hips.

Chris Rufo overcame a change in environment and a slow start for a strong senior season.

North Dakota State University

"We don't even know what he's going to do, so I don't know how an opponent would."

Rufo says four years of practicing daily with All-Americans and national champions paid off.

"It pushes you harder to do more and become better," Rufo said. "I picked up on things slowly. It was a lot of hard work, but it paid off in the end."

Before this season, Rufo got on the mat in dual meets about once a year but got to wrestle in tournaments. He showed his potential in his redshirt freshman year when North Dakota State's starter was injured and Rufo subbed. He defeated a wrestler from Moorhead State whom he later learned was an All-American. Rufo's career record was 44-18.

Rufo is finishing up a zoology major at North Dakota State and looking for a medical school "somewhere warm, California or Hawai'i. Five years of cold is more than enough.

"It's the second day of spring," Rufo said Friday, "and the temperature is in single digits and there's snow on the ground."

He hopes to become a pediatrician. Somewhere that's warm.

TAKEDOWNS: Chris Rufo's older sister, Delaida, graduated from North Dakota State last year and his younger brother, Delfin, is a junior there. ... "It's a good education for the money you pay," Rufo said. ... His parents, Delfin and Aida Rufo of Salt Lake, came to the national championships at Parkside, Wis. "It was awesome, the first time they saw me wrestle in college," Rufo said, "and the first time my folks saw snow. We had snowball fights." ... Rufo's mother brought lei for the entire team, which finished second in Division II after winning two straight championships. ... Rufo's senior wrestling season at Moanalua High was affected by injury, too. He broke his right femur in football, but recovered in time to win the OIA Western Division and OIA wrestling championships and finish second in the state behind Spencer Sequin of St. Louis at 145 pounds (he gained 40 pounds in college). ... Rufo started judo at Salt Lake Judo Club when he was 10 and won a national age-group championship. ... He had a 3.7 grade-point average at Moanalua.