|
Grapplers Place Fourth; Best Tournament Finish
|
| |
|
by Ray Morrison
|
| |
| The Spartans' wrestling squad turned in the best performance in its own tournament ever by placing fourth out of
11 teams in the annual Spartan Invitational Saturday in Spartan Gym. |
| |
| Paced by the first place finishes of heavyweight Donnell Jackson and 158-pounder, Tim Kerr, SJSU showed it west
coast counterparts that it is not going to be a patsy this season. |
| |
| Jackson's win is more impressive when once considers that he has just recovered from an operation on his back this
past summer and he wasn't supposed to wrestle until next semester. |
| |
| The red-haired junior grappler pinned five of the seven foes he faced, including a pin over Richard Newton of San
Franciosco State in the final match. |
| |
| Jackson has apparently returned to the form that led him to the NCAA semi-finals last spring. Newton was ready
to pin him, and then Jackson with a sudden surge of strength, turned Newton over for the pin. |
| |
| Teammate Kerr took four of the five matches he wrestled , including an 8-5 decision over Mark Racousty for his
title. |
| |
| Their performances were not enough, though, as PCAA member Fresno State took tourney honors with 23 points. SJSU
had 11 points in its fourth place finish. |
| |
| "We concede Fresno will be a powerhouse in the conference this year," said Spartan wrestling coach
Terry Kerr. |
| |
| In over 300 individual matches that took place, SJSU had two other grapplers place. |
| |
| Bill Coine (150) placed third in his division and Oscar Trevino (134) finished fourth in his group. On Thursday
and Friday, SJSU tangled with Humboldt State and Cal State Bakersfield in dual meet competition. |
| |
| SJSU lost to Humboldt 26-17 and came back the next night to down Bakersfield by a forfeit. |
