Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 16, 1993 TAG: 9301160211
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FRANKLIN COUNTY COACH NOT HAPPY DESPITE BIG LEAD
A 23-point lead in the Big Orange Winter Classic wrestling tournament did not make Franklin County coach Kris Kahila as happy as you might have thought Friday."Are we going to come down here tomorrow and kick some serious [posterior] or what?" he asked his team after the last bout at William Byrd. "Are we, or not? If we're not, I'll just stay home and watch football on television."
Apparently alarmed at the boss' demeanor, the Eagles wrestlers gave hurried and nervous assurances that they didn't want the coach vegging out on the sofa while they had to deal with Northside and other contenders.
Northside rolled up 98 points to stay within shouting distance of the Eagles and maintain hope of denying them their sixth straight Big Orange crown.
"I'm not worried about the points," Vikings coach Fred Wagner said. "If the kids wrestle as they can, then the points will take care of themselves. Worrying about the points is pressure they don't need. I'll worry about the points."
William Fleming was third with 82 1/2 points but when the semifinals start this morning at 10:30, with Franklin County advancing 12 wrestlers, it's going to take a catastrophe for the Eagles to collapse.
"I'm very happy with where we are but I'm unhappy with some of the distractions we've had," Kahila said. "It makes you wonder when they're going to get focused. . . . If we try hard and get beat, that doesn't bother me. We go in unfocused and get beat, that bothers me."
There seems to be little to worry about with a couple of the Eagles wrestlers. Hasani Menefee at 152 pounds and Thomas Simmons at 145 churned through a combined four matches with four pins.
"It didn't feel right today," said Menefee, who improved to 17-1. "It just felt like a regular match. I wanted to be more psyched up, but I wasn't. Maybe tomorrow.
Menefee faces Chip Nininger of Northside in the semifinals with Corey Steuck of Brookville, who won at 145 here last year, looming in the other semifinal.
Other impressive performances of the day were turned in by Eddie Jones of Williams Fleming at 171 and Brandon Semones of Glenvar at 189. Each came up with two quick pins.
Jones wore out Chris Reese of Heritage, nailing him at 15 seconds, then stapled John Blair of Brookville to the mat at 33 seconds. Jones improved his record to 16-0 with 15 pins. He won here last year at 160.
"Once you've won something, you have to defend it," he said. "There's some pressure. I don't take anybody lightly and I listen to everything my coaches tell me. That's how you win."
Elsewhere in the Fleming contingent, Keno Shepherd pinned his way into the semifinals at 112. He was the 103 champ last year.
Semones has moved up to 189 after winning two straight Group A titles, the most recent at 171. He extended his winning streak to 56 Friday.
Northside advanced eight wrestlers into the semifinals. A couple of the Vikings' best - Clifton Dunford at 119 and Bryan Van Ravenstein at 160 - will be around today. Travis Jarrard pulled off an upset when he slipped past Fleming's Terrence Dozier 11-10 to make the 130-pound semifinals.
TEAM RESULTS (see microfilm)