It’s never been easy for the wrestling Gators—but don’t tell them that, because they’re doing just fine.

Despite competing in an out-of-state conference—which means lots of travel, poor home support and having to grapple top local NCAA Division I schools—SF State's wrestlers have consistently been the school's most successful athletes.

As the Gators move through the second half of this season, head coach Lars Jensen—an SF State alum in his 25th year in charge—is looking to continue that success.

“We've been doing a lot of traveling and a lot of wrestling this year,” said Jensen, himself a regional champion in 1980. “We’ve been to Chicago, we've been to Oregon. We’ve had a lot of tournaments so we haven’t had much time off, but we’ve done quite well.”

Add to that travel itinerary Las Vegas, where they edged the Colorado School of Mines in a conference dual (21-20), and a tournament in Arizona this past weekend, where they went 1-3 to post a 3-2 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference thus far.

They’ve also held their own against tough non-conference Division I opponents in Stanford and UC Davis, and will battle CSUs Bakersfield and Fullerton, both D-I schools, in the coming weeks.

“January’s been a brutal month—I mean we've had no break—and after this weekend we’ll go 30 days straight without a day off,” said Curtis Schurkamp, a 125-pound junior who transferred from Cal State Fullerton this past fall. “But it’s been a pretty gratifying to know we've all battled through it. We’ve had some bumps and bruises but nothing too serious, and we’ve started coming up with some good wins.”

Yet it’s been 11 years since Jensen led his team to SF State’s one-and-only national championship title—and for the past two years SF State wrestling hasn’t produced an All-American, something unheard of for 17-straight years prior.

“We want to get our streak back, send four or five guys to nationals, and have a couple All-Americans,” Jensen said. “That’s what our goal this year is.”

Jensen won’t settle for a middling season that so often plagues the school's athletic department. He has high standards to uphold—SF State’s wrestlers have qualified for the national championships every year for the past 44 years.

Last year SF State sent seniors Ken Packard and Will Simmons to the nationals, and while those two grapplers have since graduated, there’s no shortage of talent on this year's roster.

This season Schurkamp posts a 15-9 record, and picked up a first place at the Best of the West Open in Oregon back in November, before finishing runner-up at Southern Oregon early this month.

“There’s a good group of guys here and good coaches,” said Schurkamp, who went unbeaten in four duals this past weekend. “I just beat some tough guys which helped boost my morale a little bit, so hopefully I’ll break into the [state] rankings here soon.”

Jensen is satisfied with this new addition to his team, and said he expects “big things” from Schurkamp.

Another impressive fall transfer is 285-pound heavyweight Steve Franklin, who after going 2-1 this weekend has a winning record at 16-11, recording six pins in the process.

“I just like to win, but there were a few guys this past weekend that were ranked pretty high who I beat, so that's always nice,” Franklin said. “I want to qualify for the nationals. Even if I don't do really well there, I just want to go and see how it all works so next year when I go back, I'll do better.”

And no Gator wrestling story would be complete without the mention of a Lockett brother.

The Lockett name is the stuff of legends at SF State as Ben Lockett—a San Francisco-born-and-bred athlete—joins older brothers Ali (a senior and teammate, currently at 9-6), Virgil (a Gator assistant coach) and Donald on the list of outstanding Gator wrestlers.

Ben Lockett, a 133-pound sophomore has gone 19-11 this year, once pinning top D-I opponent Austin Quarles of Stanford early in the season.

Fellow Gator Marques Gales also beat his Stanford opponent, and recently placed second against Mesa State—although he admits his form has dipped lately.

“It’s all going pretty good as a team,” said Gales, a 174-pound junior from Armijo High School. “But I had a tough weekend—I didn’t do so well [in Arizona] so I’m looking to improve this weekend. I had four matches, two were really tough but two I should have really won. I just couldn’t finish and made a few stupid mistakes.”

But Gales will have an opportunity for a comeback this weekend.

On Friday, the Gators take on D-I school Cal State Bakersfield, then host an all-day California Collegiates tournament Saturday, where they hope top-notch performances will stand them in good stead for the national qualifier in New Mexico on March 1.

“This team has potential to place in the regional tournament, and have at least five All-Americans,” assistant coach Virgil Lockett said. “But right now we’re just focused on our conditioning ... and just critiquing the little things, so when we get to that regional tournament we’re in great shape, and everything we need to work on is fixed. Then we can get out there and do our thing—and win.”