Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993 TAG: 9312230416
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN DeVIDO STAFF WRITER <
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
First, there is Coleman the wrestler.
This season, the William Fleming High School senior is one of the Colonels' captains. He has blazed his way to a 14-1 start and is a good bet to qualify for the Group AAA tournament at 112 pounds.
Then there is Coleman's other sport at Fleming - tennis.
Wrestling and tennis?
"That's a rare combination," said George Miller, the Colonels' wrestling coach.
Coleman said both sports bring out the same quality in him - competitiveness.
"I just see all my sports as competition," said Coleman, who plays second singles and first doubles in tennis while serving as Fleming's captain. "I try to knock everybody out.
"If you show aggressiveness on the mat, you'll win. You'll strike fear into your opponent. If you're hollering and hitting the ball hard in tennis, then the same thing happens. It's all competition to me."
Which brings Coleman to his current sport. He survived mat wars with some tough company to earn the chance to wrestle with the varsity. John Brandon, who won the Roanoke Valley District title at 119 pounds last season, and Keno Sheperd, who finished second in Group AAA at 103 in 1992 and fourth in Group AAA at 112 last season, were his main workout partners.
When Coleman came to Fleming as a freshman, he had no wrestling experience. Brandon and Shepherd had wrestled in middle school.
It was an unpleasant crash course in the sport.
"You had to learn from them real fast or you'd get drilled into the mat every day," said Coleman, who didn't wrestle on the varsity until last season.
"They worked on me, and they kept pushing me."
Said Miller: "He was unable to start because he had district champions ahead of him. He was fast to catch on and was fortunate to have some of the best wrestlers in the area to help him."
He said Coleman's intelligence - he has a 3.2 grade-point-average - helps him on the mat.
"He's quick, always thinking, looking to the corner for instructions," said Miller, who is in his 15th and final year as Fleming's head coach. "He knows he doesn't have to go into the match alone."
And that has paid off for Coleman - especially this season in a match against Potomac High School.
Coleman was losing 2-0 late in his bout and was in the bottom position. He scored an escape to trim the lead to 2-1, but he didn't know what kind of takedown to try on his opponent.
So Coleman did what he always does when he's in trouble during a match. He looked to his corner.
"I didn't know what move to hit, so I looked over at Coach [Miller]," Coleman said. "He said to do a double [leg-takedown] to the outside. I did a double, put my head on the outside, and took him down."
Coleman won 4-2.
But it's as much intensity as intellect for Coleman.
"He's like Jekyll and Hyde," Miller said of Coleman's transformation from model student to carnivorous wrestler when he hits the mat. "He's always pumped up and ready to go."
Last season, Coleman won the district at 112 pounds and finished fifth in the Northwestern Region.
That left him one spot shy of qualifying to compete in the Group AAA meet. But so far, things are looking up for Coleman - and for the Colonels.
They beat six-time defending district champ Franklin County 38-26 on Dec. 15, knocking off the Eagles for the first time in eight years. Coleman scored a first-period pin, one of five falls recorded by Fleming wrestlers.
"These guys set a goal at the beginning of the season to go undefeated," Miller said. "Most of them have been here since they were freshmen."
After this year, Coleman is keeping his options open.
"I'd rather play tennis [in college]," he said, "but if I can go to college on a wrestling scholarship, I'll wrestle."
by CNB