Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 10, 1995 TAG: 9504110064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In high school wrestling, it's important to have a table-setter. None in Timesland set up his team for victory this season better than Trung Nguyen.
The 103-pounder was where it started for Franklin County, and the junior opened most matches with a pin. Through the regional and state duals meets, the Roanoke Valley District and Northwestern Region and one match into the Group AAA individual and team competition, Nguyen pinned 12 consecutive wrestlers.
For the year, Nguyen pinned 23 of 38 wrestlers he faced. He made a bad move in the state meet and lost a second-round match to Denbigh's Joey Wright 6-5. However, Nguyen atoned as best he could, rolling back through the consolations to beat Wright for third place.
Despite not winning a state title, Nguyen did something with his pins that no other Timesland wrestler has done, leading his team to a second-place finish in a state duals meet. That was enough to make him Timesland's wrestler of the year.
Nguyen heads a team that includes three wrestlers each from Franklin County and Northside. Kris Kahila, the architect of the successful Franklin County program, is Timesland's coach of the year.
Other Eagles on the All-Timesland wrestling team are Brian Jones (140 pounds) and Eric Ingram (275). Northside is represented by Brad Hungate (119), Leland Keeling (130) and Chip Nininger (189) on the first team.
Other first-team choices are Salem's Drew Givens (112), Grayson County's Nicky Arduin (125), William Fleming's Herbie Kasey (135) and Jonathan Rosser (160), Lord Botetourt's Jamie Bednarek (145), William Byrd's Patrick Henderson (152) and Pulaski County's J.R. Osborne (171).
Keeling, Kasey and Nininger are repeat performers on the All-Timesland squad. Scott Salliss of Cave Spring was a first-team selection at 112 in 1994, but this year he's a second-team choice at 119.
Franklin County, regarded as Timesland's strongest program, has Ivan Trotter (130), John Muse (152), Shawn Ferguson (160) and Landon Cuff (189) on the second team.
Other second-team All-Timesland choices include Radford freshman Ryan Hall (103), William Byrd's Randall Sell (112) and David Anderson (125), Lord Botetourt's Ross Miller (135) and Barry Williams (160), William Fleming's Shannon Wilson (140), Northside's David Higgins (145), Cave Spring's Tim Carter (171) and Salem's Dan Baker (275).
There are four state champions on the All-Timesland squad. Arduin completed a 30-1 season for Grayson County and a 95-18 career by winning the Group A crown at 125.
Keeling, Nininger and Henderson won Group AA crowns. Nguyen's toughest competition for Timesland's top honor came from Keeling (30-2) and Nininger (33-2), who had the best individual records in the area.
Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam, had an amazing run of falls.
``The pins surprised me, but I just went out after them,'' Nguyen said. ``I was just trying to finish them as quickly as possible.''
Nguyen got involved in wrestling through his adopted older brother, J.J. Price, who was a standout in the Franklin County program.
While Nguyen lost four matches overall, his only loss at 103 came in the Group AAA meet.
``He made a four-point mistake by forcing a move that wasn't there,'' Kahila said. ``The kid got four points with five seconds left in the first period.''
Had Nguyen won, he likely would have been the state champion, because a Great Bridge wrestler he had beaten in the duals meet won the individual title.
Kahila was named the top coach because his team dominated locally. The Eagles took the Big Orange title, won the Northwestern Region for the third time, finished fifth in the state and lost only to Great Bridge in dual competition.
His program is the most consistent and successful in Timesland. While Northside claimed the Big Orange title a year ago, Franklin County quietly has competed at a top level in the state and is closing the gap on perennial power Great Bridge of Chesapeake.
The toughest decisions on this year's All-Timesland squad might have been at 125 and 152 pounds. Arduin beat out Byrd's Anderson, one of Timesland's top returning wrestlers. Arduin gained the upper hand by beating Anderson in a Christmas tournament.
Byrd's Henderson earned the nod over Muse by avenging a Big Orange loss to the Franklin County wrestler and going on to win the Group AA title.
The best young wrestler might be Osborne, who finished third as a sophomore and heads a Pulaski County program that is gaining on Franklin County in the Roanoke Valley District.
Givens stumbled in the state meet, but won district and regional titles, as Hungate did at 119.
Kasey had a disappointing Group AAA meet, but still was far and away the best in Timesland at 135. Jones, at 140, should battle Nguyen for Timesland's top honors next year, especially after another strong summer in freestyle wrestling on the national level.
Bednarek used a fourth-place finish in the state to nail down his spot on the All-Timesland squad. Rosser finished fourth in the state and had a strong regular season in which he was third in the region and a champion at the Big Orange and Roanoke Valley District meets.
Ingram might have been the least-known Franklin County wrestler, but won the Eagles' award for most improved. He was by far the strongest Timesland wrestler at 275.
by CNB