|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 2-15-84 |
||
|
|
||
|
Barnes, Palomino: Similar, Yet Different |
||
|
By Joe Roderick |
||
| David Barnes came to SJSU five years ago with an imaginary sign hung around his neck: "I'm the state champ
from Watsonville High. I went 39-2." Barnes left the sign on as he stepped onto the mat for the first time as a freshman in 1979. So you think you know what happened to Barnes? Piece of cake, you say. He'll have no problem fending off the challenge of the Spartan seniors, right? Wrong. "I got pounded every time i went on the mat," says Barnes, the Spartans' 142-pounder. Soon enough, Barnes was no longer considered the state champ. The sign had been discarded. Barnes was simply another body out there. Someone who was used as a rag doll by the Spartan toughies. There's another freshman these days at SJSU. But the label around his neck is even more prominently displayed. The sign reads: One-time state champ, one-time runnerup. A 49-0 record last year." The seniors, Barnes one of them now, were ready to bring the kid down to earth. "What's the name? Anthony Palomino, you say. State champ, hmmm, sounds interesting. Let's see what you got, kid." Palomino, the 134-pounder, has stood his ground, though. No moping around the mats with this guy. He's fared better than Barnes did as a freshman. Palomino has even gotten a few pats on the back. "Hey, they respect him," Spartan coach T.J. Kerr says. "He's won a few meets for us. This is the tale of two wrestlers, Barnes and Palomino. Both are former high school state champs. Both have had to adjust to wrestling on the college level. And both have had to swallow their pride on occasions. But there are differences. Barnes' road to respectability has been impeded by many obstacles. State high school champion didn't mean much in the eyes of bruisers named Eddie Baza, a two-time All-American at SJSU, and John Middlestead, who qualified for the National AAU freestyle championships. Baza and Middlestead had the credentials already--the college credentials. Barnes was simply used as shark bait every practice. "When i first started wrestling Ed, he kind of took it easy on me," Barnes says. "But once the season got started, he was tough as a nail." Barnes was simply a fill-in then. He'd wrestle a meet here, a meet there. Never when there was anything on the line. He went 11-12 that year, and questions were beginning to be asked. "I wondered if it was worth it," Barnes says. "But i'd look around and see everybody else working hard, and i'd stick it out. I kind of had to stick it out. I was getting a scholarship because i was a good wrestler. I was getting a free education." Barnes was also getting educated on the mat. The course: Survival 101. "It was tough," Barnes says. "But i was losing a lot of one-point matches. If i were losing 10-5 every time i'd wonder what i was doing out there. But when you're losing 7-6, you wonder "how'd i let him get seven points. Next time i'll get the seven and he'll get the six." Palomino hasn't suffered as much his freshman year. But by no means has this been a pleasant season. A 20-11-1 mark is quite as self-satisfying as 49-0. "It's been hard," Palomino says. "It's been a real head trip, i guess. In high school i didn't need to be real strong. I just used my skills. Now you use the same move you used in high school and it doesn't work. You can't just make a move now. You have to think about it." There have been lows for Palomino this year that he has never had to endure before. Take the Cal State Bakersfield loss earlier this month for instance. Bakersfield's Steve Markey had Palomino in a cradle hold with time running out in the first period. Palomino thought he would be saved by the bell. Referee Frank Kirby thought otherwise, slamming his hand on the mat with two seconds left in the period. "I don't think my shoulders were down," Palomino says. "I have never been pinned in my life. When it happened, i couldn't believe it." Friends and high school teammates couldn't believe it, either. "People read in the newspaper that Palomino got pinned against Bakersfield," Kerr says. "They thought it was a mistake. They thought, 'What happened, did he slip? Did he get injured?' They couldn't conceive of Palomino getting pinned." But pinning is part of the sport. It can happen to anyone, even a senior like Barnes. Coincidentally, Barnes was pinned nearly five minutes after Palomino by Bakersfield's Jesse Reyes, who may be among the top five in the nation. "I went for the big move," Barnes says, "I just got caught. If i had played it safe, it would have been close. That really hurt the team. I'm one of the guys on the team that isn't supposed to get pinned." There was a time when Barnes' confidence could fit into a thimble. Now, it couldn't be housed in the Empire State Building. Following a lukewarm freshman year came an 18-8-1 record and the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference 126-pound title in 1980-81. Barnes was then redshirted during the 1981-82 season. "They wanted to redshirt Ed (Baza), but he wanted to graduate, so they redshirted me instead," Barnes says, "That was a very good year for me. That gave me an extra year to improve." Barnes went 3-10 last year, winning the PCAA 142-pound title, while claiming his opening match at the NCAA championships. This year, Barnes is 26-5 and won't have any problems getting up for the post-season championships. "I'm looking to place at the nationals," Barnes says. "I've been there before. I know what to expect. I just got to do it." It's not as clear-cut whether Palomino will make the nationals. "He's got the potential," Kerr says. "But the world is full of guys with potential. If he continues to progress, he could easily make it." But even if Palomino doesn't qualify, some feel he shouldn't hang his head and let it eat at him like a cancer. "He's had a great season," Barnes says. "Hell, he's only a freshman and he's wrestling for the ninth-ranked team in the country. When i was a freshman, i was getting the bleep kicked out of me. He's got nothing to pout about." |
||
