Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994 TAG: 9401200421
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BRIAN DeVIDO STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DALEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
It has been an exhausting day already, and there's more to come. Stewart's coach stands with a whistle hanging from his neck, intent on motivating his team.
Stewart is weary, sweaty and not as strong as he'd like to be. Keeping his weight down requires him to eat less than a normal teen-ager does.
But that doesn't matter. Not now. The coach is telling Stewart that he is down by one point. If he can escape from his opponent, he will earn a tie.
But a tie is a loss, his coach says. Stewart needs to score two points to win.
The air is hot in the room, so hot that wearing anything but a T-shirt and shorts makes it feel like the Sahara Desert in the middle of summer.
It doesn't matter that Stewart is draped in a thick gray sweat suit, either. The drenched clothing probably makes the room feel 10 degrees hotter, but Stewart, Lord Botetourt High School's star 145-pound wrestler, sticks it out. Hard work is his middle name. He loves this stuff.
Stewart has won 14 of his 15 matches this season. He won the Knights Invitational Tournament (James River) and the Salem Ironman Tournament and finished second at the Big Orange Wrestling Championships over the weekend, losing 6-4 to Franklin County's Daniel Gearhart, who finished second in the Group AAA meet last year. None of Stewart's four matches in the Ironman Tournament lasted the distance, and Stewart won by a first-period pin in the finals.
His work ethic is pure Spartan, a throwback to older times, Botetourt coach Mark Agner says.
After finishing a torrid two-hour practice recently, Stewart came out of the wrestling room and decided he wanted more.
"Can you wait a while?" he asks. "I want to go drill."
This is nothing for Stewart, though. Just a typical day of working hard until his body is on the verge of collapse. After drilling with teammates for 20 minutes or so, Stewart will drive to the health club where he works out. There, he will either pound the steps of the Stairmaster or run on the club's indoor track. Most of the time, he'll do both.
It is the kind of regimen that makes a champion.
"He has a tremendous amount of desire," Agner says. "I know that sounds kind of corny, but nowadays it's so hard to find somebody who wants to be the best. I think it's probably universal in all high school sports."
Stewart, who hopes to wrestle at The Citadel (Agner's alma matter) next year, has achieved a large amount of success already. Last year, wrestling in the 140-pound division, he finished second in the Blue Ridge District, second in the Region III meet and sixth in Group AA en route to a 26-7 record. In 1991-92, he won the district and region meets but didn't place in the Group AA meet. His career mark is 75-23, and he intends to win the Group AA title this year.
It is something he doesn't mind working for, despite the sacrifices he has to make.
"I tell you, man. The kids at school - they don't understand. They don't understand at all," he says. "Kids spend a couple of dollars on lunch, and I'm sitting there eating a pear or an apple."
It takes a different type of person to succeed in this sport, with all the sacrifices to be made. Stewart is that kind of person. Agner found that out when Stewart first walked into the wrestling room.
"He was a freshman," Agner says. "All cocky and full of himself."
Agner let Stewart get in the bottom position. He proceeded to let the entire varsity team - from the 103-pounder to the heavyweight - get on top of Stewart. One by one, the varsity wrestlers tried to break Stewart down, tried to make him quit. After going through the lineup twice, Agner finally had to stop the competition. His 103-pounder had broken his shoulder while wrestling Stewart.
"I wanted to beat him [Stewart] down into the mat," Agner said. "I didn't want to ruin him, but I couldn't break him. He wanted to keep fighting."
And Agner knew he had a competitor. He says Stewart is the best wrestler he's coached in his 10 years at Lord Botetourt.
There was a match this season that left Agner almost speechless. In the semifinals of the Ironman Tournament in December, Stewart faced Derrick Bryant of William Fleming. Bryant had beaten Stewart by one point when the two met last season.
This time, however, it was no contest. Stewart took a 10-1 first-period lead before Bryant suffered a concussion that forced him to withdraw from the match.
Stewart doesn't want to tell what move it was, though. He wants to save it for future opponents. But Agner will say this about the move, which is used when Stewart is on top of his opponent:
"It's like a Mike Tyson drop-down, knockout blow," Agner said. "I told Bobby afterwards that I've never had a kid wrestling at that stage at that part of the season. I really don't know how to challenge him."
by CNB