When the wrestling season began, Cal State Fullerton Coach Ardeshir Asgari wasn’t sure who would be his heavyweight.
Asgari was disappointed when 280-pound Zino Hessing, a wrestler he had recruited to take over the spot this season, dropped out of school last fall for personal reasons.
However, Jonathan DyReyes has come to the rescue.
But isn’t that what you might expect from someone who wants to be a doctor on an urban search-and-rescue team?
DyReyes, the school’s Big West male scholar-athlete last year, wrestled last season as a junior at 190 pounds. He was 19-14 and finished fourth in the Pac-10 championships. That qualified him for the NCAA championships, but he was eliminated in the nationals after two bouts.
Asgari expected DyReyes to move up to the 197-pound class, but a knee injury two months ago put him on the sideline for almost a month.
“I wasn’t able to do much running during that time, so my weight went up,” DyReyes said. “I got up to about 218 pounds at one point.”
Under the new college rules, a wrestler can’t compete at a weight lower than the one for which he is certified at a weigh-in in early December. DyReyes weighed 217 pounds at the time, so competing in the heavyweight division became his only choice.
“I hope it’s going to turn out for the best,” DyReyes said.
Asgari thinks it will.
DyReyes made his heavyweight debut two weeks ago and won the championship at the Aggie Open at UC Davis. He won all five bouts and defeated the top-seeded wrestler Ken Kobes from Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, Fla., 3-1, in the finals.
“That’s the first time we’ve had a heavyweight win a championship in a tournament since David Jones in 1991,” Asgari said.
DyReyes faced what probably will be his toughest opponent of the season last Saturday against Cal State Bakersfield. Stephen Neal, the defending NCAA heavyweight champion who was unbeaten in 39 matches last year, pinned DyReyes in 39 seconds.
DyReyes is hoping for another successful year in the classroom as well as on the mat. He has a 3.43 grade-point average, including a 3.9 in courses in biological science, his major.
“I really want to be a doctor,” DyReyes said. “It’s challenging and I want to help people. I’d like to be in emergency medicine in some way. Most big cities have special urban search-and-rescue units, and something like that really interests me. I know that unit for L.A. County was sent to the Oklahoma City bombing, and to some of the big natural disasters.”
DyReyes’ father is an accountant, but he gets his interest in medicine from his mother, a nurse. That interest developed more fully during his first two years of college.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I came to Fullerton,” he said. “Wrestling was just about all I thought about in high school, but high school life allows you that. But I always did well in science classes in high school, and that just continued in college.”
DyReyes, who graduated from Montebello Schurr High, sees wrestling now as a good diversion from his studies.
“Spending all your time studying can make you mentally tired,” he said. “A lot of students in my major study all the time, but I think you have to diversify. You have to be able to let all aspects of your personality get out.
“I like body surfing, rock climbing, mountain biking, things like that. I do all those things. My parents taught me that you have to enjoy what you do, whatever it is.”
Asgari said DyReyes brings that kind of outlook to the wrestling program.
“He’s definitely one of the good guys,” Asgari said. “He works hard at everything he does but still has a good time.”
DyReyes will have to face bigger and heavier wrestlers most of the season, but he says he’s not concerned. The heavyweight division goes up to a maximum weight of 286 pounds, but Asgari said DyReyes’ quickness will be to his advantage.
“He can make a quick shot and get in control quickly,” Asgari said. “He doesn’t give opponents much time to react. I think he’s going to have a real good year.”
FRIENDS BECOME FOES
When the Titan men’s basketball team plays at UC Santa Barbara Thursday night, Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking will be going against his former boss at UC Davis, Bob Williams.
Hawking and Williams were assistant coaches at Pepperdine for two years under Tom Asbury, then Hawking went to UC Davis as Williams’ assistant for two years when Williams became head coach there. Hawking left to become Brad Holland’s assistant at Fullerton, becoming head coach when Holland moved to San Diego.
Williams’ last four teams at UC Davis won 20 or more games each season and won the Division II national championship last season. Williams replaced Jerry Pimm at Santa Barbara after the Gauchos went 7-19 a year ago.
“This will be the first time we’ve coached against each other,” Hawking said. “He’s really turned that program around this season.”
Santa Barbara, picked to finish last in the Big West, is 4-2 in the conference, a half-game behind Western Division leader Long Beach State. Fullerton is 3-3, tied for third with Pacific.
The Gauchos lost their first eight games under Williams, but four were by one point. They have come back to win six of their last eight, including victories at Idaho, Utah State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
TIMES ARE TOUGH
This has been a frustrating season for Denise Curry, in her second year as Titan women’s basketball coach.
The Titans lost one-sided games at Long Beach State and at Pacific last week to fall to 2-15 for the season and 0-6 in the Big West. They have lost 11 in a row and have not won since beating San Jose State on Dec. 12.
“We’re just not playing very well,” Curry said. “We have nine games to go, and we’re fighting just to win another game. But we’re certainly capable of winning some games in this conference. I haven’t given up.
“Any time you’re playing like we are, you have a lot of concerns,” Curry said. “We’re giving up too many easy baskets. We’re not shooting well and we’re not rebounding well.”