SF State wrestler Pacifico Garcia was crowned national champion, capturing the 149-pound title at the NCAA Division II National Championships on March 12 in Omaha, Neb.

Garcia tallied a perfect 4-0 record on his way to the title, including wins over No. 1-ranked Ryan King from Augustana College in the semifinals 9-4 and No. 3-ranked Jason Rhoten from Minnesota State-Mankato in the finals 2-1.

“I’m very excited,” Garcia said. “Goals and dreams and all this hard work I put into it, it all paid off.”
Donald Lockett also brought home some hardware with his third-place finish in the 141-pound weight class. Lockett, last year’s runner-up in the 133-pound weight class, lost in the semifinals to Pittsburg-Johnstown’s Thad Benton, 11-4. Benton won his next match in the finals to win the 141-pound national title.

“I don’t really want to make excuses,” said Lockett, who lost to Central Oklahoma’s Cole Province 6-3 at last year’s competition. “I had a chance to win it, but I just lost. Two years in a row, (I) lost to the national champ.”

With his loss, Lockett, a senior, ends his collegiate career as one of the best wrestlers in school history. This year alone, Lockett compiled a 41-7 record, was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the California Collegiate Wrestling Tournament and was also named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Year. He’s also now a two-time all-American, three-time academic all-American and totaled a 95-50 career record.

“There’s nothing else I can do,” said Lockett, noticeably disappointed after coming so close to a national title for the second straight year. “I didn’t achieve my goal, but I have nobody to blame but myself.”

Gator senior wrestler Jaime Alvarez lost his first-round match in the 157-pound weight class to Findlay’s Angelo Vettese by pin-fall at 6:12 in the match, then lost to West Liberty State’s Luke Main 9-6 in the consolation bracket. Vettese was the eventual runner-up and Main finished in fifth.

With Garcia’s win and Lockett’s third-place finish, the Gators finished tied for 11th with Central Oklahoma in the team standings with 35.5 points. Nebraska-Omaha, the tournament’s host school, was led by three individual national champions to win their second straight team national title with 109.5 points. Augustana College finished second with 101 points and Minnesota State-Mankato finished third with 77.5 points.

“Things didn’t work out for Donald,” said SF State wrestling head coach Lars Jensen. “It wasn’t in his cards. He just didn’t wrestle his best. The guy just beat him.”

Jensen said prior to Garcia’s win in the finals, the Gators were 15th (out of the tournament’s 32 teams) in the team rankings. But once he wrapped up the title, the team catapulted to 11th in the team rankings.

“Pacifico just wrestled outstanding,” Jensen said. “It’s a cap on his hard work.”

Garcia, a junior, finished this year with a 33-7 record, and wrestled his best at the right time of the season. He won the 149-pound weight class at the California Collegiate Wrestling Tournament on Feb. 5, at the West Regionals on Feb. 26. and now at the National Championships last Saturday.

“It’s been a great year, and my teammates have been really supportive,” Garcia said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

It’s not a surprise that the duo of Lockett and Garcia finished as high as they did in their respective weight classes. Lockett came into nationals as the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 141 pounds by the Division II Wrestling Coaches’ Association rankings, and Garcia was the No. 4-ranked wrestler at 149 pounds.

“It’s tough, but it only makes me a stronger person,” said Lockett, who also won his weight class at the California Collegiates and regionals. “It’s highs and lows, but that’s the nature of sports.”

“I kind of feel bad that he wasn’t able to share it with me,” Garcia said. “But he finished third and (is) now a two-time all-American, and you can’t take that away from him.”

With the fate of the athletics program uncertain, Garcia said he hopes he can just get a chance to defend his title next season, and possibly win a second straight national championship.

“This has been a goal for me since high school,” Garcia said. “People told me ‘The hardest thing to do is to repeat as national champion,’ but right now I’m going to relax and enjoy this title. It’s still sinking in.”

Garcia is the first Gator wrestler to win a national championship since Mauricio Wright won the 184-pound weight class in the 2003 season.