A tearful but happy goodbye
Dennis DeLiddo led the Bulldogs to a win in the final home match of
his coaching career
By EDDIE HUGHES / The Collegian
Dennis DeLiddo leaned back in his chair near the wrestling mat, right
leg crossed over left.
His dark black sunglasses kept any tears that might have welled up in
his eyes from being noticeable to the crowd at the near-full North Gym
on Wednesday night.
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Coach Dennis DeLiddo stands at center mat with his mother during
a pre-match standing ovation from the crowd. DeLiddo was given a
framed program cover by assistant athletic director John Kriebs.
Photo by Joseph Hollak |
It was DeLiddo’s final home match as the Fresno State wrestling
coach. Twenty-four seasons. Eleven NCAA top-25 finishes. Nine conference
titles. And with a career record of 313-171-4, the list could go on.
One more notch was added to DeLiddo’s accolades when his Bulldogs
came out fired up and beat Cal State-Bakersfield 25-13 for DeLiddo’s
313th victory.
DeLiddo was emotional upon receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.
Athletic director Scott Johnson presented the coach with a plaque, and
assistant athletic director John Kriebs handed DeLiddo an enlarged, framed
program cover featuring a photo of him and several former Bulldogs wrestlers.
DeLiddo stood in the center of the mat, still wearing his sunglasses to
cover the tears, before finally pulling them off in front of the cheering
crowd.
Then his wrestlers pulled off five straight victories to take a 19-0 lead
that would never be relinquished.
“We wrestled big-time [Wednesday night],” De-Liddo said.
“I couldn’t ask for a better finish.”
As soon as the competition started, DeLiddo was back to his usual coaching
self — standing and shouting instructions to his wrestlers, urging
the referee for a call, exchanging high-fives with his guys after wins.
All this with the sunglasses no longer in sight.
And the Bulldogs were not about to lose on a night that capped the careers
of DeLiddo and four seniors — Clint Walbeck, Marcio Botelho, Jim
Medeiros and Sal Gonzalez.
“This was big,” Botelho said. “We wanted to send [DeLiddo]
out with a win.”
Botelho, ranked No. 7 nationally, did his part, beating Bryan Travers
19-6 at 197 pounds.
“We put the heat on them right away,” Botelho said. “We
took control early and that was great for us. I wanted to go out there
and put a butt-whoopin’ on that guy.”
Botelho’s win followed a 17-6 opening victory by freshman Chris
Gifford at 174 pounds and a 12-3 win by junior Jatinder Singh at 184.
Singh said it was important to send DeLiddo out with a victory.
“We wanted to send him off right,” Singh said. “He was
talking about how he was going to be breaking down.”
But those tears turned to smiles the bigger the Bulldogs’ lead grew.
Walbeck, ranked 16th, followed with a 10-0 decision at heavyweight before
sophomore Christian Bowerman won 19-6.
Bakersfield finally got a win when No. 5 Matt Sanchez pinned the Bulldogs’
Sal Gonzalez to narrow the gap to 19-6.
But Bakersfield’s Anthony Baza’s 13-1 win over Gonzalez at
149 pounds was the Bulldogs’ only other loss. Garrett Spooner, Medeiros
and Shane Seibert all picked up victories for Fresno State.
DeLiddo lingered around the North Gym after the win, living up the moment.
A group of about 20 alumni, including assistants Gerry and Stephen Abas,
gathered on the mat for a photo.
The flashes went off, and there wasn’t a single tear. Just a win
and a smile.
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