Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993 TAG: 9302140225
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
FRANKLIN COUNTY WRESTLERS DOMINATE
Trung Nguyen quickly removed any doubt about who would win the Roanoke Valley District wrestling tournament Saturday night.The 112-pound freshman from Franklin County pinned William Fleming standout and 1992 state runner-up Keno Shepherd.
It was the most shocking of the six pins recorded by the host Eagles in the finals, and it propelled them to their sixth straight district title, 205-156 over the Colonels.
Cave Spring with 131 1/2 points took third place, followed by Patrick Henry (79) and Pulaski County (52).
"I just caught him in a head and forearm," said Nguyen, who trailed 5-2 when he recorded the fall 37 seconds into the second period. "He was pretty much surprised. I knew I had to catch him [by surprise] to beat him."
Had Shepherd won that match, William Fleming would have trailed by only nine points. Instead, the Eagles expanded their advantage.
"Any time you see your leader go down, it takes something out of those who wrestle after that," Fleming coach George Miller said. "A team is only as strong as its leader. He [Shepherd] was clearly in control of the match. . . . But I will tell you this, Keno will be back, next week [in the Northwestern Region meet] and the week after [the state meet]."
Another freshman, 125-pounder Brian Jones, also stepped forward for Franklin County. He disposed of Robert Kaczmarak of Cave Spring in the first period.
"I just tried to get intense," said Jones. "I've been starting out kind of slow. I've been flat for about two weeks. So I went out there looking for the pin."
Nguyen and Jones became the first freshmen to win district titles in five years for Franklin County.
Four seniors also recorded pins: Aubrey Wright (140), Hasani Menefee (152), Derrick Poindexter (160) and Tyson Poage (189).
The brightest spot for runner-up William Fleming came at 171 pounds where junior Eddie Jones remained unbeaten at 23-0. He recorded two pins despite bruising his chest in practice Friday.
"It took a lot of heart," said Jones, who had the fastest pin of the tournament - 26 seconds - in the semifinals. "I had to forget about the pain and go out there and get with it.
"Coach [Miller] said that when you get on the mat, all the pain goes away. And that's what happened." \
See microfilm for complete results