Les Gutches (Born February 21, 1973) won championships at every level of wrestling outside of the Olympic Games, becoming one of the state’s top competitors in the process.
Gutches grew up in a wrestling family, his father, Les Senior, having won a state title as a youth. Les won three state titles (171, 178 and 191 pounds) at South Medford High between 1989 and ’91 and won a USA Wrestling national title each year as well. He won the FILA Junior World Freestyle competition in 1991.
At Oregon State, Gutches was an All-American in 1994, ’95 and ’96 and won an NCAA title in ’95 and ’96, when he received the Dan Hodge Trophy as the top wrestler in the nation. His record at OSU was 134-10. He was also named Academic All-American three times.
Gutches won the USA Wrestling freestyle national title at 180.5 pounds and represented the U.S. at the Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta. He finished fifth. Les also won the World Championships Gold Medal in 1997 and the bronze in 1999. His other world championships came in the 1998 Goodwill Games, the 1999 Pan American Games and the 1999 FILA Wrestling World Cup.
Following the Olympics, he served as an assistant coach at OSU for three years and then again from 2002-06, where he mentored five All-American wrestlers. Les also served as an assistant for the U.S. National Team at the 2002 Freestyle World Cup. He has also served as Chief Operating Officer for USA Wrestling.
Gutches is a member of the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.