Gormley: West Torrance’s Fall Guy : Wrestling: Defending state heavyweight champion has pinned 29 of 31 opponents this season.

Forget about winning. At this point, surviving a wrestling match against Josh Gormley is worth high-fives and hugs. Score a point, you get a parade.

Thirty-one matches into the season, the defending state heavyweight champion has pinned 29 opponents, some within a minute. So far, nobody has actually scored on him with a wrestling move. Two points, however, have been registered against him, both for stalling during matches.

“I was not really stalling,” Gormley said. “The referees just like to give those other guys a chance.”

Gormley, a West Torrance High senior, is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds. In the Pioneer league final on Friday at North Torrance, he pinned his opponent in less than 30 seconds.

“I feel sorry for opponents sometimes,” Gormley said. “I can see they are scared because they are wrestling me, the state champion. I don’t like to embarrass guys like that. I just get them out of there.

“But, some guys, the real jerks, I like to beat the (heck) out of them. Guys who talk at other tournaments and say they are going to beat me, I like to take care of them.”

His attitude is indicative of how the title has changed Gormley, who--intimidating comments aside--admits that last season he lacked confidence.

West Coach Kent Wyatt said Gormley, who transferred from Red Bluff High in Northern California during his junior year, was inconsistent most of last season. He would not always work hard in practice. His record was 29-5 and he was the last of the five qualifiers for the CIF 3-A Division final. An underdog, he advanced through the divisional and Masters meets to reach the state final at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. There he swept through five matches to become champion.

“He’s 100% turned around from last year,” Wyatt said. “Last year he was pretty lazy. His knee was hurting him, and sometimes he would use that as an excuse not to practice. Now there’s more pressure on him. Last year, he came out of nowhere to become champion. Now he is putting pressure on himself to be champion and to be undefeated.

“His problem last year was a lack of confidence. But he had that great state tournament and probably the first match he wrestled this year, he was better than in state.”

During the off-season, Gormley often watched a videotape of the state final. He says he can hear his mother screaming for him from the stands.

“Sometimes I think about (the finals) when I sleep and stuff,” Gormley said. “I think, ‘That was great.’ I’d love to do it again. I want to win the nationals. I know I can.”

Tom Hazell, the El Camino College wrestling coach, has worked with Gormley for two years. Hazell believes Gormley has the potential to be a national champion and wrestle in the Olympics.

“He’s that good,” said Hazell, twice an All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State.

Said Wyatt: “Besides being big, he’s very quick and agile. Those are real good attributes. Probably his biggest attribute is his quickness. He shoots single-leg takedowns like a middleweight.”

But Gormley’s future isn’t necessarily wrapped up in wrestling tights.

He was an All-CIF Division VIII offensive lineman for West’s Pioneer League tri-champion football team last season and is considered a major-college prospect.

“I think a lot of people would like to have him,” said Mark Knox, who recently resigned as co-coach of West’s football team.

“As far as physical talent and size, he’s a solid Division I player,” said Dick Lascola, director of the Fallbrook, Calif.-based Scouting Evaluation Assn. “He plays hard and is extremely quick off the ball. He is an extremely aggressive kid. I think he’s a Pac-10 kid. A football player of his size and quickness can play in the Pac-10, Big Eight, Big Ten, Southwest Conference. He can play anywhere.”

Schoolwork has proved a stumbling block for Gormley, however. He has not met college academic requirements and still has not taken the Scholastic Aptitude Test, for which a 700 score is required for NCAA freshman eligibility.

Although Gormley was recruited by Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State and Idaho for football, he did not sign a national letter of intent during the signing period earlier this month.

Hazell is one of many coaches recruiting Gormley for wrestling.

“I’d like to concentrate on football, but also do wrestling,” Gormley said.

Gormley missed three weeks of the season in January, when he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to remove and repair damaged ligaments. Entering the CIF 3-A final Friday at Valencia High in Placentia, Gormley says his right knee is completely healed.

“It was pretty messed up,” Gormley said. “The only time I was nervous this year was the first few times coming back after surgery. When I would first step on the mat, I was kind of scared. But once I started to wrestle I was fine, and now I don’t get nervous anymore.”

For those about to wrestle Gormley, that was probably the last thing they’d want to hear.