Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 11, 1992 TAG: 9201110215
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PHYLLIS A. FAIR SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: VINTON LENGTH: Medium
GLENVAR SURPRISING IN BIG ORANGE
They were like teen-agers attending their first dance, nervous and a little bit unsure of themselves. But the Glenvar Highlanders made an impressive first-time effort at the 16th annual Big Orange Classic wrestling tournament at William Byrd High School on Friday.Sixteen teams are participating in the tournament that continues today at 11 a.m. with the championship semifinals followed by the finals.
After one day of competition, Franklin County is in first place with 82 1/2 points followed by Brookville with 65 1/2. The rest of the top 5 are William Fleming with 64, Lord Botetourt 59 1/2 and Martinsville 55.
"It's nice to be ahead at this point, but we're not out of the woods," said Franklin County coach Kris Kahila. "We have to have a good round at 11 a.m. If we don't do well at 11, it will be a dogfight like last year."
Tournament director Jane Layman said there are a lot of good wrestlers in this year's tournament, which should make for a tight competition.
"In years before you had teams come in as powerhouses. This year there are a lot of good individual wrestlers on the teams," Layman said. "For instance, this is the first year Glenvar has been in it, and they have two defending state champions in it."
Glenvar is doing well for a first-time participant. The Highlanders are tied for 12th place with Bassett with 26 points.
Most of Glenvar's points have come from defending state Group A champions Jason Porter (152) and Brandon Semones (171).
In the first round, Semones and Porter pinned their opponents within two minutes. During the quarterfinals, Porter defeated Scott Thomasson of Northside 5-2, and Semones pinned Blacksburg's Chris Pappas halfway through the second period.
Glenvar coach David Mueller said he decided to participate in the tournament because he wanted to give his wrestlers some experience.
"I don't care what our final score is. I just want to prove to people in the valley that single-A wrestling is just as good as double-A and triple-A," Mueller said.
Porter has three of the strongest wrestlers in his class. All three are Big Orange veterans; Bryan Anderson from Lord Botetourt is the defending champion, Todd Doughty of Cave Spring was the third-place finisher last year and Hasani Menefee of Franklin County finished second at 135 pounds last year.
"I figured it would be my luck," said Porter, referring to the tough competition. "I figured I would have to work hard."
Also doing well in the tournament are several other defending Big Orange champions:
In the 103-pound class, Keno Shepherd of William Fleming pinned both of his challengers, the second in 12 seconds.
Franklin County's Thomas Simmons at 145 pounds also pinned his two opponents, but he injured an ankle in the second match.
Last year, Simmons' match was the one that won the title for the Eagles after they trailed Brookville by 17 points. So, he is used to the pressure.
"I'm shooting for the finals and defending my title," he said. "I would like to wrestle without the pressure in the finals so my team won't be needing me to win it for them."
In the 189-pound division, Jeremiah Scott of Brookville got two quick pins. The first match lasted 15 seconds, and the second went 57 seconds.
Martinsville's Tony Inge also pinned his men in the heavyweight class. He will go against William Byrd's Kyle Hamman today.
Layman said this weekend William Byrd is the place to be with all the quality wrestling going on.
"There's no better place to be than here," she said. "You've got some of the best wrestling in the state in single-A, double-A and triple-A in this gym."