SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 3-13-84                  Pope, Jones Gain All-American Status    by Joe Roderick   Darryl Pope was a no-show yesterday in T.J. Kerr's wrestling workout. But there may be extenuating circumstances involved. Pope had traveled to New Jersey and back within five days, slaying several giants at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. He left San Jose a mere untested sophomore. He returned an All-American. "I'm going to have ask him about this," Kerr Joked. "There are no prima donnas on this team. By Wednesday, he'll be working on next season. This season is history." But it may take Pope until next season to realize the magnitude of his feat. "He just caught fire," Kerr said. "it was fantastic. He had a lot of people talking." Marvin Jones, the Spartans' 177-pounder, had one coach kicking objects after one match. Jones also returned an All-American, finishing eighth. Pope, Jones, and three other Spartans qualified for the NCAAs at East Rutherford, NJ. Of the five wrestlers, Kerr was concerned that the inexperienced Pope would be engulfed by the high-pressured atmosphere of the nationals. But as it turned out, it was Pope who did the eating. "He's the guy who had never been there before," Kerr said. "I told him before we got there, "Don't think the championships are bigger than you." "He told me he had seen these big guys before at Caesar's Palace Invitational and the Midlands. He saw them and he knew he was capable of beating them." Pope also saw another familiar face in the stands, his mother Janie. "She flew all night to make it to New Jersey," Kerr said. "Darryl comes from Escalon (a small town near Modesto). The people in the community raised the money to buy her a plane ticket, a hotel room and some money to spend. It came to about $1000." Pope didn't let his mother down, wrestling like a wildman. During his run through the nationals, Pope beat four seeded wrestlers. Perhaps his biggest win came during the preliminary match, when he whipped 5th seeded Bob Glaberman of Trenton College, who entered at 33-2. "I think a lot of the time he just wrestled out of fear. He didn't want to letdown. I'd tell him to shoot, shoot, shoot, even if it was a bad move," Kerr said. Pope didn't stop until he face Oklahoma's Johnny Johnson in a quarterfinal match Thursday. Johnson, the fourth seed, beat Pope 10-6. The magic hadn't ended for Pope, who beat two more seeded wrestlers to qualify for Saturday's consolation semifinals. Oklahoma State's Bill Dykeman nipped Pope at that juncture, but Pope hung tough to beat Johnson 9-2 to claim fifth. Jones had a shot at seventh place, but lost to Stanford's Jeff Wilson 7-6. Jones might not have been in the running for a placing if he hadn't pinned Cal Poly-SLO's Roger Sayles, who led by four points at one juncture. When Jones pulled the pin, Cal Poly coach Vaughn Hitchcock kicked a chair. "After he pinned Sayles, some Oklahoma wrestlers yelled, "All right, Marvin. Way to go." They hate Cal Poly just as much as we do," Kerr said. While Pope and Jones provided joy for Kerr, Andy Tsarnas' tough second-round consolation loss was a downer. Tsarnas had Northern Carolina's Bob Shriner on the mat for an apparent takedown, giving him what appeared to be a 5-4 win. The referee had even given Tsarnas two points. But the timer said Tsarnas' move was a second too late.   Click here for .pdf version