| While preparing for the upcoming season, several SJSU wrestlers look to gain valuable experience competing in the
Great Plains Freestyle Championships at the University of Nebraska tomorrow and Saturday, according to SJSU coach
T.J. Kerr. |
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| "It's good for them because they get a chance to travel and see different people," Kerr said. "It's
really a cultural thing." |
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| Another advantage of the tournament is that it exposes the wrestlers to top competition from all over the country. |
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| "A lot of Olympic hopefuls will be wrestling," Kerr said. |
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| The only disadvantage is that the whole wrestling team cannot attend. |
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| "It's they who supply most of the money and i help. The wrestlers pay for the flight and their meals while
they are there and i use money from the wrestling budget to pay for the motel," Kerr said. |
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| Since the whole wrestling team is unable to make the trip, those wrestlers and coaches do so as the SJSU wrestling
club rather than the SJSU wrestling team, which enables the coaches to compete. |
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| The wrestlers going are: assistant coaches Kevin Hejnal and Tilhamer Toth-Fejel, redshirt Guy Heath, and Spartan
wrestlers David Barnes, Doug Stewart, Rick Frye, Jerry Morrison, Denis Shea, Jon Silver, Eddie Baza, and Brian
Canali. |
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| "The tournament is good for me because i pick up some good techniques," Kerr said. "It's good for
the wrestlers because it is a major level tournament and they face top competition." |
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| Other colleges represented are Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma State...all top wrestling institutions in the NCAA,
according to Kerr. |
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| "This is good exposure for the team," Kerr said. "The sports facility at Nebraska is unbelievable." |
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| All the wrestlers who participate in the tournament will be eligible for the United States AAU team that will travel
to the Soviet Union for the Tbilsi Tournament in January. |
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| A victory in this tournament does not automatically qualify a wrestler, though. A selection committee headed by
national AAU coach Stan Dziedzic will make the final selections, according to the AAU. |
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| Following this weekend's tournament, the Spartans, who finished fourth in last year's tournament, begin preparing
for their first dual meet of the season against Chico State, Nov. 15 in Spartan Gym. |
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| "We have the capability to take the conference," Kerr said, looking ahead. "We wrestle over our
heads, against people who recruit nationally. It's a tough challenge. But we have a lot of kids who like to work
hard. They have a lot of discipline and togetherness." |
