Oklahoma State University Athletics
Guerrero Closes Out Against Arch Rival
June 21, 1999 | Cowboy Wrestling
February 18, 1999
Third in a four part series of Oklahoma State's senior wrestlers.
Going into Sunday's dual with Iowa, Eric Guerrero knows that wrestling "upstairs" for the last time will be the biggest salary a collegiate wrestler can get.
"There are so many hours spent downstairs just working really hard and sometimes you feel like, 'What am I doing all this for?'" said Guerrero. "Well, this is what it's for. To go upstairs and compete and win matches. When they cheer and scream, that is like your salary."
If the cheers and the screams are like a salary, then Guerrero is richer than Bill Gates. He has done so many things over his four-year career to earn the screams and cheers.
His celebrated resume: two NCAA individual national titles, two Academic All-America honors, three All-America plaques, an Espoir National Title, placing third at the World Team Trials, 102 career wins. That's a lot of cheers - a lot of salary.
His last home dual comes against the Cowboys' bitter rival, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Guerrero can't think of a better way to end it.
"I look at this as a great experience," Guerrero said. "It doesn't get any better than this.
"There is a huge difference between Iowa and the other schools that we wrestle," says Guerrero. "Iowa is always in contention for national titles; we are always in contention for the national title.
"They have a really rich tradition and there are so many personal factors involved with the rivalry. It's what wrestling is for. The whole purpose of wrestling is about rivalries and competition."
Guerrero credits the hometown fans with part of his successes as a wrestler.
"It's great to see faces that care, that you know they really care," Guerrero said. "If you lose, they are going to go home upset. If you lose, they are going to tell you that you don't look very good. They are going to be upset with you. They are very honest, and that is how wrestling is.
"It's an honest sport because there is no hiding," said Guerrero."There aren't eight or 10 guys out there that can hold you up when you are having a bad day. Wrestling is so honest. It's you and an opponent, and if you don't do well, it's going to show. Sometimes with all of that, the fans can make the difference."
That attitude and his attitude of being a person of character and of faith have made Guerrero one of the best wrestlers in the collegiate ranks. His leadership ability also propels his team.
"I feel like being one of the older guys on the team - this is still a fairly young team - I can set a tempo. If they see me perform well, then they will have a lot of confidence that they can perform well. The same goes for guys like Mark Smith, Teague Moore and Jimmy Arias."
Although Guerrero definitely wants to win, revenge is really not a factor in the dual-meet setting.
"The NCAA tournament is the real revenge factor," Guerrero said. "We've beaten them in duals; we've shown we can do that. We haven't shown we can win a national title, not in the last few years. The revenge time is the national tournament."
He does have a tough individual match up in this weekend's dual in second-ranked Eric Jurgens. He has a let's-hook-it-up attitude heading into the match.
"Rankings are rankings. They don't mean anything. He's just another wrestler; I'm just another wrestler; we'll compete and find out where we are at."
When asked for advice to other wrestlers he gives a simple answer.
"Have fun. This is my last year; after this year I'm never going to put on an OSU singlet again. I'm never going to run out there in front of a crowd at Gallagher-Iba Arena. If you have fun and train hard and prepare yourself correctly, things take care of themselves. It's all that you can ask for: pray hard that you don't get injured and that you just have fun.
He says his teammates and his coach are what he is going to miss the most, Not only will he miss them, but he also says he has learned so much from them that he can't put a price on them.
"OSU is phenomenal. I came here obviously knowing about the rich history and it's met up to every expectation. It means a lot to me. My coaching staff means a lot and the fans mean a lot to me.
"My teammates, the friendship with them - All of the mean so much and those are things you can't put a price on. Those are the things you look back on 50 years from now and say 'That was I good time I had.' This has been something I would not trade for the world."
Obviously, Gurrero won't be back as a Cowboy, but he does want to step in the same path as some other well-known Cowboy wrestlers.
"I want to make the World Team and the Olympic Team. To win a world and Olympic title, that is those are the goals for every wrestler. That is a major part of the reason I came to Oklahoma State, the rich tradition with guys like Kendall Cross, Kenny Monday and John Smith. All of those are great wrestlers that came through here and successfully competed on the national level. Hopefully, I can work hard and achieve some of those goals that those guys did.
On Sunday, in front of a packed house at Gallagher-Iba, Guerrero hopes to leave his legacy on the Cowboy mat for the last time.
"I'm just looking to perform well, have a good time. This is what it is about: it's just competition. It's the kind of stuff you live for. You live for matches, you train for matches and you train for big matches, and this is a big match. I'm just looking to have fun and perform well."
Spoken like a true competitor.
By Chad Grubbs
OSU Media Relations
