Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 22, 1991 TAG: 9102220311
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
He was too short to play basketball for Pulaski County High School.
So he was hanging around thinking about what he was going to do with all this new-found time, now that he didn't play hoops anymore. Up came Tommy Hale, the wrestling coach.
"Curtis," said Hale, "I really think you ought to consider wrestling."
Rollins, a rugged football-playing type, had never given it much thought - not that he was totally opposed to the idea of wringing somebody's neck on a wrestling mat.
He started discussing it with some of his friends. Stevie Eaves, Chris Arnold and Ronnie Hamblin had some experience wrestling. They told him he'd love it.
Rollins said he'd give it a shot.
Now Cougars wrestling fans love Rollins.
He added further luster to an already outstanding senior season by winning the Roanoke Valley District tournament at 160 pounds last weekend.
Rollins wrecked Patrick Henry's Paul Kelly 19-7 in the final.
The victory was Rollins' 10th straight and his 22nd in 23 bouts this year.
His only loss came to a wrestler from Lexington, Ky., who was the 1989-90 AAAA runner-up in that state, at the Agie Skeens Memorial tournament during Christmas in Grundy. The Kentucky wrestler prevailed 11-6.
"In the first period, Curtis had the kid 6-1 and had a chance to pin him," Hale said.
"But time ran out on him. After that, the other kid really changed. He was a good wrestler."
So has Rollins changed.
"He was pretty rough when he first got started, and he took some losses," Hale said. "Then he just started getting better and better."
Ultimately, Rollins finished second in the district to Cave Spring's Lee Childs, who would go on to be the Group AAA runner-up.
"I was surprised at how well I did my first year," Rollins said. "Everybody told me I wouldn't have enough experience to reach the regional or the state."
Wrong.
Rollins did wrestle at the Northwestern Region tournament; he finished fifth.
That was a disappointment to him, because only the top four in each class go to the state tournament.
"I thought that I should have placed better than that," he said. "I know I was better than some of those guys. But I was nervous. I'd never wrestled in front of a crowd like that."
Don't get the idea he's afraid of crowds. The mobs he played for at Cougars football games the past two years far exceed anything he'll ever see at a wrestling tournament.
Rollins was a two-way performer, making All Timesland as a linebacker.
Football remains his favorite sport, and one he would like to continue to play at a small college. But he has developed a taste for wrestling.
"I love the competition," he said.
"Winning feels good, but it's terrible to lose."
Not that he has much experience with that. Twice this year, he has wrestled people from the highly regarded Grundy program and creamed them.
At the Skeens tournament, he ran into Will Dales, who had defeated him a year ago, 9-7. Rollins last year got caught in a cradle move in the late stages and blew a lead. This year, Rollins whipped Dales 15-3.
"It wasn't even close," Hale said. "Curtis should have pinned him."
Grundy trotted out a former 171-pounder, John Stiltner, to wrestle Rollins in a quad match at Carroll County this year. Rollins, who has more than 80 takedowns this season, cuffed Stiltner 9-3.
Which brings to mind that Rollins isn't so small anymore.
Since that moment of doubt in his sophomore year, he has sprouted to 5-feet-10. Perhaps he could still play basketball.
Too late. He has other interests now.
"I wish I'd started wrestling my freshman year."
by CNB