Raiders Collect National, Conference Honors
Three SOU wrestling legends are headed to the NWCA NAIA Hall of Fame, while the Raiders’ athletic training staff earned top Cascade Conference recognition
ASHLAND, Ore. – Southern Oregon University athletics received two major honors this week, with three Raider wrestling standouts selected for national Hall of Fame induction and SOU’s athletic training staff recognized as the best in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Former Raider coach and wrestler Mike Ritchey, four-time national champion Brock Gutches, and three-time national champion Mitchell Lofstedt have been selected for the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s NAIA Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
Of the five individuals named to this year’s NWCA NAIA Hall of Fame class, three have direct ties to Southern Oregon. Ritchey, Gutches and Lofstedt will be formally inducted Aug. 1 during the annual NWCA Convention in Baltimore, Maryland.
“Mike, Brock and Mitch are legends here at SOU,” SOU Director of Athletics Matt Sayre said. “Their induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame is well-deserved, a great honor for them, and an immense source of pride for SOU and our great wrestling tradition. To have them inducted together is a unique tribute to their combined impact on NAIA wrestling.”
Ritchey’s career at SOU spanned four decades as both an athlete and coach. He became the school’s first four-time All-American while competing from 1984 to 1988, later joining the coaching staff before serving as head coach from 1995 to 2020.
Under Ritchey, the Raiders won an NAIA team championship, an NWCA dual championship, 22 individual national titles, 14 conference or regional championships, and 235 duals. He also coached 136 All-America performances and earned two NAIA Coach of the Year awards.
Gutches became the first NAIA wrestler in 14 years, and just the eighth in history, to win four consecutive national titles when he completed his run in 2015. Competing at 174 pounds, he finished his SOU career with a 103-9 record, including a perfect 17-0 mark at the NAIA Championships.
Lofstedt won national titles at 125 pounds in 2010, 2012 and 2013 after finishing second in 2009. He left SOU as the program’s all-time leader in wins, with a 156-19 record, and wins by fall, with 86.
During the Gutches and Lofstedt eras, Ritchey guided the Raiders to five second-place finishes at the NAIA Championships.
“This year's class represents everything the NAIA Hall of Fame stands for: sustained excellence, leadership, and a deep commitment to the next generation of wrestlers,” NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer said. “Each of these inductees has left an indelible mark on the sport, and we're honored to welcome them in Baltimore this August.”
Southern Oregon University’s athletic training staff received the Cascade Conference Athletic Training Staff of the Year award. Photo courtesy of SOU Athletics.
SOU also received the Cascade Conference Athletic Training Staff of the Year award, the second time the Raiders have earned the honor since Dr. Ross Dexter was promoted to Head Athletic Trainer in 2022.
The award was voted on by the CCC Association of Student Athletes. SOU’s full-time athletic training staff includes Dexter, Associate Athletic Trainer Lauren Oxford, Athletic Trainers Keenan Lotts and Kyler Wilkerson, and Faculty Athletic Trainer Dr. Michael Paddack.
“This is outstanding and well deserved,” Sayre said. “Along with our student interns, the group is so conscientious and hard working on behalf of all student-athletes.”
Dexter, an SOU alum who returned to the university in 2021, now serves as Assistant Athletic Director for Health & Performance. He leads the staff’s work with basketball, cross country, and track and field.
Oxford works with Raider football, Lotts works with soccer and softball, Wilkerson works with beach volleyball, volleyball, and wrestling, and Paddack works with golf, visiting graduate students, and SOU’s Health and Exercise Science Department.
“It is an honor to be named the CCC Athletic Training Staff of the Year, especially as it is voted on by the CCC Association of Student Athletes,” Dexter said. “The conference has some of the finest Athletic Training staffs in all of small college sports, as is evidenced by the level of inter-institutional collaboration we see throughout each academic year. Winning this award for SOU is a reflection of excellent institutional support across the board, a fantastic staff of athletic trainers, our visiting graduate student clinical education program, collaborative efforts with our Health and Exercise Science department, and superb support from our medical partners.”
Dexter will now be put forward as the CCC’s nominee for NAIA Head Athletic Trainer of the Year. That award will be announced in the fall.
Cover image: Southern Oregon University wrestling legends Mike Ritchey, Brock Gutches and Mitchell Lofstedt have been selected for the NWCA NAIA Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Photo courtesy of SOU Athletics.
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