ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603040120
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GROUP AA WRESTLING
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY STAFF WRITER
THE GOLDEN WAVE dominates, but William Byrd 125-pounder David Anderson wins a state title.
The fact that no Grundy starting wrestler finished any worse than third in the Group AA tournament that concluded in Salem on Saturday night was of little consolation to the other 58 schools represented.
And it meant little consolation - literally - to Grundy, either.
Twelve of the Golden Wave's 14-member lineup wrestled in the championship finals, and a school-record nine won individual titles. The Golden Wave also notched three second-place finishes, to go along with its two thirds.
Grundy was far ahead of second-place Poquoson (327.5-167) sweeping its 10th consecutive team championship.
William Byrd, the Region III champion, paced by an individual title from 125-pounder David Anderson, edged Turner Ashby High School for third.
``This is the best we've ever done,'' Grundy coach Kevin Dresser said.
The Salem Civic Center was nearly filled to capacity for the finals, and the crowd was broken into two distinct factions: those rooting for Grundy, and everybody else.
Is it difficult knowing virtually all the opposition has banded together against you?
``We're a little like the Dallas Cowboys,'' Dresser said. ``But I can understand how people feel.''
Timesland had several outstanding individual performances.
Christiansburg's Jamie Harris won the 112-pound title, defeating Grundy's Scotty Newport 13-10.
``This means a lot to beat Grundy,'' said Harris, who finished second in the state to another Grundy wrestler at 112 in 1995. ``[Newport] was a great wrestler; the toughest I faced in this tournament. But I kind of knew I had it [in the waning seconds]. I just had to hang in there.''
Harris completed his season 32-1.
Anderson (28-4), who dyed his hair an orangish-yellow (a la Dennis Rodman) for Saturday's matches, repeated former teammate Patrick Henderson's state title performance from last year.
In the final, Anderson recorded a takedown in overtime, knocking off defending state champion George Bell (33-2) from Osbourn 3-1
``It was all gut-check,'' said Anderson, whose only point prior to the overtime was due to Bell stalling. ``He was a state champion; I had to knock him out of that.''
Anderson finished third in the state at 125 a year ago. Terrier teammate Randall Sell, a junior, took third at 119 this year.
``I finished sixth last year, third this year, and [will finish] first next year,'' Sell said.
Rockbridge County's Stewart Staton (at 152 pounds) advanced to the finals before he was pinned by Poquoson's Brad Fitzpatrick.
Other Timesland representatives who earned medals included Martinsville's Marcus Howard (second at 171), Salem's James Giarla (third at 189), Bassett's John Miller (third at 275), Staunton River's Josh Ridgeway (fourth at 103) and Danny Thomas (fourth at 135), Northside's Jason Vaughn (fifth at 140), Lord Botetourt's Rocky Lark (fifth at 189), Laurel Park's Anthony Lanier (fifth at 160), and William Byrd's Timmy Booth (fifth at 215) and Neal Smith (sixth at 152).
TEAM SCORES
1. Grundy (GRU) 327.5; 2. Poquoson (POQ) 167; 3. William Byrd (WB) 75; 4. Turner Ashby (TA) 71; 5. Virginia High (VA) 68; 6. Broad Run (BR) 58.5; 7. Sherando (SHE) 53; 8. Culpeper (CUL) 46; 9. Nansemond River (NR) 42; 10. Brookville (BRK) 39.5; 11. Lee County (LEE) 38; 12. Osbourn (OSB) 37.5; 13. Christiansburg (CBG) 29.5; 14. Staunton River (SR) 27; 15. Bruton (BRU) 26; 16.(tie) Jefferson (JF), Salem (SAL), Park View (PV) 25; 19. Rockbridge County (RC) 24; 20. York (Y), Martinsville (MAR) 23; 22. Lakeland (LK) 22; 23.(tie) Bassett (B), Western Albemarle (WA), Marion (M) 21; 26. Chancellor (CHA) 20.5; 27. Robert E. Lee (REL) 20; 28.(tie) Matoaca (MAT), Richlands (RL) 18; 30.(tie) Laurel Park (LP), