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Mark Yanagihara

Class of 2017
Ballston Spa Scotties
Masahiko Mark Yanagihara was one of the top wrestlers on the Ballston Spa Scotties team when he was a freshman in 1989 but he did not wrestle a match. Weighing only 75 pounds he was not able to make the required weight for the 91 pound weight class until his sophomore year of 1990. Mark went 22-5 that year and was the second ranked wrestler in the area at 91 pounds.

In 1990 Mark would place in the Eastern NY Freestyle Championships and the National Greco Roman wrestling championship. He would go 27-1 during 1991 season for the Scotties under Coach Vince Johnson and would win his first Section 2 Championship for the Scotties at 91 pounds.

Moving up in weight as a senior in 1992 he would wrestle at 105 and 98 for much of the season before moving down to his desired weight of 91. He would be ranked 4th in the state at 91 lbs. and have a season record of 32-3 against all three weight classes. Yanagihara would then win his second Section 2 Championship in a row. This year in the State Tournament he would find success and wrestle to a 5th place finish.

Mark would wrestle for ATWA (Adirondack Three Style Wrestling) and Albany State. He would win the 1992 New York State Freestyle and Greco Roman Championship. In 1993 he would be a US Olympic Festival Bronze medalist in Greco and in 1994 would win Gold at the National Olympic Festival.

With Albany dropping the wrestling program, Yanagihara would not be deterred and would keep wrestling. In 1998 he would place in the US Nationals for Greco Roman Wrestling and in 2000 and 2001 would win Empire State Games Gold Medals. Mark would be an Open Greco Gold medalist in 2002.

Mark would be a 5 time member of the US National Greco Roman Wrestling team and would be a National Champion. Mark would be inducted in the Section 2 Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2017. Mark was also inducted into the Ballston Spa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.

Mark would also excel in another sport, Speed Skating. Mark would be a US Speed Skating World Champion in 2012 and be would be an Empire State Games winner in the 1000m and 1500m in 2014. He would also be a club coach for the Lake Placid Speed Skating Club. He also continues to coach and teach wrestling in the area.