#ThrowbackThursday: Olympian, World medalist and NCAA champion Joe Gonzales
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
USA Wrestling file photo of Joe Gonzales.
Joe Gonzales is a great example that it doesn’t matter where a great athlete comes from, but where that athlete is going.
Los Angeles was never known as a hotbed for wrestling, but this is where Joe Gonzales got his start in the sport. Gonzales kicked off his college career at East Los Angeles College, where he won a California Junior College state title.
It was at California State-Bakersfield, a Div. II university which was led by a Hall of Fame coach, the late Joe Seay, where he made a huge jump in the wrestling world. He competed in an era when NCAA Div. II champions were also able to compete in the NCAA Div. I Championships.
Joe Gonzales Hall of Fame biography
In the 1978-79 season for the Roadrunners, Gonzales ran off an amazing 55-0 record at 118 pounds, winning both the NCAA Div. II National Championships and the NCAA Div. I National Championships. He had an amazing 448 takedowns during that season.
Trivia Question: How many CSU-Bakersfield wrestlers were NCAA Div. I champions, and how many NCAA titles did they win? (Bonus points if you can name the wrestlers and the years)
In the 1979-80 season, Gonzales had another outstanding year, winning his second NCAA Div. II national title, then entering the NCAA Div. I Nationals as the No. 1 seed at 118 pounds. He powered to the NCAA finals, where he met another future Hall of Fame athlete, Gene Mills of Syracuse. Mills won this high-powered showdown, 16-13, and Gonzales placed second. Many consider this one of the most intense and exciting NCAA finals in history.
Gonzales quickly transferred his skills into international freestyle wrestling, where he had a remarkable career competing for Team USA. Gonzales won a bronze medal at the 1982 World Championships, placed fourth at the 1985 World Championships and competed on four Senior World Teams. He was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team which competed in Los Angeles, Calif.
Among his other achievements were three individual World Cup gold medals and a gold medal at the 1982 Tbilisi Tournament in the Soviet Union, considered as the toughest open international event in the year each season. He was well known for his takedown abilities, technical skills and speed.
Gonzales served as an assistant wrestling coach at Arizona State from 1986-1989. While on the Sun Devil staff, the team won the NCAA Div. I team title in 1988 and claimed four Pac-10 tournament titles.
He was elected as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015.
Trivia answer: There were seven wrestlers from CSU-Bakersfield who won NCAA Div. I national wrestling title, accumulating nine NCAA Div. I individual titles. They were: Joe Gonzales (1980 at 118), John Azevedo (1980 at 126), Dan Cuestas (1981 at 126 and 1982 at 126), Adam Cuestas (1983 at 118), Jesse Reyes (1984 at 142), Paul Keysaw (1991 at 190) and Stephen Neal (1998 at Hwt and 1999 at Hwt).
Joe Gonzales is a great example that it doesn’t matter where a great athlete comes from, but where that athlete is going.
Los Angeles was never known as a hotbed for wrestling, but this is where Joe Gonzales got his start in the sport. Gonzales kicked off his college career at East Los Angeles College, where he won a California Junior College state title.
It was at California State-Bakersfield, a Div. II university which was led by a Hall of Fame coach, the late Joe Seay, where he made a huge jump in the wrestling world. He competed in an era when NCAA Div. II champions were also able to compete in the NCAA Div. I Championships.
Joe Gonzales Hall of Fame biography
In the 1978-79 season for the Roadrunners, Gonzales ran off an amazing 55-0 record at 118 pounds, winning both the NCAA Div. II National Championships and the NCAA Div. I National Championships. He had an amazing 448 takedowns during that season.
Trivia Question: How many CSU-Bakersfield wrestlers were NCAA Div. I champions, and how many NCAA titles did they win? (Bonus points if you can name the wrestlers and the years)
In the 1979-80 season, Gonzales had another outstanding year, winning his second NCAA Div. II national title, then entering the NCAA Div. I Nationals as the No. 1 seed at 118 pounds. He powered to the NCAA finals, where he met another future Hall of Fame athlete, Gene Mills of Syracuse. Mills won this high-powered showdown, 16-13, and Gonzales placed second. Many consider this one of the most intense and exciting NCAA finals in history.
Gonzales quickly transferred his skills into international freestyle wrestling, where he had a remarkable career competing for Team USA. Gonzales won a bronze medal at the 1982 World Championships, placed fourth at the 1985 World Championships and competed on four Senior World Teams. He was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team which competed in Los Angeles, Calif.
Among his other achievements were three individual World Cup gold medals and a gold medal at the 1982 Tbilisi Tournament in the Soviet Union, considered as the toughest open international event in the year each season. He was well known for his takedown abilities, technical skills and speed.
Gonzales served as an assistant wrestling coach at Arizona State from 1986-1989. While on the Sun Devil staff, the team won the NCAA Div. I team title in 1988 and claimed four Pac-10 tournament titles.
He was elected as a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015.
Trivia answer: There were seven wrestlers from CSU-Bakersfield who won NCAA Div. I national wrestling title, accumulating nine NCAA Div. I individual titles. They were: Joe Gonzales (1980 at 118), John Azevedo (1980 at 126), Dan Cuestas (1981 at 126 and 1982 at 126), Adam Cuestas (1983 at 118), Jesse Reyes (1984 at 142), Paul Keysaw (1991 at 190) and Stephen Neal (1998 at Hwt and 1999 at Hwt).
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