ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603040119
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GROUP A WRESTLING
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Region C has made itself into a formidable wrestling enclave over the years.
The latest manifestation of the region's power came at the Group A tournament at the Salem Civic Center on Saturday. Region C advanced eight wrestlers to the 14 final matches and Scott Holleman of Shawsville, Kamal Chantal of Floyd County, Stephen Murphy of Radford, Elmo Dunbar of Radford, and Jason Stanier of Covington all emerged victorious.
Murphy and Dunbar helped the Bobcats take third in the team standings with 99 points. Brentsville District won the title with 158 points, Strasburg was second (105), Nandua fourth (81) and Mathews fifth (73).
Holleman, a 171-pounder, finished his senior season at Shawsville with a 26-0 record after he hammered Scott Bowers of Strasburg 6-1.
``I feel a whole lot better now,'' Holleman said. ``I pretty much wrestled move to move, waiting to see what he was going to do.''
Chantal, a 140-pound junior, was the first wrestler in the six-year history of the Floyd County program to make the final. His opponent, B.J. Query of King William, came into the bout with a checkerboard shaved into his skull, a tattoo on his back, and a 22-0 record on his resume.
Chantal was never in trouble while winning 5-1 to finish the season 30-3. The losses came to Group AA wrestlers.
``I felt like I could take him down because I was fast,'' Chantal said. ``He was very strong, but I think I was able to counter that with my quickness.''
Another undefeated wrestler going into the final was Radford's Murphy at 125. Two of the victories had come over his opponent in the championship bout, Shawn Brown of James River. Both wrestlers were long of arm and leg and limber of torso.
``I was planning on being aggressive because I knew he'd come after me now that he knows what I have,'' Murphy said.
Murphy had whacked Brown 6-0 the first time they'd wrestled and 10-2 the second time. On this occasion, Murphy simply kept the pressure on, keeping Brown on the defensive.
``He's strong as an ox,'' Murphy said.
``I like to switch and he's good at countering my switches. He's hard to take down. A real good wrestler.''
Murphy carried the day while wrestling strategically. The final score was 9-2 and it wasn't that close.
Dunbar capped his first full season as a wrestler at 25-0 by beating Israel Hamilton of Coeburn by default in the 215-pound final. Hamilton injured a knee and was forced to retire.
So how do you go 25-0 in your first year in the sport?
``Good coaching, I guess,'' Dunbar said.
Stanier's match with Justin Colyer of J.J. Kelly was stopped twice so medical personnel could patch up an open wound on Stanier's arm. Stanier fell behind 3-0, but caught his opponent suddenly with a takedown and in an instant, had him pinned.
Prior to the 119-pound championship, Ernie Pritchard of Grayson County had been keeping a wary eye on his opponent-to-be in the final, Paul Naglieri of Mathews.
Nothing surprised Pritchard in the final.
``I was feeling pretty good and he was doing exactly what I expected him to do,'' said Pritchard, 21-0 coming in. ``I thought I was ready. Not enough, though, I guess.''
Pritchard got caught in a lateral and put immediately on his back.
``It was over pretty fast,'' Pritchard said. ``He's good.''
In other finals involving Timesland wrestlers, Luke Croushorn of Brentsville beat Peter Lee of Radford 9-1 at 152 pounds and Ward Hugh of Brentsville District beat Chip Pack of Grayson County by major decision, 13-2.
