SJSU's Darryl Pope, who only recently moved down a weight class from 167 to 158, rolled into today's quarterfinals,
slaying a couple of giants along the way yesterday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Byrne Meadowlands Arena
in East Rutherford, N.J.
Pope is one of three Spartan wrestlers to sail into the quarterfinals unscathed. The other SJSU wrestlers, Marvin
Jones (177) and Andy Tsarnas (190), also registered a couple of big upsets on the road to the quarters.
But Pope's rapid rise is the big story for SJSU, which sent five wrestlers to the nationals.
Pope began the day by pulling a major upset in a preliminary match against Trenton State's Bob Glaberman, pinning
the fifth-seeded wrestler with just one second left in the contest. Glaberman was an impressive 33-2 entering the
tussle.
The sophomore Pope then buried Paul Salyers (28-5) of Central Michigan, 19-3, in a first round match.
In his third match yesterday, Pope disposed of North Carolina's Ted Wilson 10-2. Wilson entered with a 17-12-1
record.
Pope, now 26-10-1, faces Oklahoma's Johnny Johnson, the no. 4 seed at 19-6-1, in the quarters.
Jones was the second Spartan to make the quarters, beating Minnesota's Mike Foy, 16-5, in the second round. Jones
held a slim 7-5 lead against the no. 3 seed with 45 seconds left, then began turning it on considerably.
In the first round, Jones, a junior, pinned Franklin & Marshall's Marc Degennaro with only two seconds left
in the match. Jones, the no. 10 seed at 27-6, will face Booker Benford of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville today.
Several minutes later, Tsarnas qualified for the quarters, pinning unseeded Mike Davies of Arizona State at the
3:47 mark.
Tsarnas will get a stiff test today, as he meets Oregon State's Jim Baumgarder (43-2), the no. 2 seed.
But Tsarnas, seeded seventh, didn't have it that easy in the first round, nipping Rutger's unseeded wrestler Joe
Glowacki, 7-6. Tsarnas, though, will take the close win nonetheless.
One other Spartan, Albert Perez, had it easy in the first round, but couldn't get past the second round.
And the fifth Spartan, David Barnes, was tripped up in his opening round match.
But still, this was undoubtedly the Spartans most productive NCAA tourney. Last year, the Spartans sent five wrestlers
to the nationals, but all five lost in the first round.
Perez was one of those five wrestlers. This year, though, the 126-pounder pinned the no. 12 seed Dave Marquis of
Navy with 52 seconds left in the third period.
But Perez wasn't as fortunate in his second round match. He drew the no. 1 seed, Kevin Darkus of Iowa State (41-0-1)
who pinned Perez at 2:39 of the first period.
Darkus will have to win his quarterfinal match today to qualify Perez for consolation wrestling. If Darkus loses,
Perez, a senior, will have wrestled his last match for SJSU.
The only Spartan who failed to make it past the opening round was Barnes, who lost to Rider College's Colin Coffey,
8-6, at 142 pounds. Barnes was 31-5 and seeded eighth, while Coffey was unseeded at 22-9-1.
But Coffey kept Barnes alive for the moment, by winning his second round match. If Coffey can beat Cal State Bakersfield's
Jesse Reyes, the no. 1 seed, in the quarters today, Barnes will make the consolations. If Coffey loses, Barnes
is out. |
