Editor's note: This is a story Bee Sports Columnist Ron Agostini wrote in 1990 about then-Modesto Junior College wrestling standout Jesse Frost. The story was published on Nov. 16, 1990.
Jesse Frost cuts a striking presence on the wrestling mat.
Wide and hulking at 260 pounds, he looks like an oversized fire hydrant. Merely thinking of moving him from Point A to Point B -- much less doing it -- is a challenge.
"I've never been overpowered," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Frost, a Modesto Junior College freshman, is 27-1 and is ranked the No. 1 heavyweight in California. He'll use his forte -- bone-crunching strength -- to back up his rating tonight in the Camino Norte Conference tournament at MJC.
"Nobody," emphasized Coach Lee Ehrler, "can force Jesse to back up."
Well, almost nobody. A month after his senior season at Riverbank High, he had arthroscopic surgery on both knees. Simultaneously.
Cartilage damage, caused by years of football and wrestling, weakened his knees. After twice qualifying for the State Meet, he failed as a senior.
"I wanted to get it done so I could come back faster," Frost said of his twin surgeries.
After a year off, Frost returned to wrestling at MJC. It's his opponents who need a break now.
"Jesse has mat-sense," Ehrler said. "He has a concept of what he can do and wrestles within those parameters. He's willing to adapt to the circumstances."
That means Frost can push with the pushers and muscle with the musclers. He has only eight pins, but that illustrates the balance this year in the heavyweight division.
"There are so many matches you win by a point or two," Frost said. "And some guys just don't wrestle you. They stall. It's hard to score points."
The heavyweight limit is 275 pounds, and several of Frost's foes reach that end of the scale. One of them is Robert Avila of East Los Angeles.
"Some have to cut to make weight," Frost explained. "I like to wrestle around 260 or 262. I can eat all I want. Some of the guys I go against starve."
Avila, the prep state runner-up during Frost's senior year at Riverbank, was beaten 4-1 by Frost in the finals of the prestigious Lassen tournament. Frost's victory also gave the Pirates the team title.
Frost soon rose to the top of the state chart.
"I've been on teams that won more than they lost, but never one this good," Frost said of the Pirates, currently ranked seventh. "It's been pretty neat."
Frost's only loss was to Lamar Washington of Lassen in the finals of the Skyline tournament. He trailed 6-0, rallied to tie 7-7, but lost 8-7 because of Washington's riding time.
By the way, Frost's record against Washington this season is 3-1.
Twice this year in dual meets, Frost needed to win for an MJC victory. And twice he's delivered against state powers Lassen and Fresno.
"I try not to think about the pressure," he said. "You have to wrestle your match, not someone else's."
From now through the State Meet, matches will increase in length from six to seven minutes. Frost hopes his broken finger last September and overdone weight-lifting work -- both which held back his overall conditioning -- doesn't come back to haunt him now.
"Six minutes can seem like forever out there," he said. "One hard match can leave you sore for days. It's your strength against his."
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