Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412300064
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The grand old coach was the late Ken Shelton, who first built Northside High School into a state power and then was an outstanding coach and educator at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
His legacy in the Roanoke Valley lives on through several officials who wrestled for him at Northside and for the Vikings' new coach, Mark Agner, who moves from Lord Botetourt.
Agner was perhaps the closest person to the Shelton family, and while he was at Lord Botetourt, he employed many of the same philosophies that Shelton taught him as a wrestler at Northside and The Citadel.
Agner moved to Northside this year when two-time Timesland Coach of the Year Fred Wagner left to become an assistant football coach at William Byrd High School. The roots of the wrestling tree in the Shelton clan have grown as three Timesland coaches - Staunton River's David Lugar, Lord Botetourt's Tater Benson and Shawsville's Tom Mitchell - were tutored by Agner.
The new Northside coach moves into one of Timesland's most solid programs. The Vikings and Franklin County should be the premier teams from this part of Virginia, just as they have been for the last two seasons.
Northside finished second and third in Group AA state wrestling the last two years, while Franklin County seeks its ninth Roanoke Valley District title in a row under coach Kris Kahila.
If there is an outstanding returning wrestler, it is William Byrd's Patrick Henderson, who steps up from 135, where he was 24-4, to 152 pounds. As a sophomore, he was second in the state. After winning Region III last year, he didn't place in the state.
``We're expecting big things out of him,'' said Byrd coach Barry Trent. ``I don't think it will be a tough move [up in weight class], because he was wrestling lower last year than he should have been.''
At Northside, Agner says ``it's like a dream come true, back to the alma mater. Northside has one of the best reputations as one of the best schools in general. Getting a job at Northside isn't easy.''
Roanoke County sought out Agner to make the change. The Vikings return five outstanding wrestlers headed by Leland Keeling, who won Region III and was fourth in the state at 130 pounds.
Other returning state tournament wrestlers include Brad Hungate (119), David Higgins (145) and Chip Nininger (189), who all move up a class in weight. Robbie Trent (160) was fifth in Region III at 152, and Mike Noell (152), another returning starter, moves up from 145.
Agner, as assistant football coach, is getting new talent. Jeff Painter, one of Timesland's top offensive linemen, is coming out for wrestling at heavyweight. Agner says because of Painter's athletic prowess, ``he's a threat to any heavyweight in the state.''
Agner doesn't believe Northside can equal the last two years. ``The potential may be here. We're kind of hurting at 103 pounds. One of my biggest disappointments is that we had 20 out the first two weeks. It's up to 30 now, but when I went to school here, we had at least 50 wrestlers out.''
Franklin County has won three of the last six Group AAA Northwest Region titles and plays host to that tournament this year.
The only returning wrestler who placed at last year's Group AAA state tournament is John Muse (160). Bryan Jones (140) was fourth in summer Greco-Roman wrestling at 142. Brian Saul, the Northwest Region champion at 103, will stay at that class. Two-time district champ Trung Nguyen (112) and Landon Cuff (171 regional runner-up moving to 189) are also back to help the Eagles continue their run.
``We only had six make the state, and four are back,'' Kahila said. ``This team looks real good and is much improved over last year's team. I feel very excited, but we have to get a lot of people in the right weight classes.''
A look at other schools in the area:
Cave Spring: The Knights are rebuilding behind Scott Sallis (112 to 119), who was fourth in the Northwest Region, and Robert Kaczmarek (135 to 140 or 145) and Tim Carter (171), who were both second in the RVD.
Glenvar: Scott Harrison (119) was third in the Pioneer District, and Aaron Akers (189) was second in Region C for Coach Dave Mueller, who has only 15 people out after he expected to have around 25.
James River: The Knights are young and small in number. Kevin Peery (171) heads the returnees and hopes to improve on a fifth-place finish in the state. Other top wrestlers are Randy Brown (130 to either 140 or 145) and Robert Spangler (135) who made the state. Many of the Knights' 10 wrestlers who made the state are back, but coach Otis Timberlake isn't sure where they will fall in the weight classes.
Liberty: Ricky Dooley (112 to 119) made the state as a sophomore, and Chris Blair (119 to 125) was the Seminole District runner-up the last two years. Blair just missed making the state with a fifth-place finish in Region III.
Lord Botetourt: Jamie Bednarek (140 to 145), Noah Poissant (135 to 152) and Noel Michalski (130) all return after having made the state. Joel Shields (119) was third in Region III, so coach Benson thinks the Cavaliers will be stronger.
North Cross: The Raiders lost seven starters from a team that finished third in the Virginia Independent Conference. The top returnees are Louis Davidson (119 to 125) and Daniel Cho (140), who were both second in the VIC. Sophomore Jason Ward (152) should also do well.
Patrick Henry: New coach Tommy Jones hopes senior Richard Mason (189 to heavyweight), who made the Northwest Region, can place at the state level.
Salem: This is a young team with five returning starters. The best might be Eric McMillan (112 to 119), who was third in Region III. Drew Givens (112), Matt Stephens (160) and Dan Baker (heavyweight) are other Spartans expected to have a lot of success.
Staunton River: Anthony Williams (112), Chad Huddleston (119 to 130), Nouy Vilaisne (135 to 140), Charlie Hodge (152 to 171), Jason Phillips (189) and Danny Thomas (125 to 135) return after making the Region III tournament. The Golden Eagles were second in the Seminole District behind Brookville; and if they can replace five lost seniors and some other lost starters, they could be the Bees' toughest competition again.
William Byrd: The Terriers have Randall Sell (112 to 119), who was fifth in the region as a sophomore, David Anderson (119 to 125) and Lonny Wade (125 to 130) as outstanding wrestlers to go along with Henderson.
William Fleming: Long-time coach George Miller has moved to administration, and assistant Doug DePuy takes over. The Colonels will be led by Herbert Casey (135), who may move up to 140 after he finished third in the Group AAA state tournament, the best showing by any RVD wrestler.
The Colonels also return Carl Tinsley (103) and Maurice Lacy (112), who were third in the RVD. Jonathan Rosser (152) was fourth in the region, and Shannon Wilson (123 to 140 or higher) was an RVD champion. Mike Bonilla (140 or 145) should be outstanding.
by CNB