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SJSU Faces Gators
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by John Ormsby
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| Most Division II wrestling coaches would be wary of loading their schedules with Division I opponents.. |
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| Not San Francisco State's Lars Jensen. Eight of his team's 13 dual meets are with Division I schools, and his opener
may be the toughest test of the season. |
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| His Gators take on SJSU tonight at 7:30 in Spartan Gym. |
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| Jensen doesn't shy away from dual meets with Division I schools. In fact, he can't afford to. |
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| "We have to wrestle these bigger schools because there's only so many Division II schools we can schedule,"
he said. "It makes for a poor record, looking strictly at wins and losses, but the experience helps us. We're
unbeaten in our conference over the last two years." |
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| The Gators finished 6-9 last year and dropped a 28-6 decision to the Spartans in the last dual meet. Tonight's
meet will be the first official meet of the season for the Gators. Their only action so far came in a win against
the SFS alumni. |
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| Jensen's 1983 Gator team is a mix of youth and experience. San Francisco returns lettermen at 150, 158, 167, 177,
and heavyweight classes. But Jensen had to do a major overhaul on the lighter weight classes. |
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| As a result, Jensen will start two freshmen, Cliff Lentz and Kerry Sako, at 118 and 126 pounds, and sophomore Carlos
Levexier will get the nod at 134 pounds. Junior Steve Gilliam will start at 142 pounds. |
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| "We lost quite a few wrestlers to graduation," Jensen said, "and i had to do some recruiting to
fill those lighter weight classes. We came up with some good people, they're just a little green." |
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| On the other side of the coin, Jensen has every reason to be confident in his heavier wrestlers. Heavyweight Morris
Johnson is the leader of the Gator squad. Johnson, off to a 6-1 start, looks like he's ready to duplicate last
year's success. He placed second in Division II last year, and he took first in the Humboldt Invitational earlier
this season. |
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| Johnson suffered a slight knee injury in last weekend's Caesar's Palace Invitational in Las Vegas. He finished
eighth in the tournament with a 3-1 mark after suffering strained ligaments in a bout with Bakersfield's Mike Blaske,
the eventual tournament champion. Jensen lists his heavyweight as probable for tonight's meet. |
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| The Gators also return lettermen Bobby Gonzalez (150), Alan Lawrence (158), and Andrew Steffen (167). All three
were conference runner-ups last season. Herb Weller also returns for his second season at 177 pounds. |
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| "It's going to be tough for us," Jensen said. "Last year we only won two bouts. The experience will
come in handy when we start our conference meets." |
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