Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 24, 1994 TAG: 9403240044
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
He was seeded for the first time in his three NCAA trips. Click!
He wasn't wrestling a "hometown favorite" from the state in which the tournament was being held, as he had the past two years. Click!
His second-round opponent (Feldman received a bye in the first round), fifth-seeded Steve King of Michigan, is backed up at Michigan by a kid named Zachary Feldman - Josh's little brother. Can you say "scouting report"?
Click, open safe, discover . . .
An All-America honor.
Feldman, a senior who finished as one of Tech's top all-time wrestlers, upset King and went on to place seventh nationally among heavyweights in the tournament at the Dean E. Smith Center on the University of North Carolina's campus last weekend. The top eight wrestlers in each weight class are named All-Americans.
Feldman had to overcome a quarterfinal loss in which he was penalized for stalling and a consolation quarterfinal loss to a wrestler he had beaten earlier in the year. He knew he'd be in the top eight when he beat 11th-seeded Tolly Thompson of Nebraska 6-3 in a consolation bracket match, and he finished his run by whipping UNC's Justin Hardy 8-2 to finish seventh.
Against King, the match went into a 30-second sudden-death overtime.
"It was a great feeling when I won the coin toss," said Feldman, who was allowed to choose a starting position. "It's the first time that ever happened to me. I kind of saved my luck."
He still had to get over a loss to Oklahoma's John Kading. Feldman led 3-2 with eight seconds left in the match when he was called for stalling, which gave Kading a point and forced the match into overtime, where Kading won 5-3.
Feldman said Kading "[faked] a lot of shots," so Feldman patiently waited for an opening - apparently too long for the officials' taste.
Feldman came back to beat Thompson and assure himself of at least an eighth-place finish.
"He was in good shape," Feldman said. "All those guys in Nebraska and Iowa, they really bang a lot. He was really putting pressure on me. I think I reacted well. The whole seven minutes, he was going at me. I kept focusing on if I won that match, I'd be an All-American.
"I don't make a lot of mistakes. He banged on my head. I like to stay calm and explode for two or three takedowns, and that's what I did."
Feldman's wrestling career is over, but he's trying to start a boxing career. He'll participate in the Virginia Golden Gloves championships this weekend in Alexandria, and is trying to get on the card for an April 2 event to be held at the Salem Civic Center. A super-heavyweight, he's been boxing for two years under Maynard Quesenberry, who coaches Tech's boxing club.
He wants to become a pro boxer.
"I think I'm doing all right," he said.
\ ON THE DIAMOND: Left-hander Brian Fitzgerald's five-hit shutout against Tulane March 19 was the first Tech shutout in a Metro Conference game since Mike Williams did it against Louisville in 1990 . . . Redshirt freshman walk-on pitcher Steve Schulze, who was considered one of Tech's brightest pitching prospects, is out for the season with an elbow injury. He had thrown four no-hit innings against Pittsburgh in his third start when he heard something pop in his elbow . . . Walk-on right-hander Charlie Gillian has four saves, equaling the highest total of any Tech reliever last year . . . Freshman Mike Terhune has struggled while trying to replace shortstop Dee Dalton, who is in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization. Terhune has seven errors in 16 games; the Hokies have committed 35 errors and have allowed 19 unearned runs in 18 games.
\ HOOPS WRAPUP: Tech's Sue Logsdon finished her career as the all-time leading free-throw shooter in Hokie women's basketball history. She made 203 of 257 shots (78.9 percent). Lisa Griffith made 191 of 247 (77.3 percent) from 1989-93 . . . Entering the women's NCAA Tournament, Tech's Christi Osborne ranked sixth in Division I-A free-throw shooting (95-for-109, 87.1 percent). She finished the season at 87.4 percent, the second-best single-season mark in Tech history to Logsdon's 88.9 percent as a freshman in 1990-91.
A key to the development of Tech's women's team, which has gone 44-14 over the past two years, is stability. Two seasons ago, injuries forced Tech coach Carol Alfano to give 10 different players at least one start. In the past two seasons, Alfano has started the same five players in 55 of 58 games.
In '93-94, Jenny Root, Christi Osborne, Sue Logsdon, Lisa Leftwich and Angela Donnell started all 30 games. In '92-93, Root, Osborne, Logsdon, Leftwich and then-senior Lisa Griffith were the starting five. Root missed only three starts that year; those were taken by Donnell.
\ UPCOMING AT TECH: Baseball - Liberty, 3 p.m. March 24 at English Field; VMI, 3 p.m. March 31 at English Field; VCU, 3 p.m. April 1 at English Field; VCU 2 p.m. April 2 and 3 at English Field; Old Dominion, 3 p.m. April 5 at English Field. Men's tennis - Wake Forest, 1 p.m. March 26 at Burrows-Burleson Tennis Complex.
by CNB