Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503090008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Northampton High had one state champion and had seven of its 11 wrestlers place in the top six at the Group A Tournament. That performance Saturday at the Salem Civic Center propelled the Yellow Jackets to their first Group A championship.
Northampton amassed 156 points. No other team broke 100.
Two-time defending champion Brentsville District finished second at 96 points, edging Strasburg (95) and J.J. Kelly (94). Coeburn was fifth at 81. Strasburg jumped over J.J. Kelly in the final round and was the only school that had two champions. Overall, 12 schools had winners.
``I felt confident about 2 o'clock - that's when Brentsville didn't get its wrestlers through and we did,'' Northampton coach Brian Harmon said. ``We had seven wrestlers place in the top six last year. But it was the wrong [part of the] top six - third, fourths and fifths. That was the difference.''
Last season, the Yellow Jackets had no individual winners and only one finalist as they finished third behind Brentsville and Coeburn.
This time, Northampton put three wrestlers in the finals and had David Trower emerge victorious at 171 pounds.
Trower led throughout his match against Shawsville's Scott Holleman. Trower was up 9-0 when he pinned Holleman at 3:31.
``This feels good, I worked had for it,'' said Trower, who finished his senior season 29-0. ``I just cradled him up. That's what works best for me, the cradle.''
Finishing second for Northampton were Vance Martin at 152 and Andre Elliott at 189. Steve Parker came in third at 119.
Among Timesland wrestlers, Grayson County senior Nicky Arduin and Rural Retreat senior Seth Taylor both won titles.
Arduin had to go into sudden-death overtime to edge Charlie Hall of Chilhowie 4-2 at 125 pounds. The win came after Arduin was called for stalling in the last 20 seconds of regulation, tying the score 2-2.
``I just wanted to win it,'' said Arduin (30-1), who became the first state champion wrestler in Grayson County High School history. ``I just shot and carried it out. I was moving the best I could [at the end of regulation]. He was coming on strong. But I had a little bit left. So I gave it all I had.''
Taylor had an easier time at 130 pounds. He led the entire match en route to a 9-3 win over David Lawson of Powell Valley.
``I was just going for the win,'' said Taylor (31-2). ``We were about the same strength. I just had a lot of heart.''
Shawsville's Holleman was the only other Timesland wrestler to reach the finals.
Finishing third were Jon Elliott of George Wythe at 152 and Glenvar heavyweight D.J. Reed. Two Radford wrestlers came in fourth, Ryan Hall at 103 and Stephen Murphy at 112. Ernie Pritchard of Grayson County placed fifth at 119.
Among the teams, Grayson County used Arduin's victory at 125 to jump into 12th place with 50.5 points. That was the best performance by any team from Region C.
``Our kids wrestled pretty well all tournament,'' Grayson coach Gary Horton said. ``Our kids lost some matches that we thought we could have won, but that always happens in tournaments like this. We had three kids get through, and all three placed in the top six. That's pretty good.''
Radford, the Region C champ, was 15th with 46.5 points. Shawsville came in 23rd with 31. Glenvar was 25th with 26, James River was 26th with 24, Floyd County was 29th with 21, George Wythe was 30th with 20, Covington was 32nd with 16, Parry McCluer was 35th with 9, Bath County was 39th with 3 and Fort Chiswell and Narrows failed to score and tied for 41st.
by CNB