|
Winning Team; No Support
|
| |
|
by Terry Day
|
| |
| Wrestling at most West Coast schools is a lost activity. Crowded out by basketball, the wrestling program has had
to survive on its own with a limited budget and little student support. |
| |
| But the one difference that SJSU can claim for all other schools on the West Coast is that they have proven themselves
worthy of more attention than they have been getting. |
| |
| On Saturday, the Spartans proceeded to win their 14th consecutive dual meet against Fresno State. With that win
the SJSU grapplers improved their dual meet record to 14-6 overall. |
| |
| Now, you say, they won their last 14, but lost their first 6. How come? |
| |
| The answer is very simple. When wrestling against tough opponents like UCLA and Cal Poly-SLO, it is going to be
a tough night. Both UCLA and Cal Poly are rated tops in the state and full-scholarship men participating in the
wrestling program. |
| |
| This is opposed to SJSU which has only two full-scholarship men and a very meager budget. |
| |
| When you are able to get top wrestlers you have strong teams, but when you have to recruit with a limited budget
and few promises, it is hard to get the people necessary to produce a winning squad. That is the main reason the
Spartans lost the six initial matches. But after meeting Humboldt State, which was 17-0 at the time, things began
to change. |
| |
| "The team decided to get tougher," said coach Terry Kerr, reflecting on the winning streak. "We
had been down and after beating Humboldt that gave us the lift we needed." |
| |
| "The team has finally come around and i don't see how we can stop after going this far. We are the defending
conference champions and i want this one worse than last time, because it will prove to everybody we are a good
team," Kerr added. |
| |
| Top individuals on the Spartan squad are Dan Kida, Jim Lucas, and Oscar Trevino. |
| |
| Kida is the defending PCAA champion at 118 pounds and an All-American by virtue of placing fifth in the NCAA finals
last year. |
| |
| "Danny is the strong, silent leader of the team, he doesn't talk much, but lets his performances on the mat
tell the story," Kerr said. |
| |
| "Jim Lucas is the guy who gets up for a match," Kerr said. "In turn, he'll get everybody up, which
makes it easier to coach. Lucas has a good chance at the PCAA title because he is always in the right frame of
mind." |
| |
| Oscar Trevino is another in a list of proven mat veterans. "Oscar is a gutsy wrestler," Kerr said. "He
is the kind of guy that will give all that he has to win. He never gives up." |
| |
| It is easy to just go and on about the Spartans' hopes for a second PCAA title, but the fact still remains they
will be facing some very tough competition. |
| |
| "If everybody places (points are awarded to the top four finishers) we'll win easily. If we blow it, we'll
come in second," Kerr said confidently. Very confidently. |
| |
|
Click here for .pdf
|
