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Show SUSC Matmen enter RMAC Southern Utah State's wresting squad travels to Golden. Colo., Saturday for the 1979 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference meet. The T-Bird grapplers join host Colorado Mines, Adams State (defending champion), Western State, Mesa College, Ft. Lewis, and New Mexico Highlands for the annual affair. Coach Joe Lopour's squad will be out to improve on last year's seventh place finish, when SU scored only five points. John Marshall (134) was the only T-Bird to place in the action (fourth). Marshall has since graduated. Lopour will take only seven wrestlers to Golden, as the T-Birds won't enter anyone at 126, 142, or 190. Keith Seals (Hwt., junior, Hawthorne, Calif.) leads the way for SUSC with a 21-6 record. The rest of the lineup will include Al Brown (freshman, (fresh-man, Omaha, Neb., 118), Victor Paddilla (freshman, St. Johns, Ariz., 134), Randy Jarvis (senior, Mesa, Ariz., 150), Dave Moat (senior, Duchesne, Ut., 158), Randy Ewing (junior, Hawthorne, Calif., 167), and Scott Slack (freshman. Cedar City, 177). Brown stands 9-12-1 with Paddilla 2-9, Jarvis 7-18, Moat 7-5-1, Ewing 10-14-2, and Slack 2-17. Phil Howa (190, junior, Price) won't be wrestling because of a rib injury sustained in the Biola Invitational In-vitational last week. Howa finishes the season with a 9-8 record. In last year's RMAC tournament, Howa was injured and wasn't able to compete. Adams State is probably the odds on favorite to win its seventh straight RMAC title. The Indians are currently ranked number three in the NAIA and return two champions and three place winners from last year's action. Rich Lopez (142) and Herb Stanley (Hwt) were champions last year, while Art Aragon (118) was second, Greg Dixon (158) and Darrell Yohn (190) placed third. Stanley also won the NAIA national title. Western State returns defending champs Ramon Gutierrez (134) and Greg Waggoner (177). Other Mountaineers who make Western a tough tournament squad are Guy Brickell (118), Steve Montoya (126), Mario Martinez (142), and Mike Daniels. Mesa returns Monte Griffith (158) and Randy Le Blanc (150), both champions last year. Randy Baker (190), also a title winner in 1978, has been slowed by injuries and is a questionable participant. Colorado Mines' best hopes are Marc Tidquist (134), Tom Young (142), Roger Peterson (158), and Bruce Maskell (177) while Ft. Lewis will count on Wade David (150) and John Curtis (177). Last week the T-Birds finished the regular season by winning one of three duals and scoring nine points at the Biola" Invitational. Howa was the only T-Bird to place ( fourth LHe won his first match by fall over Tom Pate of Biola in just 36 seconds, then lost to John Rodriques of Louisiana State by pin in 2 :50. He came back to decision Chris Faircloth of UNLV, 12-9, before being i forced to default to Jeff Haschak of UCLA, when he injured his ribs. In dual action, SUSC won 28-3 over Cal State-Los Angeles and lost to UNLV 47-4 47-4 and Cal State-Fullerrton fc 4W2. |