ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
BAD WEATHER MAY BE the biggest foe at the 16-team wrestling tournament.
Weather permitting, the 16-team Big Orange wrestling tournament will start today at William Byrd at 2 p.m.
The tournament is scheduled to hold championships Saturday starting at 7:30 p.m.
Thanks to the weather forecast for this weekend, the tournament is threatened with another postponement. The Blizzard of '96 forced organizers to move the tournament from its original dates of Jan. 12-13.
Missing in action will be defending champion Franklin County, which has won nine Big Orange crowns.
Franklin County is out of the tournament because the Eagles are in the Northwestern Region duals finals slated for Saturday. Cave Spring lost in the first round of the Northwestern Region duals, so the Knights are back in the Big Orange.
Several other teams from the original field in Timesland's most prestigious regular season tournament are also out because of scheduling conflicts. So picking a favorite isn't easy.
The battle could be between Blue Ridge District rivals William Byrd and Lord Botetourt. Byrd beat Botetourt 36-33 to take the regular season Blue Ridge District title.
Newcomer Pulaski County, which wasn't in the earlier field, could make a dent. The Cougars are led by 171-pounder J.R. Osborne (16-2), who was All-Timesland as a sophomore.
Unknown in this field is Osbourn, a Group AA team from Manassas.
``Osbourn has some incredibly tough individuals and we didn't seed some of them because we didn't know anything about them,'' said new William Byrd coach Adam Williams, who insists the weather won't win. Contingency plans have been made to try and squeeze the Big Orange in if another postponement is inevitable.
Williams says seeding this tournament was tough because it comes so late in the regular season when wrestlers have good records. David Anderson, Byrd's standout 125-pounder who was second in the state a year ago, is seeded third. ``I had to fight to get him that high,'' said Williams.
Botetourt is one of the surprise teams. The Cavaliers have six freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and two seniors. There's no junior varsity, so any injuries mean the Cavaliers lose points.
``I don't know what Osbourn has, but we can hang with the teams around here. Unless Osbourn is really loaded, we have a good chance to win it,'' said Botetourt coach Tater Benson.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB