Eric Guerrero

Eric Guerrero

Personal information
Full name	Eric Guerrero
Nationality	United States
Born	(1977-05-15) 15 May 1977 San Jose, California, United States
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Sport	Wrestling
Style	Freestyle
Club	Gator Wrestling Club
College team	Oklahoma State Cowboys
Coach	John Smith
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing the  United States Pan American Games 1999 Winnipeg 58 kg 2003 Santo Domingo 60 kg

Eric Guerrero (born May 15, 1977 in San Jose, California) is a retired amateur American freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's lightweight category.^[1] He won three consecutive NCAA (1997–1999) and four U.S. Open titles (2001–2004), scored two medals in the 58 and 60-kg division at the Pan American Games (1999 and 2003), and represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Guerrero has also served as a member of the wrestling squad for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, and is currently an assistant head coach of the said team. Being part of the university's staff, he has led the Cowboys to two NCAA tournament trophies, eleven national champions, five Big-12 conference titles, and thirty-six NCAA All-Americans. For displaying his sportsmanship and expertise in coaching, Guerrero has been inducted to the USA Wrestling Hall of Fame in June 2014.^[2]

Career

College

Guerrero started his sporting career as a member of Independence High School's wrestling team. From there, he had won a cadet world title in 1993, granted his first team ASICS All-American recognition (1994 and 1995), achieved junior world and national titles in 1995, and was named California Male Athlete of the Year on that year.^[2] Because of his stellar high school career, Guerrero matriculated to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma to further pursue his sport. He also became a member of the wrestling squad for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, under head coach and double Olympic champion John Smith.^[3]

While wrestling for the Cowboys, Guerrero compiled a 117–13 overall record at Oklahoma State for four consecutive seasons (1996–1999), highlighted by a perfect 31–0 record his senior year in which he recorded twelve technical falls and seven major decisions. He redshirted the freshman season with a fifth-place effort at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. In the 1997 season, he won the 126-pound weight class, and would repeat his triumph in 1998. Despite weighing at 133 pounds in 1999, Guerrero still dominated the field by picking up bonus-point victories in the first four straight matches, and then prevailing a 3–1 verdict over Iowa State University's Cody Sanderson in his third-straight title bout.^[2]

For contributing to the college team's success, Guerrero became one of only twelve four-time NCAA All-Americans to be inducted in the Oklahoma State University's wrestling history. Additionally, he was recognized as a two-time Academic All-America selection.^[2]

Freestyle wrestling

Upon completing his college career at Oklahoma State in 1999, Guerrero joined the U.S. world wrestling team, and eventually earned his first berth at the World Championships.^[4] On that same year, he also picked up a silver medal in the 58-kg division at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, losing out to the host nation's Guivi Sissaouri on the final bout.

While competing internationally, Guerrero achieved four U.S. Open titles (2001–2004), obtained a World Cup series trophy in 2003, and took part as a member of the U.S. wrestling team in three more World Championships.^[5] At the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Guerrero pinned his Puerto Rican rival Luis Ortiz to clinch the bronze medal in the 60-kg division.^[6]

Guerrero qualified for the U.S. wrestling team on his major debut in the men's 60 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Earlier in the process, he thrashed his opponent Mike Zadick on the final bout to claim a spot on the U.S. team from the Olympic Trials.^[7][8] Guerrero lost two straight matches each at 1–3 in overtime to Mongolia's Oyuunbilegiin Pürevbaatar and Georgia's David Pogosian, leaving him on the bottom of the pool and placing sixteenth in the final standings.^[9][10] Shortly after the Games, Guerrero retired from competitive wrestling to turn his focus on coaching.

Coaching

Guerrero initially joined his alma mater's team staff as a strength and conditioning coach in 2001, until he was promoted into the position of a full-time assistant coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, following the 2004 Summer Olympics. During his time in the staff, he helped the Cowboys produce four consecutive NCAA titles, eight Big 12 Conference titles, and thirty-six NCAA All-Americans to their college records.^[2] Additionally, he coached eleven wrestlers from the team, whom they later became NCAA champions in their respective weight categories, including 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott in men's 60 kg (132 lb).^[11]

In 2009, Guerrero was appointed as head coach for the U.S. team at the FILA Junior World Wrestling Championships in Ankara, Turkey, and led his squad to a most spectacular display in 11 years.^[2]

Following his nine-year duration on the Oklahoma State wrestling staff, Guerrero was upgraded to his position as an associate head coach for the 2012–2013 season. On June 21, 2014, Guerrero was formally inducted into the USA Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.^[12]

Personal life

Guerrero is married to former Miss Texas and Miss America top-ten finalist Kristen Blair in the summer of 2012. The couple currently resides in Stillwater, Oklahoma with their two children Kaitlyn and Ishmael.^[13]

References

External links

• Profile – International Wrestling Database
• Eric Guerrero OSU Bio