Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 23, 1992 TAG: 9202230279
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PHYLLIS A. FAIR SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
FRANKLIN COUNTY WRESTLERS ROMP IN REGIONALS
It was all about control and health, and Franklin County had both.Franklin County had all 13 of its wrestlers healthy, and they wrestled with an abundance of control.
That combination helped Saturday night as the Eagles won their second Northwestern Region wrestling title in three years, and they did it at home.
Franklin County had 218 points followed by Stonewall Jackson of Manassas with 153.
Last year's champion, Woodbridge, finished fourth with 126 points.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advanced to the state tournament Feb. 28-29 at the Arthur Ashe Center in Richmond.
Franklin County coach Kris Kahila said he was pleased how well the Roanoke Valley District teams fared in the two-day, 19-team tournament.
William Fleming finished in fifth place with 90.5 points, Cave Spring was seventh with 76, Patrick Henry was 14th with 36 and Pulaski County was 17th with 24.
"I thought this year the Commonwealth [District] didn't dominate like they did last year," Kahila said.
Teams from the Commonwealth District won the past two region tournaments.
Franklin County won in 1989, beating Woodbridge for the title.
Kahila said there were similarities between that championship team and this one.
That year the Eagles had seven wrestlers in the finals and four were champions. This year five made it to the finals and four won.
The main difference between the two teams is age. Seniors dominated the 1989 team, and this one is mostly juniors, Kahila said.
Stonewall Jackson coach Bill Cameron said he thought his team wrestled well, but he figured by the sheer numbers that Franklin County had entered in the tournament that they should have won.
The Eagles had 13 wrestlers competing.
"They had too many people," Cameron said. "They brought everybody, and we brought 10. And we lost one when we got here."
Stonewall Jackson's 103-pounder Gary Hobbs didn't make weight.
"We were pretty much done before it started," Cameron said.
The Eagles' region champions are Israel Gilbert (135 pounds), Chuck Ellis (140), Thomas Simmons (145) and Hansani Menefee (152).
Franklin County's fifth finalist, 160-pound Derrick Poindexter, lost to four-time region champion Marc Brade of Stonewall Jackson.
Each Eagles champion won his first region title.
Gilbert has placed fifth the past two years, and this year he had to fight hard to overcome his own thoughts.
"I was tensed," he said. "I couldn't get motivated because it was my first title. I was thinking this was my last match here at Franklin County."
Gilbert might not have been able to get motivated, but 103-pound Keno Shepherd was.
The William Fleming junior won his first region title, beating Micah Zehring of Osbourn Park 6-3.
Fleming coach George Miller said it would take a warrior to beat Shepherd.
"The boy he wrestled is awesome, but he [Shepherd] is a warrior himself," he said. "He's as good as anybody in the state."
Kahila said winning the region felt good, and it relieved the pressure the team felt after losing the dual region this month.
"In my heart I felt we could have won that thing," he said. "We wanted to show everybody when we're healthy we do have a good team."
The Eagles have nine wrestlers competing in the state tournament, and Kahila is confident that they will do well - at least as well as they did in 1989. That year Franklin County finished fourth in the state.
With the season coming to an end, Kahila is looking ahead to next year.
Of the nine wrestlers in the state meet, six have another year of eligibility left.
"If we're lucky and healthy, it'll be the best team I've ever coached," Kahila said. \
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