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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 2-26-79 |
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Wrestling Team Edged By Aggies |
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by Danny Edwards |
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| FRESNO- In one of the closest finishes between two teams in PCAA championship history, SJSU's wrestling team came
out on the short end, losing to Utah State by just 3.75 points here Friday. The last match of the night between heavyweights Guy Heath of San Jose and Steve Kryiopoulas of Utah State decided the team title. Kryiopoulas, last year's champion, ousted Heath 9-6 in a hard-fought contest. Final team scores were: Utah State 81, SJSU 77.75, Fresno State 47, Long Beach State 37.50, and Cal State Fullerton 35.25. One-quarter and half=pints were awarded to a team whose member defeated an opponent by more than eight or ten points. From the outset, SJSU and Utah State established themselves as the teams to beat. The Aggies put eight men into the finals and the Spartans had six. However, SJSU's title hopes were dealt a severe blow when 118-pounder Rusty Lockwood suffered a shoulder separation during his semi-final match against Fresno's Scott Hasson. Lockwood, PCAA champion in 1977, was leading Hasson by two points with only ten seconds left in the match when the injury occurred. Hasson, 126-pound title winner last year, went on to lose to Tracy Moore of Utah with Lockwood ending up third. Moore won the 188-pound title last year. Another tough loss for the Spartans was in the 167-pound final. SJSU's Reggie Thompson appeared to win the championship over Utah State's Mark Harris when Harris was disqualified for receiving his fourth penalty violation. As it turned out, it was a scorer's error and Harris had only three violations called against him. The match ended in a 6-6 tie and Harris went on to win in overtime. The Spartans did have four individual championships: Eddie Baza (126), Robert McDowell (150), James Rey (177), and Duane Harris (190). Baza, a freshman from Sunnyvale High and a third-place finisher in the CCS tournament last year, easily controlled Fullerton's Fritz Egger 15-4, and then Utah's Jeff Knight 13-5. McDowell, ranked second in the nation and voted outstanding wrestler of the tournament, pinned Utah's Rick Thompson two minutes into the match. He then pinned Fresno's Mike Hernandez 2:27 into their match. He was scheduled to face Rob Hoff of Fullerton for the title but Hoff was injured earlier and was unable to continue. McDowell was then awarded the championship. Rey defeated Rob Martin of Fullerton 14-8, then outwrestled last year's champion, beating Rich England of Fresno 16-7 and Jim Dryer of Utah State 10-8. All four Spartans will represent the PCAA in their respective weight classes at the NCAA championship March 8-10 at Iowa State University. Other Spartans: Lee Mills (134) 3rd, Brian Strock (142) 5th, and Mike Snipes (158) 4th. Top three finishers of each weight class: 118: 1. Tracy Moore (USU) 2. Scott Hasson (Fresno) 3. Rusty Lockwood (SJSU) 126: 1. Eddie Baza (SJSU) 2. Jeff Knight (USU) 3. Jon Ball (Fresno) 134: 1. Steve Weight (USU) 2. Hall Dillishaw (Fresno) 3. Lee Mills (SJSU) 142: 1. Mike Elliot (Fullerton) 2. Steve Duroe (USU) 3. Tim Callen (Long Beach) 150: Robert McDowell (SJS) 2. Rob Hoff (Fullerton) 3. Greg Okoorian (Long Beach) 158: Warren Flynn (Fresno) 2. Paul Hamilton (Long Beach) 3. Ron Cota (Fullerton) 167: 1. Mark Harris (USU) 2. Reggie Thompson (SJSU) 3. Scott Sealy (Long Beach) 177: James Rey (SJSU) 2. Joel Sinderlar (USU) 3. Bob Grimes (Long Beach) 190: 1. Duane Harris (SJSU) 2. Jim Dryer (USU) 3. Rich Whitaker (Fullerton) Hwt: 1. Steve Kryiopoulas (USU) 2. Guy Heath (SJSU) 3. Tom Gilbert (Long Beach) |
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