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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 3-2-82 |
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Six Spartan Wrestlers Win PCAA Crowns |
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by Mike Jones |
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| When the SJSU wrestling team entered the PCAA championships last Friday at Spartan Gym, many people figured the
Spartans would win the team championship and a few individual titles. Not only did the Spartans win the overall championship 109.5 points compared to runnerup Utah State's 83.75 points, they also won six individual titles, more than any other Spartan team had done. The six will now represent the PCAA in the NCAA championships March 11-13 at Iowa State. The Spartans won the first championship of the night with 118-pounder Brad Gustafson. Gustafson had very little trouble in any of his matches in the meet. He won his first two matches 18-7 and 27-13 before beating Tom Bieber of Utah State 10-4 in the finals. "In the finals, i slacked off a little," Gustafson said. "I worked his head and got behind him. I escaped good and rode him pretty good." In the 126-pound class, SJSU's Wayne Jones dominated Fresno State's Tom Harautuneian from the start to win 11-1. "I knew i was capable of it," Jones said about winning and advancing to the NCAA championships. "I know i'm capable of placing in the NCAAs." At 134 pounds, the Spartans' Eddie Baza won his fourth straight PCAA title, his second at this weight. Baza easily defeated Nevada-Las Vegas' Mark Tomlinson 13-3 in the finals. Baza made Spartan history with his victory over Tomlinson for it gave him the record for the most career wins for a SJSU wrester at 128. "It had been in the back of my mind," Baza said about breaking the record. Baza was also proud of winning his fourth straight PCAA title. "This title means more to me because it had not been done too many times before," he said. By far the most exciting match of the evening was at 142 pounds when the Spartan's John Middlestead scored two points in the last 20 seconds to beat John DiGiacoma from Utah State 6-4. Grinning from ear to ear after receiving a standing ovation, Middlestead said the win was his greatest thrill ever. Even though considered an underdog to win the match, he said he felt confident. "I knew if i went in relaxed i could do it," he said. "I stayed close to him in every round." The Spartans didn't favor as well at 150 pounds as they did in the first four matches. SJSU's Pat Huyck did manage to take a fourth place in this division. Greg Williams from Utah State upset Nevada-Las Vegas' Tom Coffing 6-5 in the finals. At 158 pounds, the Spartans' Michael Hairston was defeated by Steve Ross from Utah State 5-2. "I lost it in the beginning of the match on an early throw," Hairston said. "He was taller and had good technique. I knew it would be a close match. He had me on the defense throughout the match." At 167 pounds, the Spartans' Andy Tsarnas beat Mike Hagedorn from Utah State 8-4 to win the title. Tsarnas, who finished second a year ago, was not completely pleased with his performance. "I wrestled a little conservative," he said. "I was really happy but i didn't wrestle as good as i could." At 177 pounds, the Spartans' John Torrise fell behind early in the match and lost to Tony DePaoli from Fullerton State 9-5. "Torrise didn't wrestle as well as he could," said SJSU coach T.J. Kerr. Kerr added that after the meet the coaches voted on two wildcards to represent the PCAA in the NCAA championships. He pushed for Torrise but he wasn't picked. Kerr said he knew Torrise wouldn't get a wildcard because the Spartans had six other wrestlers going to the NCAAs and the other coaches didn't want any more SJSU wrestlers to go. The two wildcards picked were Coffing Hagedorn. At 190 pounds, SJSU's Marvin Jones won the consolation bracket to finish third while John Schebler from Utah State beat Malcom Scott from Fresno State 18-4 in the finals. In the heavyweight division, the Spartans' Casey Gulliford made it six titles for the Spartans by pinning Mike van Hoven of Fullerton State in the first round with just three seconds showing on the clock. Gulliford, who redshirted last year after winning the title in 1980, had a cast taken off his knee only Monday before the finals. His pin was the only one in the championship round as the former SJSU football player received a standing ovation. "This was the one," Gulliford said about the victory. "I had my knee in a cast for three weeks. The doctors wanted to keep it in a cast for six weeks but i said i wanted to wrestle in conference." To cap off an almost perfect evening, Baza was named PCAA wrestler of the year while Kerr was named Coach of the Year. "I was going for it, Baza said about the honor. "That's why i tried to beef up my score in the finals." "I couldn't wish for anything more," he added. "It's like a dream come true." Kerr wasn't as excited about being named coach of the year. "It doesn't mean much but it looks good on a resume," he joked. |
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