Wrestlers Take Aim at NCAAs

Cal State Fullerton will compete in the Pacific 10 wrestling championships Sunday and Monday at Eugene, Ore., and Coach Ardeshir Asgari thinks several of his wrestlers have a shot at earning berths in the NCAA championships.

Senior Babak Nejadmaghaddam is bidding for his third consecutive NCAA appearance after taking second at 197 pounds in the conference meet last season. He was fourth in the division two years ago.

“Babak probably has the best chance of qualifying because of his experience,” Asgari said. “But we could have some other qualifiers, depending on who wrestles well next weekend.”

Other leading Fullerton contenders are junior Josh Ready at 184 pounds, junior Zack Miller at 174 and senior Brian Gilliland at 125. The top four wrestlers in each weight division qualify for the national tournament at Iowa beginning March 15.

Nejadmaghaddam, who grew up in Gothenberg, Sweden, after his parents moved from Iran, has the team’s best record at 21-3-1 and is ranked 20th nationally. He recently defeated 19th-ranked Craig Rumsey of Wyoming, 8-6.

“My problem is that I have a ton of injuries right now, but I hope I can overcome that,” Nejadmaghaddam said. “I feel a little run down and beat up right now.”

Nejadmaghaddam said he has torn cartilage in his ribs and one rib has a small fracture. “I also jammed three fingers in practice a couple of weeks ago, and now I have a sore throat,” he said. “I hope getting some rest this week before the meet will help me.”

Nejadmaghaddam is ranked third in the Pac-10 at 197 behind Rusty Cook of Boise State and Chael Sonnen of Oregon. Cook defeated Nejadmaghaddam in the finals last season, 13-2.

“I don’t care about the rankings,” Nejadmaghaddam said. “It all depends on what happens in the the tournament. For me, it depends a lot on how I feel that day. The last time I lost, my body felt like spaghetti and I could barely stand up on the mat. If I’m healthy, I know I can do well.”

Asgari also thinks Gilliland, 14-9-1 this season, has a good chance to finish in the top four.

“The problem is that he’s in what probably is the toughest weight division at 125 pounds,” Asgari said.

The Titans had four NCAA qualifiers last season, but Nejadmaghaddam is the only one returning from that group.

IRVINE HOSTS SWIMMING

UC Irvine will host the Big West Conference swimming and diving championships Thursday through Saturday at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

Preliminaries begin at 10:30 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. each day.

The Irvine men were fourth and the women fifth last season. UC Santa Barbara has won the last 22 men’s championships. Nevada won the women’s title last season, but has since left the Big West.

Irvine swimmers have some of the conference’s leading times this season.

Among the men, sophomore Kin Wong has the second-best time in the 100 butterfly at 51.38 seconds. Sophomore Attila Szilagyi ranks third in the 100 breaststroke at 58.54, and sophomore Kevin Olson is third in the 400 individual medley at 4 minutes 7.82 seconds.

Freshman Brian Kim has the fourth-fastest time in the 200 breaststroke at 2:07.01 and is fifth in the 200 individual medley at 1:57.01. Junior Kawika Tarayao ranks fifth with a time of 46.73 in the 100 freestyle.

Among the Irvine women, junior Jennifer Hurckes ranks fifth in the 1,000 freestyle at 10:42.2 and fifth in the 1,600 freestyle at 18:15.6. Junior Allison Magda is expected to challenge for titles in one- and three-meter diving.

NOTEWORTHY

Cal State Fullerton’s Kirk Saarloos was named national co-pitcher of the week by Collegiate Baseball after pitching his second consecutive shutout Saturday, a one-hit, 5-0 victory over Brigham Young. . . . Fullerton gymnast Joanna Hughes tied a school record with a 9.950 score on the uneven bars in the Titans’ victory over UC Santa Barbara last week. . . . UC Irvine junior forward Cindy Oparah has been named Big West women’s basketball player of the week. Oparah, formerly of Brethren Christian High, totaled 31 points and 23 rebounds in Anteater victories over UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. . . . Scott Brooks (basketball), Glenn Cripe (tennis), Bob Nealy (water polo and swimming) and Tom Spence (baseball) have been inducted into the UC Irvine Hall of Fame. They will be introduced Saturday at the Bren Center during halftime of the men’s basketball game against UC Riverside. . . . Gina Oaks was named most outstanding pitcher and most valuable player for her effort in leading Cal State Fullerton to the championship of last weekend’s Hawaii Paradise Classic tournament. Oaks went 5-0 with 36 strikeouts and batted .333 with seven runs batted in.

Staff writer Paul McLeod contributed to this story.

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