Things Are Finally Looking Up for the Wrestling Team

Coach Ardeshir Asgari and the Cal State Fullerton wrestling team have had their share of disappointment in the last year.

The Titans were 0-10 in dual meets and finished eighth among nine teams in the Pac-10 championships, ahead of only UC Davis.

“Last year was really a struggle,” said Asgari, who also noted that he will have to go back to court in January to try to win new damages in his wrongful arrest suit against the Los Angeles Police Department. The state Supreme Court in June overturned part of the $1.3-million judgment he won from a lower court.

The Titans open the season Saturday in a dual meet against UC Davis at Troy High, then will host the California Open Sunday in Titan Gym.

“I think we’re going to have one of the best teams we’ve had in a long time,” Asgari said. “And I think we’ll have more qualifiers for the NCAA meet this year than we’ve had at any time since the 1990-91 season.”

Seven wrestlers qualified that year when Dan Lewis was the head coach and Asgari was his assistant.

Junior Steve Duran, who was an NCAA qualifier last season at 158 pounds, is back along with senior Carl Sharamitaro, who qualified for the NCAA meet two years ago as a sophomore but didn’t make it last year.

Jason Webster also returns after showing promise last year as a freshman. He had a 5-2 record at 177 pounds and was 6-8 at 167 pounds.

Asgari also is hoping for good seasons from sophomore Maurcio Mora and junior Joey Coughran. Both were transfers last season, Coughran from Purdue and Mora from Minnesota. Both wrestled in high school at Calvary Chapel.

“Mora won his first seven matches last year, but then we found out he wasn’t eligible, and he had to sit out the rest of the season,” Asgari said. “He had practiced with Cal State Bakersfield before he enrolled here, which was a violation, and he lost a year of eligibility.”

Asgari thinks junior Matt LaGrass will be stronger this season as a heavyweight than he was last year at 190 pounds. “He’s gained about 30 pounds,” Asgari said. “It was too hard for him to make the lower weight last year.”

Asgari also expects to add another promising heavyweight to the roster when the second semester starts in January. Jason Deere, who wrestled at Newport Harbor, plans to enroll, Asgari said.

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The hopes of the Fullerton men’s soccer team to reach the NCAA playoffs ended Saturday with a 3-2 loss at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

A victory would have sent the Titans into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoff game against Stanford, but Fullerton’s loss gave UCLA first place in the Southern Division and the playoff berth.

“We had two chances to win the division, but we just didn’t do it,” Coach Al Mistri said.

The Titans upset UCLA, 3-1, then lost to Cal State Northridge and San Luis Obispo in conference play.

“We just had too much youth this season,” Mistri said. “We didn’t have the mental or physical toughness when we needed it. It’s difficult when you have six freshmen starting and three others playing a lot. But I don’t think this team did as well as it could have. But we’re still optimistic about the future.”

Defense was a problem all season, especially late in the year when the Titans gave up 15 goals in five games.

“You can’t expect to give up three goals in a game and win consistently in college soccer,” Mistri said.

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The women’s volleyball team’s chances of making the Big West postseason tournament are all but over.

The Titans would have to win both their final two regular-season matches this weekend, and both New Mexico State and Nevada would have to lose twice for the Titans to make the playoffs.

And Fullerton’s conference opponents this weekend are two of the nation’s top teams. The Titans (12-16, 4-10 in the Big West) meet No. 18 Pacific (17-7, 10-4) Friday night and face No. 1 ranked Long Beach State (23-1, 14-0) Saturday night. Both matches are at Titan Gym.

Fullerton has lost six consecutive matches.

Injuries have played a part in the team’s late-season slide. Middle blocker Katie Crawford missed the last four matches because of a knee injury and Stephanie Wichmann (back injury) is out for the season.

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Fullerton opens its men’s basketball season Saturday night at Utah, and it appears the Titans will begin the season without any serious injury problems.

Seniors DeVaughn Wright and Craig Whitehead, who missed the first exhibition game a week ago because of sore backs, played in Monday night’s exhibition against Next Level Sports.

Sophomore Ike Harmon (sore knee) missed practice twice last week, but also played Monday. The only player held out was reserve forward Josh Leighton (hamstring).

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Coming Attractions

Key games this week for Cal State Fullerton:

* Men’s basketball at Utah, 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The Titans open the season against a team that has three starters back from one that finished 29-4 last season.

* Women’s volleyball against Pacific at 7 p.m. Friday and against Long Beach State at 7 p.m. Saturday. Both games are at Titan Gym. The Titans close the regular season against two of the nation’s top teams.

* Men’s and women’s cross-country at NCAA District 8 championships in Tucson, Ariz., 10:30 a.m., Saturday. Sarah MacDougall and Francisco Vazquez are Fullerton’s best hopes for individual honors.