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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 12-3-76 |
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Grapplers Lose to Berkeley |
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by Ron L. Coverson |
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| Heavyweight wrestler Brien Allen must have turned in his sleep Wednesday night over what might have transpired
that night if the SJSU sophomore had had but two extra seconds of time in the second period of his match. Two more seconds would have allowed Allen time to pin UC Berkeley's George Moskowits legitimately, which would have given he and his SJSU cohorts a dramatic victory over a strong Golden Bear team. As it was, however, the Spartans' comeback bid fell microns short as CAL hung on to take a thrilling 23-15 decision over a scrappy SJSU wrestling team before an avid crowd of 200-plus Wednesday night at Spartan Gym. "Brien went for the pin instead of a takedown and the guy just slipped away in time," head coach Terry Kerr said of Allen's pin attempt which would have given the Spartans a 21-20 upset win over the favored Bears. "It's a hard way to go but CAL had some super freshmen and JC transfers who really did the job tonight," assistant coach Doug Ho lt said. "But we have some tough freshmen (three) ourselves and they are going to be strong as hell in the years to come," he added. The Spartans wove their own tangled web early in this meet, however, as they fell behind 20-3 after the first six matches in which the lightweights had their share of problems. Rusty Lockwood, who has been battling a virus for the past two weeks, struggled to make his weight (118) before the meet and it showed as the blond freshman was shut out by the Bears' Andy Gonzales 7-0 in the opening match. Senior 126-pound Rudy Guevara didn't fare much better as he battled back after falling behind to Cal's Carlos Rodriguez 8-3 in the second period, only to lose 10-7 when Rodriguez garnered two escapes for the needed points. "I was really disappointed with our 118 and 126 and at one point i was going to pull them off the mat," a disgruntled Kerr said following the defeat. "You don't get points for stalling and there is just no excuse for that. Besides that, it was a super meet and it was good to see the large turnout," he added. The fan reaction went from a mildly interested hum to an enthusiastic chorus of cheers as the Spartans began their comeback trek on the strength of the heavyweights. Following sophomore Randy Fleury's strong effort in a losing cause, David Brouhard, James Rey, and Duane Harris put the grapplers in high gear with gutty performances. After falling behind 4-3 to the Bears' Blake Yeaman, midway through the match, Brouhard suddenly exploded on the Cal sophomore with a brilliant reverse takedown that gave him a 5-4 lead with one minute left in the second period. Momentum flowing, Brouhard held of the tough Cal grappler to score a 9-8 victory, narrowing the overall team score to 20-6. Rey's match was typical of Brouhard's, as the sophomore wrestler in the 177-pound class took control in the final period and rode the Bears' Jim Kendall to a 10-5 decision. In one of the better matches of the evening, Duane Harris (190) broke open a tightly contested match in the second period with an excellent roll move that stunned his Bear opponent. Seconds later Harris positioned junior Ken Schneider for the kill and pinned the Cal man with a minute and a half in the third period. "Duane has been starting slow and then coming on strong and that's what happened tonight. It was like he couldn't make up his mind whether or not to give up. I'm glad he came on the way he did," Kerr said. Harris' victory set the stage for Allen's near heroics, but it was not to be for the "cardiac kids" of SJSU. "The heavyweights did a good job and it's rough considering the poor performances of the lightweights," Kerr concluded. This Saturday the Spartans will host the Mumby Invitational tournament which will include 12 of the top universities in the nation. |
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