#ChampionshipTradition: 1993 NCAA Champion Sylvester Terkay
1/21/2016 8:54:00 AM | Wrestling
RALEIGH, N.C. - Looking across the mat at your opponent, there might not of been a more intimating figure standing there then former Wolfpack heavyweight Sylvester Terkay. Lightly recruited out of high school, Terkay finished his career as one of the top wrestlers in school history.
He was the 1993 national champion at heavyweight, finishing his senior season with a perfect 41-0 record. Terkay reached the NCAA finals his junior season, and was a three-time All-American overall. He still holds the school record for career wins (122) and career pins (64).
After his NC State days, Terkay went on to enjoy many different experiences across the globe. Recently, GoPack.com caught up with Terkay and talked about the many joys he has remembering his time at NC State.
Q: You were born and raised just outside of Pittsburgh, what led you to NC State?
A: I really didn't know anything about NC State before I went there believe it or not. I knew of somebody that had a son that was going to NC State when I was in high school, so that might have been the first connection. At the time, NC State and Coach Guzzo were bringing in a two-time junior college national champion in my weight class (Brian Jackson) so the idea was for me to come down and be somewhere close, so I ended up going to Chowan (N.C.) Junior College for a semester. The idea was for me to get healthy from a knee injury in high school and be competitive for a couple of years and then transfer to NC State, but I ended up having some issues with my coach at Chowan so NC State extended the offer to have me come earlier. I came in and worked out with Brian Jackson at heavyweight and he placed fifth at the (1989) NCAA Championships, but then the next season he was ineligible so that opened the spot for me. It worked out for me and for NC State because I stepped right into the lineup when they needed a heavyweight.
Q: What kind of influence/mentor was Coach Guzzo for you?
A: Coach always believed in me. He had maybe a little bit of a different coaching style, but that worked well for me. He trusted that you were going to do the right thing and work hard and do the stuff you need to do on your own. He wasn't the type of guy that stood over you and hounded you about your responsibilities. He taught me a lot about technique. Coming out of high school, I was very green and raw, and he had a lot of different ways he was able to teach me. He was always so encouraging of me, and I've always appreciated his style of coaching. I always found it a pleasure to be around him, he gave us everything we needed to succeed. It was great to have him as a coach, but probably more important to have him become a friend afterwards. He and his wife have always been big fans of mine and I love them dearly.
Q: What was the feeling of winning a national title as a senior?
A: It was a wonderful thing that stays with you throughout your life. The feeling is continuous and perpetual, you feel a sense of reaching the highest pinnacle of college athletics. It feels as though all that hard work was worth it and you cans always say you were a National Champion. There is a feeling of immense pride for me and my family.
Q: Reading some old articles, so many people said how you might not of been the typical student-athlete when you were at NC State - your nice-guy demeanor, community service involvement, and pride in academics. How important was it for you to be a well-rounded student-athlete?
A: I was a little bit on the shy-side coming out of high school to be honest, but I kind of felt it was an obligation to the university because they did so much for me and gave me such a great opportunity. When you see things working out for you, you can't help but to be grateful for the place that is provided that for you. I did take a position of leadership and helped out where I could. Any outreach project I did, I had such a good time. I still remember there was a group of deaf children that we worked with, and they were really into watching wrestling and we ended up doing different activities with them and just hanging out with them. I enjoyed the whole experience, I always challenged myself to go out and apply myself to every aspect of the college experience. I was always serious about keeping my grades up. I wanted to reflect well onto the university for everything that they did for me. Whatever was out there, I was going to take my best crack at it.
Q: Current heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski is going for his third straight national title, as a former National Champion yourself, how big of an accomplishment has his NC State career been?
A: I don't think anybody can realize how much he has accomplished up to this point, and even how much more he wants to accomplish. To get that title just one time is an amazing accomplishment, but to be consistently good over his entire span and tying to now get that third title just speaks to his dedication to the sport. It is so easy to get hurt, or have somebody surprise you and catch a win over you. He is setting his own place in the history of NC State Athletics and he is doing it very well. He is a top-notch guy to follow and cheer on as he goes. The amount of dedication to get to No. 1 and to have even more dedication to stay at that level, not many people can say they have reached that plateau.
