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Matmen At Bakersfield
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by Dave Meltzer
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| If going against national powerhouse Cal State Bakersfield wasn't bad enough, three key SJSU wrestlers are hampered
by the flu. |
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| The Spartans are at Bakersfield for a 3 pm meet today. |
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| SJSU's Dave Brouhard, Reggie Thompson and Ken Klein have all been bothered by the flu this week. Brouhard and Thompson
are probable participants in today's meet. Klein is a possible participant. |
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| Bakersfield enters today's meet with a 17-2 record. Although technically a Division II school, Bakersfield has
compiled this record against a predominantly Division I Schedule. |
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| Ranked first in the nation in Division II, Bakersfield would probably be rated in the top five in Division I, if
it were eligible. |
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| Bakersfield's record includes victories over five teams that have been ranked in the top 20 this season. |
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| Their only two losses have been to top-rated Iowa, and number three Cal Poly. |
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| The Cal Poly loss was by a slim 22-20 score in a meet which went down to the last match. |
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| Bakersfield is led by three nationally-ranked competitors. |
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| Joe Gonzales is the defending Division II champion at 118-pounds and runner-up in last year's NCAA Division I tournament. |
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| Posting a 38-0 record this year, Gonzales is coming off a victory over second-ranked Jim Zenz at the East-West
All_star Classic held Monday in Iowa. Gonzales will oppose Spartan Eddie Baza, 22-5-1, in the 126-pound match. |
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| "Baza has a good opportunity to test himself going against the nation's best wrestler. Usually, a guy won't
have that kind of opportunity until the NCAA tournament," Spartan coach T.J. Kerr noted. |
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| John Azevedo, the nation's top-ranked 126-pounder, has credentials equally impressive. |
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| Azevedo is also defending Division II champion and runner-up to last year's NCAA tournament. |
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| Boasting a 38-0 record, Azevedo also comes off a win against the second-rated wrestler in the nation in the All-Star
Classic. |
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| He will wrestle at 134 pounds against the Spartans. |
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| Bakersfield 167-pounder, Kevin Dugan, is rated No. 5 in the nation. |
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| The Spartans will probably counter with Dave Brouhard, in what would be a match of two nationally-ranked grapplers.
Dugan, 32-4. finished third in the Division II championships last year. Brouhard, 25-4, is ranked seventh nationally. |
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| "The rest of their team is solid and tough from top to bottom," Kerr said. |
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| "If they have a weakness, it's in their heavier weights, if you can call that a weakness," Kerr added
laughingly. |
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