California Games : Buth Readies for College Wrestling by Adding Pounds--and Victories

Dwayne Buth, the state high school wrestling champion at 161 pounds, recently went on a strict diet.

“I basically try to eat everything in sight,” he said.

OK, sort of strict. Buth recently accepted a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton, and he knows that if he is to continue his wrestling success in college, he will have to add bulk and strength.

He now weighs about 185, with most of the added pounds coming from a protein mixture that he drinks three to four times a day. His work in the weight room hasn’t hurt, either.

Buth is not only trying to eat everything in sight; he is also trying to win everything in sight. To that end, he added to his state championship by taking the gold medal at 191 pounds Saturday in the California State Games at Serra High School. He was one of 12 area wrestlers to finish among the top four in their class.

Buth’s gold came after he won by a decision over Brian Tomazic of Santa Clara, 4-0, in the title bout.

“I think I needed that match for confidence to wrestle against bigger guys,” Buth said. “I needed the work for when I go to Fullerton.”

The only wrestler to pin Buth during the high school season, Shawn Diamond, also took home a gold medal and helped San Diego County earn second place as a team with 63 total points.

Santa Clara topped the field with 77 points.

Diamond, who graduated from San Dieguito last spring, took first at 175 pounds (he wrestled at 161 in high school) by pinning his final-round opponent, John Sanchez of Santa Clara, after taking him down with a half-nelson less than two minutes into the match.

Diamond is 6-feet-4, which is noteworthy because his height makes his half-nelson all the more powerful.

“They (opponents) are a lot stronger than I am,” Diamond said. “But for some moves, like my half-nelson, my height makes it hard to stop.”

Diamond pinned three opponents in Saturday’s tournament, all the result of half-nelsons. He pinned 32 opponents during the year, all with the same move.

Brett Castillo 105 pounds) was the only other San Diego All-Star to strike gold. He won by decision against Mitch Guzman from San Joaquin Valley, 6-4, in his title match.

Gene Reding (123) and David O’Leary (275) were San Diego’s second-place wrestlers; Tony Matteucci (165), Dale Hanover (132) and Craig Threlfall (220) won third-place medals; and Matt McSweeney (154), Quincy Clark (165) and Erik Johnson (220) were fourth-place finishers.

ROLLER SKATING

The winner in the men’s senior roller skating division, Jay Etheredge, 26, of Milpitas, says he regularly gets up to speeds in excess of 25 miles an hour. He can do 100-meter sprints--around ovals--in 9.8 seconds.

But don’t make the mistake of asking Etheredge for his winning time.

“Times are irrelevant,” he’ll tell you. “It’s more of a cat-and-mouse type of race. It’s just like cycling, or anything that has to do with drafting.”

Etheredge should know--he has been the Southwest States champion in nine of the past 10 years, an accomplishment that goes rather unnoticed.

Like the California Games themselves, speed skaters are fighting for publicity.

“We’re trying to get our sport recognized by the Olympics and we feel this (skating in the California Games) is a step in that direction,” said Ken Shelton, the event director. “It’ll probably be a demonstration sport in the 1996 Olympics.”

BASKETBALL

San Diego’s Slam-N-Jam team has made it to the title game of the boys 18-and-under tournament after handing Carson B-Ball a 79-75 defeat. Carson, however, will also be in the gold-medal game because it came back after losing to San Diego, defeating Team Avia, 79-73, to earn a spot in the championship game.

Today’s game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Grossmont College.