Iowa's Gable makes underdogs champs

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable proved once again at the 1997 NCAA wrestling championships that he could make national champions out of his wrestlers who were classified as heavy underdogs.

Whitmer kept his hot hand after beating second-seeded Teague Moore of Oklahoma State in the championship semifinals Friday and by defeating No. 5 seed Lindsey Durlacher of Illinois, 5-4, for the title Saturday.

Thanks to two first-period takedowns, Whitmer, who has been a backup for his entire career, was ecstatic after his match. He said by going against his plans of quitting wrestling altogether two years ago he was rewarded with this title in his first and only NCAA appearance.

"I knew my mom wouldn't like the idea of me quitting the team, so my mind was almost made up for me," Whitmer said. "With my brother also wrestling here at Iowa, that sort of curved my decision, too, but nobody in my family is a quitter."

At 190 pounds, Fullhart made believers of collegiate wrestling buffs as he defeated No. 1 Jason Robison of Edinboro, 7-4, in the semifinals and then defending national champ John Kading of Oklahoma, 3-1, in the championship bout in overtime.

"I really needed this. It's been a rough year," Fullhart said. "After last night's match, my mind was strong."

The biggest surprise of the tournament, though, was arguably 177-pound wrestler John Van Doren of Lehigh, who was unseeded.

In the quarterfinals, Van Doren electrified the crowd with a 10-9 decision over No. 1 seed Mark Smith of Oklahoma State. Then, after a semifinal loss to Ohio State's Mitch Clark, Van Doren bounced back to place third. To do so, Van Doren again met and beat Smith, this time, by a 3-2 score.