TEAM SCORES
1, Brentsville District (BD) 158; 2, Strasburg (STR) 105; 3, Radford (RA) 99; 4, Nandua (NAN) 81; 5, Mathews (M) 73; 6, J.J. Kelly (JJK) 711/2; 7, Northhampton (NH) 71; 8,tie, Manassas Park (MP) and Riverheads 70; 10, Patrick Henry (PH) 60; 11, King William (KW) 591/2; 12, Madison County (MC) 541/2; 13, Powell Valley (PV) 54; 14, Rural Retreat (RR) 53; 15, Floyd County (FC) 50; 16, Grayson County (GC) 49; 17, Coeburn (CB) 46; 18, tie, John Battle (JB) and James River (JR) 45; 20, Buffalo Gap (BG) 421/2; 21, Covington (COV) 40; 22, Chilhowie (CHW) 39; 23, Holston (HO) 33; 24, tie, Lebanon (LEB) and Shawsville (SV) 28; 26, Essex (E) 27; 27, George Mason (GM) 26, 28, Parry McCluer (PM) 211/2; 29, tie, Northwood (NW) and Glenvar (GL) 18; 31, tie, Stuarts Draft (SD) and Bath County (BC) 17; 33, George Wythe (GW) 14; 34, Garden (GAR) 10; 35, Chincoteague (CTG) 9, 36, Sussex Central (SC) 8, 37, Cumberland (CUM) 7; 38, tie, Castlewood (CW) and Northumberland (NT) 6; 40, Fort Chiswell (FTC) 4; 41, Arcadia (A) 3; 42, tie, New Kent (NK) and Charles City (CC) 0.
Championship finals
103 - Colonna (NAN) d. Lamma (SB) major decision 17-5; 112 - Smith (HO) d. Wolford (SB) 6-4; 119 - Naglieri (M) d. Pritchard (GC) 3:25; 125 - Murphy (RA) d. Brown (JR) 9-2; 130 - Smith (PH) d. Hall (CHW) sudden death decision; 135 - Dartez (KW) p. Reid (NAN) 1:09; 140 - Chantal (FC) d. Query (KW) 5-1; 145 - Mahon (BG) Rogers (PV) 14-7; 152 - Croushorn (BD) d. Lee (RA) major decision 9-1; 160 - Neff (RH) d. Canda (BD) 12-7.
171 - Holleman (SV) d. Bowers (SB) 5-1; 189 - Hugh (BD) d. Pack (GC) major decision 13-2; 215 - Dunbar (RA) d. Hamilton (CB) by default; 275 - Stanier (COV) p. Colyer (JJK) 4:57.
Third place
103 - Adkins (CB) p. Damron (MP) :23; 112 - Davidson (RR) Campbell (JJK) 4-1; 119 - Sturgill (JJK) p. Nowe (CHW) 3:19; 125 - House (BD) d. Barnett (RH) 8-6; 130 - Lawson (PV) d. House (BD) 5-3; 135 - Adams (LEB) won by forfeit Ralston (BG); 140 - Hoffman (PH) D. Singleton (JB) 6-3.
145 - Davis (SD) d. Dunbar (R) 8-6; 152 - Martin (NH) d. Deschamps (GM) 10-7; 160 - West (At) d. Whitaker (EX) 7-2; 171 - O'Neil (BD) d. Pollock (RH) 6-5; 189 - Elliot (NH) major decision Dodson (MC) 10-1; 215 - Walker (MC) p. Hubbare (MAT) 4:17; 275 - Hockman (SB) p Smith (NAN 4:07.
Fifth place
103 - Goorskey (FC) de. Little (NW) 5-3; 112 - Persons (BD) won by forefeit Coleman (NAN); 119 - Smith (MP) won by default Smith (MP); 125 - Anderson (SB) p. Greenwood (KW) 4:30; 130 - Guckenberger (GM) d. Cannon (NH) 7-6; 135 - O'Dell (BD) d. King (JB) 6-4, OT; 140 - Snyder (COV) d. Kudirka (JJK) 9-5; 145 - Smith (MP) t. Brockenbrough (PMC) 9-3; 152 - Taylor (PH) p. Nowezs (RR) 3:53; 160 - Phillips (GW) major decision Clark (CHI) 14-3; 171 - Harrmson (MP) d. Reed (GL) 6-1; 189 - Carter (JR) p. Keeseee (NW) 3:59; 215 - Faulk (NAN) d. Hagee (RR) 9-7; 275 - Davis (RH) d. Loan (BC) 4-3.
LENGTH: Long : 125 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Peter Lee of Radford exults afterby CNBbeating Eric Deschamps of George Mason in the 152-pound semifinals
of the Group A wrestling tournament at the Salem Civic Center on
Saturday.