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Spartans Dominated by Wildcats in 30-6 Loss
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by Richard Motroni
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| The same Spartan wrestlers who were so impressive just a few days ago, did a complete about-face against Chico
State Tuesday night at Spartan Gym in a disastrous 30-6 loss. |
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| Many factors contributed to Chico State's domination: more experienced wrestlers, early leads and the ability to
stall for long periods of time near the end of the match. |
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| "Going into tonight's match, i knew that Chico State was a tough, experienced team," said Spartan coach
Hejnal. "They were more aggressive and wrestled smarter." |
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| The characteristics of the first match between SJSU's Andrew Flores and Victor Cobos of Chico State was a quick
indication of bad times ahead for the Spartans. |
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| Cobos took and early lead in the first period with a takedown for two points, while Flores closed the lead to one
point with an escape. |
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| Behind 3-2 with a few seconds left in the third period, Flores had a chance to close in with a reverse takedown
that would have given him the win. Yet, he was unable to make the conversion and Chico State led overall 3-0. |
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| The next match that had SJSU's Joel Chew against Chico's Tony Ramirez, typified the Spartan's plight. |
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| Two quick takedowns gave Ramirez four points at the end of the first period, while Chew could manage only one point
on an escape. |
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| Three more takedowns gave Ramirez a comfortable 10-5 lead going into the third period and it was then that Ramirez
began what would be a long series of stalling tactics by Chico State. |
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| Although Ramirez was penalized a point for constant stalling, it wasn't enough to help Chew's cause, who lost 10-6. |
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| Behind 6-0 in overall competition, the Spartans knew they had to get back into the contest. And they did, thanks
to 134-pounder Greg Eissner who chalked a 9-4 victory over Chico's Joe Brown. |
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| Leading 4-3 in the third period, Eissner made two more takedowns on a hip tackle and a reverse that was more than
enough to post a 6-3 win. |
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| With the overall score 6-3. Spartan Joe Zamlich hoped to defeat Walter Ulrich in the 142-pound match to tie it
up, but lost 9-7. |
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| After Chico State's Dave Watts beat Martin Navarette 6-4 in the 15-pound match, the Spartans found themselves down
12-3. |
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| The 158-pound contest between SJSU's Jeff Profio and Chico State's Mike Box was the evening's most exciting with
the lead changing hands five times. At the start of the third period, Profio had a slim 7-6 lead, when Box tied
the score on an escape. |
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| Profio took back the lead with a takedown, only to see Box tie it up again with a takedown of his own. With only
seconds left, Box attempted a leg takedown, but Profio made an escape to win the match 10-9. |
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| "I knew he would be going for my left leg, so i went for the ride," Profio said. "When he did grab
me, it felt loose, which made the escape easier." |
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| Unfortunately, things went downhill from there for the Spartans. SJSU's Shane Baum lost a 11-6 decision to Brent
Cranig in the 167-pound contest, while Spartan Scott Benson lost his 177-pound match to Joe Rice. |
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| SJSU's Jesus Meceas was moved up to the 190-pound category in hopes of converting a pin. The plan backfired when
Chico State's Mike Beyma pinned Meceas with 53 seconds left in the second period. |
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| The final match of the long night had SJSU's Brent Smith getting pinned with 1:11 left in the first period by Chico
State's Jeff Foster. |