Q: After your NC State career, who got into acting and then both professional wrestling and MMA. What made you decide to go that route?
A: That was something I never thought I would be doing. I was out in California doing some acting and I was enjoying that. I had some friends who were training for pro wrestling and they invited me and I would turn them down thinking it wasn't for me. One day I finally decided to give it a try, so I looked into a wrestling school in Beverly Hills that would train you and then market you and shop you around when you are ready. There was a lot of competition in pro wrestling back then, not just in the U.S. but overseas, so there were a lot of opportunities to break into the industry. It went well for me. I paid my dues, driving two hours to train and learn. It was one of those things that I tried it, and was fortunate enough to pick it up pretty well because I had a lot of the tools that were needed for that profession. It actually led to me getting more acting work, becoming a better stunt man and benefitted me all-around. I ended up doing better in Japan {He was voted the most popular professional wrestler in Japan in 2002} then I did in the U.S. Over there is mainly just about the wrestling and the match, where he it's more about the build up and the drama before the match. I enjoyed it, and have no regrets and had some good runs with different companies.
Q: What are you doing now?
A: I think it is safe to say I starting a new phase of my life. Right now I'm in sales still living up in the Pittsburgh area. It is long hours and just a 'normal job', but I'm around my family now. Out in California a lot of my days were to wake up and workout to look good in anticipation of the next job or train for a fight, but now I'm settled down with a house and a nice pond where I do a lot of fishing these days. I did my thing where I ran around the world trying different stuff, but now I'm back around where I grew up and enjoying life just as much. I still teach some wrestling to local MMA fighters about once a week, and I still roll around a little bit and get in some good workouts trying to keep myself young.
Q: What does it mean to you to be inducted into the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame?
A: I was so impressed with the class of the event and the whole weekend when I was inducted. It was such a great honor to be inducted into the second class, but I was bit intimated when I saw the other inductees and what they accomplished during their Wolfpack careers. I was so grateful, and it made me feel so good that people remembered me and remembered what I did here. It was wonderful to meet the new administration, to see how things have changed and evolved on campus. Then of course to see the familiar faces that I knew when I was down that was very rewarding. It was great to be back in Reynolds one more time. It was an enormous sense of pride.
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He was the 1993 national champion at heavyweight, finishing his senior season with a perfect 41-0 record. Terkay reached the NCAA finals his junior season, and was a three-time All-American overall. He still holds the school record for career wins (122) and career pins (64).
After his NC State days, Terkay went on to enjoy many different experiences across the globe. Recently, GoPack.com caught up with Terkay and talked about the many joys he has remembering his time at NC State.
Q: You were born and raised just outside of Pittsburgh, what led you to NC State?
A: I really didn't know anything about NC State before I went there believe it or not. I knew of somebody that had a son that was going to NC State when I was in high school, so that might have been the first connection. At the time, NC State and Coach Guzzo were bringing in a two-time junior college national champion in my weight class (Brian Jackson) so the idea was for me to come down and be somewhere close, so I ended up going to Chowan (N.C.) Junior College for a semester. The idea was for me to get healthy from a knee injury in high school and be competitive for a couple of years and then transfer to NC State, but I ended up having some issues with my coach at Chowan so NC State extended the offer to have me come earlier. I came in and worked out with Brian Jackson at heavyweight and he placed fifth at the (1989) NCAA Championships, but then the next season he was ineligible so that opened the spot for me. It worked out for me and for NC State because I stepped right into the lineup when they needed a heavyweight.
Q: What kind of influence/mentor was Coach Guzzo for you?
A: Coach always believed in me. He had maybe a little bit of a different coaching style, but that worked well for me. He trusted that you were going to do the right thing and work hard and do the stuff you need to do on your own. He wasn't the type of guy that stood over you and hounded you about your responsibilities. He taught me a lot about technique. Coming out of high school, I was very green and raw, and he had a lot of different ways he was able to teach me. He was always so encouraging of me, and I've always appreciated his style of coaching. I always found it a pleasure to be around him, he gave us everything we needed to succeed. It was great to have him as a coach, but probably more important to have him become a friend afterwards. He and his wife have always been big fans of mine and I love them dearly.
