Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 18, 1993 TAG: 9301180010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BIG ORANGE WRESTLING ROMP FOR THE EAGLES
In its most impressive showing, Franklin County walked away with the Big Orange Classic wrestling title Saturday at William Byrd.The Eagles scored a record 284 1/2 points to finish 76 points ahead of William Fleming and nearly 100 in front of Northside.
That was expected, but it wasn't a routine title run for the Eagles. They crowned five Big Orange champions, but on the way to the romp 152-pounder Hassani Menefee suddenly was pinned moments after building a 9-1 lead against Martinsville's Matt Saddler.
Other than that, it was business as usual for Franklin County, which appears to be Timesland's best wrestling team in years. Darren Wray started the Eagles' championship run in the 119-pound division and was joined by teammates Aubrey Wright (140), Thomas Simmons (145), Derrick Poindexter (160) and Ricky Young (heavyweight).
Teamwise, Northside firmly established itself as the favorite for the Region III crown by finishing well ahead of perennial powers Brookville and Martinsville.
There were strong individual performances from other teams as well.
Glenvar's Brandon Semones continued his long winning streak by pinning the Eagles' Landon Cuff for the 189-pound title and his 58th straight victory.
Semones used his experience against Cuff, a sophomore.
"I had a feeling in the second round I could pin him after he started tiring. He had real strong legs and it was hard to get a shot," said Semones, who had a comfortable lead when the pin came.
Given his past performances, Semones' streak might remain safe until the Group A tournament.
"I'd like to go unbeaten two years in a row, but I'm not putting any pressure on myself," he said.
William Fleming's Keno Shepherd stepped up from 103 to 112 pounds and won the title by pinning E.C. Glass' Darrick Dotson with one second left.
It remains to be seen whether he stays at the higher weight or drops back to 103, where he placed second in last year's Group AAA tournament.
"I don't want to go back to 103, I like 112 pounds," said Shepherd.
George Miller, the Fleming coach, isn't so sure.
"He wants to be at 112 because the guy who beat him in the state is at that weight. It depends how his weight goes. He may be at 112 or he may be at 103," Miller said.
Cave Spring's Mike Zirkle established his credentials Saturday. He upset Franklin County's Daniel Gearheart 5-3 in overtime to win the 135-pound title.
Coming into the tournament, Franklin County coach Kris Kahila listed as one of his team's goals beating the record 249 1/2 points the Eagles racked up on the way to the 1991 title. By the time the championship round arrived, they had 259 and were looking toward 300.
"We tried," said Kahila. "But I think this one will be tough to catch. A lot of people will look at the score and say we killed everyone. Really we didn't because there were a lot of hard-fought, close matches."
Kahila listed Simmons' performance as his team's best - a 19-4 technical fall over Cave Spring's Andrew Osborn at 145.
"Thomas was awesome, and I give the Cave Spring kid credit for surviving," Kahila said.
As for Menefee's upset, Kahila said, "We knew he [Saddler] was dangerous with that over-and-under throw. I thought Hassani showed a lot of class to take it the way he did."
Saddler was down 8-2 in the semifinals and used the same maneuver to score a victory. He got a pin in every round and easily qualified as the Big Orange's most exciting closer.
Right after Shepherd's pin at 112, Wray also had a last-second pin of Fleming's John Brandon. Only this one came at the end of the first period instead of at the end of the match. Brandon led 5-4 when Wray got the sudden fall.
"He [Brandon] let his head go over my body. Coach [Kahila] told me to just lock his head," Wray said of the dramatic reversal. "I went to a cradle and it was real tight."
TEAM SCORES (see microfilm)