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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 11-20-86 |
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Wrestling Squad Pins Stanford In Opener |
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by Len Gutman |
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| The SJSU wrestling team, in its first match since being reinstated by university president Gail Fullerton on April
8, beat the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday in Palo Alto. "A win over Stanford is something to be proud of," said assistant wrestling coach Andy Tsarnas. "We went up there after all the problems and controversy we'd been through and we knew they were a good team, at least they were last year." The Spartans jumped out to an early lead, winning the first five weight classes. "Right then we knew that we had something good going," Tsarnas said. "We tied the next weight class and lost the next three, but we had gained a big lead." It was a conference win, since this year the Pac-10 combined with the PCAA in wrestling. "The conference is even tougher now with teams like Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, and Stanford," Tsarnas said. "If we finished in the middle of the Pac-10 i would feel very good about that. I think they are capable of it." Tsarnas said the wrestlers that did really well against Stanford were Dave Love (142), Arnold Khanbabian (126), and Matt Toves (150). "Those three were our key weights and they were the tops in hat meet particularly," Tsarnas said. Toves, who beat Stanford All-American Scott Wiggin, said the team has a good attitude. "We have a lot of returning seniors, and knowing it's our last year, we're putting 100 percent more into it than we did last year," Toves said. "It's amazing how much harder we're working now than last season." Khanbabian said he felt good about his win. "I was wrestling up a weight, so i was giving up a lot of weight, but i felt really good," he said. "Our team, conditioning-wise, is twice as good as last year." The team is still a little weak in its upper weight classes which hurt the team last season. The team was 2-11-1 in the 1985-86 season. A projected $250,000 deficit in the men's athletic budget persuaded the university to cut the program last semester, but the team raised enough money to prompt Fullerton to reinstate it. "There's pressure on them to do well, not so much because they were cut, but to gain support," Tsarnas said. "People are going to support a winning team." The definitely feels the pressure. "It's a win or die situation and a lot of the guys know it," Khanbabian said. "The tension is there because we still want there to be a program after we graduate." Toves said the team isn't thinking about the past. "That's not why we're winning, we're doing it for the team," Toves said. "We want to win. It's no fun to lose." |
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