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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 3-3-82 |
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Gulliford Dreams Of All-American Title |
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by Mike Jones |
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| Casey Gulliford was considered an underdog to beat Fullerton State's Mike van Hoven in the heavyweight division
of last Friday's PCAA wrestling championships. Van Hoven had beaten Gulliford earlier in the season, but Gulliford avenged that defeat by pinning him with just three seconds left in the first round. It was Gulliford's second PCAA championship. His first was in 1980. "Gulliford has a real positive attitude," said assistant coach Ralph Kuehn. "A lot of guys look up to him." Gulliford, who is six feet tall and weighs 225 pounds, came to SJSU out of Anderson High in Anderson, California, by way of Shasta Junior College. In his senior year in high school, Gulliford had a record of 31-1 with 28 pins. However, Gulliford didn't go to the state championships because his section only sends one wrestler from each weight classification. Gulliford was not recruited by any colleges for either football or wrestling. He went to Shasta Junior College after high school where he wrestled and played football. At Shasta, Gulliford placed sixth in his freshman year in the state junior college championships and fourth in his sophomore year. After Shasta, Gulliford came to SJSU to wrestle and play football. "I liked coach Kerr and i liked the kind of program he ran," Gulliford said about why he chose SJSU. He added that Kerr runs a stiff conditioning program which compares to a "boot camp." But Gulliford soon found out that playing two sports in college is difficult. "I started doing rotten in school," he said. He added that wrestling and football were practically year around sports and that he never had a break from sports during the year. After winning the PCAA title in 1980, Gulliford sat out the 1981 wrestling season. He had just finished his last year of eligibility in football and decided to rest and come back and wrestle this season. All that almost backfired when Gulliford twisted his right knee in the Portland State Invitational Meet last January. "There was not much pain," Gulliford said about the injury. "I wrestled two more matches and lost both that i should have won." "As hard as i had worked, i was really disappointed," he said. "I told them (doctors) that unless it required an operation, i wanted to wrestle." "He was down for about a week," said Kuehn. "He missed practice and that hurt him. He had to adjust a little." Gulliford had his knee placed in a cast for three weeks. He said at the time of his injury he was in the best shape of his life. "(Trainer) Leroy Heu worked with me every day and he never let up," Gulliford said. "I rode a bike and lifted weights to stay in shape." This was not Gulliford's first knee injury. As a sophomore in high school, he had a cartilage taken out of his left knee from a football injury. Even now, his right knee is much stronger than his left. On the Monday before the PCAA championships, Gulliford had the cast taken off his knee. He wrestled hard that day to see if the knee would cause any problems. It did not. Gulliford will represent the Spartans for the second time at the NCAA championships to be held March 11-13 at Iowa State. In his first NCAA appearance in 1980, Gulliford lost his first match. "I am 100 percent better than i was two years ago," he said. "I've developed my skill level." "My goal is to be an All-American," he added. "It's something i've dreamed about." The top eight finishers at the NCAA are awarded All-American honors. Gulliford believes aggressiveness is very important in wrestling. The coach (Kerr) believes in a really aggressive form of wrestling," he said. "That is my strength. If i can get a throw on a guy, i can beat him." After the season is over, Gulliford is going to take a break. |
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