March 9, 1995
Represented by its top three wrestlers, SF State finished eighth in the nation out of 41 teams at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships last weekend in Kearny, Neb.
SF State's Francis Aquino, John Giuffre and Polo Ornelas reached their respective goals and earned All-American honors for the season.
To qualify to be an All-American, a wrestler must finish in the top eight at the national tournament.
"They all really wrestled well," Coach Lars Jensen said. "They lost some close ones. Everyone would have been proud of these guys."
"This is the highest I've ever placed," Jensen said. "Its our best finish since 1975. I have to give credit to these guys. We only took three guys and we competed against other teams that had more wrestlers. They were really impressive."
Earning his third consecutive All-American title in the 134 weight-division, Aquino placed fourth at the tournament.
Although he scored three pins in the tournament, Aquino lost the Pinner's award (the most number of pins in the least amount of time) by 12 seconds.
Aquino (29-13), ranked sixth in the tournament, pinned Eric Swensen in 3:44 in the opening round.
Aquino lost a close 5-4 match in the quarterfinals to No.3 ranked Martin Segovia.
In the consolation first round and quarterfinal matches, Aquino rallied back-to-back pins over Adam Steege (4:41) and Ben Berogan (2:37) securing his All-American title.
In the third place match, Aquino lost 6-2 to the No. 2 ranked Steve Costanzo.
Giuffre (25-19) placed sixth in the 158 weight-division.
"I wrestled pretty tough," Giuffre said. "I changed my mind frame. I wasn't as intense as I was before -- I was a little more methodical."
In the first round, Giuffre blew-out his opponent Boone Smith, 11-2.
After losing in the quarterfinals, Giuffre came back and defeated Chris Matzke, 6-5, in his first round of the consolation bracket. The victory earned Giuffre his All-American title.
"The first match and the third match were the most important," Giuffre said. "I wanted to start out on a plus. The third win made me an All-American -- that one took some pressure off."
In the consolation quarterfinals, Giuffre recorded his first pin of the year over No. 6 ranked Danny Giammo (3:47).
Giuffre lost to the No. 5 Steve Kimpel 7-4 in the semifinals and to No. 4 Bernard Valentin 6-4 in the fifth place match.
"My dream came true," Giuffre said. "I had never won a post-season championship placement. I'm a college All-American and I think that's a good finish. Now I'm going to Disneyland."
Ornelas, the 1995 West Region Champion, finished fifth in the 167 weight-division.
"I did well, but I could have done better," Ornelas said. "At first, I wasn't focused. I was looking ahead too much."
After losing in the first round, Ornelas, ranked No. 7, regrouped and defeated Chad Beeson 11-6 in his first match of the consolation bracket.
"Once I woke up, I thought, 'It's time for me to wrestle,'" Ornelas said. "The reality of getting beat switched my mind frame over."
Ornelas (29-14) tromped Deon Brimmage 14-4 in the quarterfinal match but was defeated 5-3 in the semifinals.
In the fifth place match, Ornelas won by default.
"I'm really happy," Ornelas said. "I know I could have done better, but it was still an accomplishment."
Ornelas was pleased with the wrestling team's accomplishments this season.
"We came out with a winning record, 8-6," Ornelas said. "We wrestled a lot of tough opponents. We came together when we needed to become a team."
With the season over, Ornelas will be competing in free-style wrestling.
"It's just for the fun of it," Ornelas said. "I'm doing it because I've been competing intensely all season and I just love the sport."