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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 2-25-87 |
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SJSU Wrestlers Close Out Season |
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by John Bagley |
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| The financial problems are pinned. The opponents are pinned. The regular season in pinned. All that remains for
the 1986-87 SJSU wrestling team are the memories. The memories of Arnold Khanbabian's undefeated season of 21-0-1. The memories of rookie assistant coach Andy Tsarnas training the young team for his first time. The early victory at Stanford. The crucial losses by one point. The long, enduring, sweat-ridden practices. The fund raisers, etc., etc. The only competition left for the Spartans are the Pac-10 championships (March 7) and the NCAA championships (March 19). However, those tournaments are not an easy walk in the park. The Spartan wrestlers will be competing with the best of the Pac-10, a league in which SJSU has been floating around near the bottom of all season. Tsarnas reflected on his team's chances in the upcoming events. "There are some real tough teams in the Pac-10," Tsarnas said. "Hopefully we won't finish last. We should finish ahead of Stanford, but it's really hard to say." In order to reach the NCAA championships in Maryland, the Spartan wrestlers must qualify through exceptional performances in the Pac-10 championships. "I would like to send two or three wrestlers to the NCAAs," Tsarnas said. "Hopefully we will be able to do just that." Despite the season record of 7-10, Tsarnas looks back on this season with optimism. "We have improved greatly in a year's time," Tsarnas said. "When coach (Danny) Kida took over the program last year a real good foundation was established." In Saturday's season finale, the wrestlers ended their regular season on a high note, beating Stanford for the second time this season 27-23. A real problem the coaches will face next year is recruiting. The SJSU squad will be losing five of their top senior wrestlers, Khanbabian included. "Next year we must have an exceptional recruiting year," Tsarnas said. Apparently when the team was dropped from the SJSU athletic program last year (because of financial problems) their recruiting system left as well. According to Tsarnas, the lack of team funding can get quite frustrating. "Take Fresno State for example," Tsarnas said. "Fresno gets nine full ride scholarships. Our program on the other hand, hardly gets anything. It gets awful tough when you raise almost everything yourself." |
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