Jorge Torres spent his Spring Break watching the NCAA championships in Albany. He witnessed Iowa State senior Cael Sanderson become the first college wrestler to finish with a perfect record (159-0) and four national titles.

Torres wishes he had just one victory in his six-month wrestling career to brag about. He didn’t win a single match last year, when he wrestled at the 133- and 141-pound weight classes.

‘I want to go back,’ said Torres, who walked on the team in October 2000. ‘I want to go back and get that one win at least. Give me a scrub out there and I’ll win.’

Torres, a sophomore, has talked with former teammates Harold Jean-Louis and Karl Baum about starting a wrestling club. Since Jean-Louis is busy with spring football and Baum with track, the talk has yet to turn into action.

Still, the trio tossed the idea back and forth enough that a club could be set by next year, Torres said.

‘We would have to see how many people come out,’ Torres said. ‘We’d like to wrestle against other people like Cornell’s B Team. We should be able to wrestle with them.’

For Torres, the SU wrestling experience was an enduring one. The frustration of losing mounted so much he thought about quitting the team. He hadn’t gone through as much adversity since his sophomore year of high school when he thought about quitting wrestling altogether.

‘I had trouble adjusting to the new rules and environment,’ said Torres, who made the state tournament twice at Masconomet Regional High School in Massachusetts. ‘But I stuck through it. I told myself, ‘You’re only going to get better.’ “

Torres did. He improved and made enough progress by March 2001to nearly win a match in a postseason tournament.

‘I put all that I had in my last match,’ Torres said. ‘But I regret that the school made the decision to cut wrestling.’

Published on April 24, 2002 at 12:00 pm