Q: What was the feeling of winning a national title as a senior?
A: It was a wonderful thing that stays with you throughout your life. The feeling is continuous and perpetual, you feel a sense of reaching the highest pinnacle of college athletics. It feels as though all that hard work was worth it and you cans always say you were a National Champion. There is a feeling of immense pride for me and my family.
Q: Reading some old articles, so many people said how you might not of been the typical student-athlete when you were at NC State - your nice-guy demeanor, community service involvement, and pride in academics. How important was it for you to be a well-rounded student-athlete?
A: I was a little bit on the shy-side coming out of high school to be honest, but I kind of felt it was an obligation to the university because they did so much for me and gave me such a great opportunity. When you see things working out for you, you can't help but to be grateful for the place that is provided that for you. I did take a position of leadership and helped out where I could. Any outreach project I did, I had such a good time. I still remember there was a group of deaf children that we worked with, and they were really into watching wrestling and we ended up doing different activities with them and just hanging out with them. I enjoyed the whole experience, I always challenged myself to go out and apply myself to every aspect of the college experience. I was always serious about keeping my grades up. I wanted to reflect well onto the university for everything that they did for me. Whatever was out there, I was going to take my best crack at it.
Q: Current heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski is going for his third straight national title, as a former National Champion yourself, how big of an accomplishment has his NC State career been?
A: I don't think anybody can realize how much he has accomplished up to this point, and even how much more he wants to accomplish. To get that title just one time is an amazing accomplishment, but to be consistently good over his entire span and tying to now get that third title just speaks to his dedication to the sport. It is so easy to get hurt, or have somebody surprise you and catch a win over you. He is setting his own place in the history of NC State Athletics and he is doing it very well. He is a top-notch guy to follow and cheer on as he goes. The amount of dedication to get to No. 1 and to have even more dedication to stay at that level, not many people can say they have reached that plateau.
Q: After your NC State career, who got into acting and then both professional wrestling and MMA. What made you decide to go that route?
A: That was something I never thought I would be doing. I was out in California doing some acting and I was enjoying that. I had some friends who were training for pro wrestling and they invited me and I would turn them down thinking it wasn't for me. One day I finally decided to give it a try, so I looked into a wrestling school in Beverly Hills that would train you and then market you and shop you around when you are ready. There was a lot of competition in pro wrestling back then, not just in the U.S. but overseas, so there were a lot of opportunities to break into the industry. It went well for me. I paid my dues, driving two hours to train and learn. It was one of those things that I tried it, and was fortunate enough to pick it up pretty well because I had a lot of the tools that were needed for that profession. It actually led to me getting more acting work, becoming a better stunt man and benefitted me all-around. I ended up doing better in Japan {He was voted the most popular professional wrestler in Japan in 2002} then I did in the U.S. Over there is mainly just about the wrestling and the match, where he it's more about the build up and the drama before the match. I enjoyed it, and have no regrets and had some good runs with different companies.
Q: What are you doing now?
A: I think it is safe to say I starting a new phase of my life. Right now I'm in sales still living up in the Pittsburgh area. It is long hours and just a 'normal job', but I'm around my family now. Out in California a lot of my days were to wake up and workout to look good in anticipation of the next job or train for a fight, but now I'm settled down with a house and a nice pond where I do a lot of fishing these days. I did my thing where I ran around the world trying different stuff, but now I'm back around where I grew up and enjoying life just as much. I still teach some wrestling to local MMA fighters about once a week, and I still roll around a little bit and get in some good workouts trying to keep myself young.
Q: What does it mean to you to be inducted into the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame?
A: I was so impressed with the class of the event and the whole weekend when I was inducted. It was such a great honor to be inducted into the second class, but I was bit intimated when I saw the other inductees and what they accomplished during their Wolfpack careers. I was so grateful, and it made me feel so good that people remembered me and remembered what I did here. It was wonderful to meet the new administration, to see how things have changed and evolved on campus. Then of course to see the familiar faces that I knew when I was down that was very rewarding. It was great to be back in Reynolds one more time. It was an enormous sense of pride.
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