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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 2-24-76 |
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Fourth Straight Crown For SJSU Wrestlers |
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by Wayne Mize |
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| The SJSU wrestling team won its fourth straight PCAA championship Saturday by edging heavy favorite CSU Fullerton
83.5-79.5. As the buzzer sounded ending the match, head coach T.J. Kerr was being carried around the Spartan Gym on the shoulders of heavyweight coach Doug Holt, pandemonium reigned supreme. It was several minutes later before the cheering crowd, estimated at 500, left the gym after swarming the SJSU wrestlers. CSU Fresno finished third with 52.75 points and CSU Long Beach placed last in the four team meet with 31 points. The hero turned out to be SJSU judo team member, Brewster Thompson. SJSU led Fullerton by one point going into the final match when Thompson responded to the chants of "Brewster, Brewster, Brewster" and defeated Dick Ornelas of Fullerton 9-6 in the heavyweight class. Brewster, 205 pound WCAA judo champion, had been practicing with the wrestling team for several weeks and got his chance when heavyweight Brian Allen moved to 190. SJSU had three more individual champions, including two freshmen, Mike Applegate and Randy Fleury. Applegate took the 126-pound class by outpointing Marton LaCasse of Fullerton 4-2. Fleury defeated Roy Moz of CSU Fresno 10-3 at 150 pounds. Hank Tillman, also won a title for SJSU by topping Glen Jones of Long Beach 6-5. Applegate, when asked how it felt to be a champion as a freshman, responded, "I don't know what to say. I feel great." Head coach T.J. Kerr was named PCAA Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Kerr had nothing but plaudits for his wrestlers, "This is the youngest team we have ever had and they're always optimistic." Two defending SJSU champions were defeated in their attempt to repeat by Fullerton wrestlers. Rudy Guevara was outpointed by Brad Wendt 9-6 at 118 pounds, and Greg Hill lost to J.D. Hawkins 7-4 in the 134 pound class. The Spartans, who placed eight wrestlers in the finals, also lost to the Titans in the 167 and 190 pound weight classes. Jim Rey was defeated by Ken Kalovich 9-3, and Brian Allen was topped by Ron Weber 7-4. Fullerton also won the 177 pound match when Dan Lewis pinned Robert Parker of Fresno with 2:43 left in the match. The Most Valuable Wrestler award went to Kevin Clark of Fresno who outpointed defending champion Wally Clark of Long Beach 6-5 in the 158 pound class. The SJSU wrestling finalists will compete in the Far West Regionals at Northern Colorado University of Friday and Saturday. |
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