Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993 TAG: 9312160367
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BRIAN DeVIDO STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Take his match in last season's Group AA semifinals. Dunford had his opponent, Poquoson's Eddie Keeton, locked in a cradle and appeared ready to put Keeton on his back.
Keeton obviously had a problem with this situation.
He punched Dunford in the mouth. Just hauled off and socked him one in the kisser.
"[Dunford] had braces and everything," said Craig McClellan, a Northside assistant coach. "His mouth was a mess."
But Dunford didn't charge after Keeton with fire in his eyes and destruction in his heart. No caveman stuff here. Dunford kept his cool, which impressed his coaches.
"He reacted like a champion," said Fred Wagner, the Vikings' head coach. "He stood up, blood pouring down from his mouth, and accepted the disqualification."
That victory put Dunford into the 119-pound championship bout. He had been to the Group AA final before as a 103-pound freshman, losing, 8-6, in overtime to Poquoson's Chad Juhl.
On this night, however, Dunford simply ran into a better wrestler. Park View-Sterling's Mark Hernandez was the defending Group AA champion. Dunford lost, 10-3.
"I just felt like he was a step ahead of me," Dunford said of Hernandez. "Maybe it was his experience."
Dunford was depressed after the loss. He took three weeks off before stepping into a wrestling room again, and he didn't bother to watch the tape of the championship match.
"I know that's got to hurt," said Mark Mast, Dunford's 119-pound teammate. "I'm sure [that loss] is a big drive for Clifton."
Said Wagner, "He hates to lose, but he's learned how to handle losing, which will make him better."
So that brings Dunford to this season, when he will wrestle in the 125-pound division. His 55-9 record is a combination of natural ability and desire, which have helped Dunford win the Blue Ridge District and Region III titles two years in a row.
"He's very fluid and aggressive," said Wagner, in his fifth year as Northside's head coach. "He's a greyhound and a bulldog. Most kids are one or the other; Clifton's both."
Dunford fits right into the mold of wrestler Wagner likes - physical and aggressive.
"He comes at you on fire," said Vikings heavyweight Richie Oliver. "He always keeps the intensity up. He practices like he's wrestling in a match."
Practice doesn't end when Dunford leaves Northside's wrestling room, either. He has a personal wrestling room in the back of his house, and the Northside wrestlers use it. In the off season, about 10 of the Vikings work out there three times a week. They even wrestle there during the season.
"It's like they don't get enough of it here in the 2 1/2 hours they practice in the wrestling room," Wagner said, laughing.
But it all comes back to attitude for Dunford. He sees the mat as turf he's trying to defend.
"I'm like, `This is my mat,' " he said. "I'm always attacking. That's how I wrestle."
He realizes he has a lot to defend, too.
"Finishing second in the state twice, that's pretty good," he said. "I've got a good team, and good guys to work with in the room."
What more could a top-notch wrestler want?
Perhaps a state title?
"All I want him to do [at the state meet] is place," Wagner said. "If he wants first, he can have it. He's going to have to pay the price to place, so he might as well cash it in."
by CNB