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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 3-4-81 |
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Kerr Not Happy |
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by Jerry McDonald |
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| One would expect SJSU wrestling coach T.J. Kerr to be in a good mood when practice rolled around after the Spartans'
big win in the PCAA tournament. Such is not the case. Although Kerr will send five champions to the NCAA tournament in New Jersey, March 12-14, he has a bone to pick with the rest of the team. Not because they didn't win championships themselves, but because they aren't helping out those who did. The five Spartan PCAA champs are: David Barnes (126), Eddie Baza (134), Reggie Thompson (150), David Brouhard (177), and Jerry Morrison (190). "I think some of the guys are figuring that their season is over, and don't realize what their role is," said the PCAA Coach of the Year. Kerr expects the matmen to help prepare the five champions for the nationals, and was a little perturbed that only 13 wrestlers, or a little over half the team, showed up for their morning running following the PCAA tournament win. "We're going to have a talk about that, and i'll let them know how i feel," Kerr promised. "They have remember that the points scored at the nationals are team points, for San Jose State, and they are all a part of that team." Kerr feels that how the wrestlers perform at the nationals cast a reflection on the rest of the team. "If our wrestlers do a poor job preparing, our five won't do well at the NCAAs," Kerr said. "It's an incredibly tough tournament. If they do poorly, it casts a direct reflection on the guys who prepared them for the tournament. And another thing, i think that if it was some of the other guys were going to the nationals, they'd appreciate the help and support of the rest of the team." The preparation for the wrestlers going to New Jersey will be rigorous, to say the least. Physically, they will be in shape. Brouhard, Baza, and company can look forward to matches consisting of three and four minute rounds of intense wrestling, with the added punishment of running sprints for a minute or so in between. If that's not enough, after running the sprints and returning to wrestle another round, they don't get to wrestle the same opponent. Kerr gives them a fresh one to wrestle against instead. As for the PCAA tournament, Kerr was pleased with his team's performance for the most part. "We did pretty well, i guess," Kerr said. "We had sort of set our goals as qualifying six wrestlers, and we got five, so that was nice." For those who didn't qualify for SJSU, Kerr pointed to the old coaching standby. "In the matches we lost we didn't use good fundamentals. It was really very simple," Kerr said. "When we used good fundamentals, we won, when we didn't, we lost." At 118 pounds, Albert Perez carried a 25-4 record into the meet, but came out of it with only a fifth place. "It was a shame because Albert has had such a fine season, and i thought he was the only one capable of beating Tracy Moore (the eventual champion)." Moore, of Utah State, became the first wrestler in PCAA history to win four straight titles. The lack of competition in the 126-pound class surprised Kerr. SJSU's David Barnes won the division without much trouble. "I don't think David wrestled up to his capability," Kerr said. "But it was just that no one really presented any problems for him" A gutty performance secured his third PCAA title in three years. Despite a cut over his eye that required stitches, he prevailed for the third time this season over Portland State's Rick Anderle, 12-7. Kerr was impressed with Anderle and cast his wildcard vote for him. The coaches elected one second-place finisher to compete in the nationals. However, the other coaches opted for Anderle's teammate, 150-pounder Charlie Lucas. At 142, Jay Slivkoff captured a third place. "Jay wrestled very well after his first loss," Kerr said. "That's the thing about a tournament like this. Consistency is important. You have to wrestle well every time." Reggie Thompson's win over Lucas in the 150 pound final secured his first trip to the NCAAs. "Reggie wrestled just like Reggie," Kerr said of his multi-talented but sometimes inconsistent wrestler. "He wrestled just well enough to win each match." In the 158-pound class, there was just too much Kevin Benson. SJSU's Randy Davis finished third, but lost handily to the Portland State star, who was selected by the coaches as the Wrestler of the Year for the tournament. In Kerr's eyes, the Wrestler of the Year was not Benson, but his own Brouhard, who hardly worked up a seat, pinning three consecutive opponents, with Utah State's Andre Bynum lasting the longest, a total of 3:19. "I thin they chose Benson because of his record over the course of the season," Kerr said. Benson has lost only one match this season, while Brouhard has lost four. "But they didn't wrestle the same kind of schedule that we did. They didn't wrestle in the Midlands tournament." SJSU 190-pounder Morrison had the toughest championship match, winning a 6-4 decision from Utah State's John Schebler. "That was a tough match, and Jerry was just up to it," Kerr said of his two-time PCAA champ/ "He kept the pressure on the whole time and proved tough enough." The Spartans missed their goal of six qualifiers by the barest of margins when heavyweight Guy Heat was beaten by Utah State's J.L. Coon 1-0. "That was a real tough match and disappointing to lose," Kerr said. "But it sure got the crowd going." |
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