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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 2-22-84 |
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Monroe Secures Narrow Victory For SJSU |
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by Joe Roderick |
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| Physically, Mike Monroe was in the Spartan Gym Saturday, wrestling in front of the home fans against Cal Poly-San
Luis Obispo's Dennis Townsend. But perhaps, mentally, Monroe, the Spartans' sophomore heavyweight, had drifted back into Bakersfield, where two weeks ago Mike Blaske blasted him 9-0. An undefeated season was on the line back then but Monroe, who needed a four-point decision against Blaske to win, never came close. Final score Cal State-Bakersfield 24, San Jose 17. The score was knotted at 17-17 as Monroe and Townsend battled in the tenth and final match of the night Saturday. No unbeaten season hanging on a thread this time. No, just 600 pairs of eyes peering through the darkness as spotlight lit up the mat. What everybody saw was a match that wasn't really close. Monroe dominated Townsend, winning 6-3. Final score: SJSU 20, Cal Poly 17. Monroe was cool as can be afterwards: "I wasn't really worried," he said. "It was just a matter of going and wrestling well. I wasn't overconfident or anything like that." Although Townsend is a senior, Monroe had the psychological edge entering the match. Monroe had beaten Townsend three times before, but "they were all pretty close," Monroe said. "I contained him pretty well in all three matches. But you never go out there and underestimate your opponent. You never know what can go wrong." Townsend went for the quick takedown after a bit of early-match testing. Townsend shot at Monroe's legs, but Monroe scooted around Townsend for a takedown and a 2-0 lead. "I was a little tight there for a while," said Monroe now 21-13 this year. "It takes me a while for my body to get going." With the score tied 2-2 late in the first period, Monroe escaped from Townsend for a 3-2 lead. Monroe never let the lead slip away thereafter. But later, Monroe did let one verbal pot shot slip off his tongue. "I don't think he had more experience than me," he said. "T.J. Kerr's taught me more in two years than (Cal Poly coach Vaughn) Hitchcock could teach that guy in four years." Who knows, if thing had gone differently two years ago, Monroe might be wearing the green and gold of Cal Poly and telling Kerr he wasn't much of a coach. But Monroe, who finished third in the state as a senior at Woodlands High, chose SJSU over Cal Poly. "Cal Poly offered him a lot," Kerr said. "I drove to his house one day, put the paperwork on the table, pulled out a pen and told him "I think we've got a better program than Cal Poly. Do you want to sign?" "He looked at his dad and said, "What do you think? Looks pretty good...' He signed right there. That was the easiest recruit i ever had." But this was far from the easiest match Kerr had this year. "I was waiting for us to pull away but we never did," he said. Kerr was expecting a semi-tight match against Cal Poly, but this was excruciatingly tight. "That's the way fans like to see wrestling matches," Kerr said. "They're glad it was this close, instead of 26-8." The Spartans entered with a 14-1 dual meet record, having beaten Fresno State 29-15, Friday. Cal Poly, a perennial power, has slipped badly to 8-10 this year. The Mustangs' Mike Provesano wan the opening match 10-3, beating senior Brian Canali for a 3-0 Cal Poly lead. Then Tim Porter (126), replacing injured Al Perez, came up with the biggest win of his unheralded four-year college career, beating Ernie Geronimo 5-4. "Porter doesn't have as much athletic ability as some of the other wrestlers," Kerr said. "I think he's learned a lot about athletics that will help him later on in life." SJSU's Anthony Palomino (134), one the most feared wrestler in town, was pinned in just 31 seconds by Chris DeLong. Palomino, a state champion last year at San Jose's Independence High School, record 37 pins his senior year there. Palomino was pinned for only the first time in his career two weeks ago in Bakersfield. DeLong made it the second time. "He just got caught off guard," Kerr said. "He's a little discouraged right now." While Palomino, the freshman, is still learning the ropes, David Barnes, a senior, is near the end of the line in his career. "I didn't go out in grand style, did i?" Barnes asked after beating Cesar Escadero 11-5 at 142 pounds to cut Cal Poly's lead to 9-6 after four matches. Barnes was wrestling his last match at home against a kid, Escadero who also calls San Jose his home. Escadero wrestled for SJSU his freshman year, before transferring to Cuesta Junior College and then to Cal Poly. "He was tough in the third round," Barnes said. "This is his home as much as it is mine, even more." The Spartans won at 150 and 158, but Cal Poly bagged wins at 167 and 177, taking a 17-13 lead with two matches to go. As expected, senior Andy Tsarnas (190) 33-4 and ranked sixth in the nation, whipped Jeff Steward 11-3 to pull the Spartans even at 17-17 with a match to go. Things weren't quite as tense Friday against Fresno State. SJSU took a slight lead after the 142-pound bout and slowly slipped away. The highlights of the match were Darryl Pope's defeat of Robert Juarez and a guy nicknamed The Cat, who makes a point of placing a toy bird at the edge of the mat. His name is Sylvester (The Cat) Carver, a junior transfer from Chabot College in Hayward. Carver, 42-3 and ranked fourth in the nation at 167 pounds, gobbled up Chuck Gibbins 10-2. Before every match, Carver puts a toy replica of the cartoon character Tweety Bird on the edge of the mat. "He's been with me ever since high school," Carver said of Tweety. "It keeps me up. It keeps me motivated. It reminds me that i'm Sylvester the cat, and my opponent's Tweety Bird." Pope didn't think his match against Juarez was for the birds. He pinned Juarez in 1:34, to improve his record to 23-9-1. |
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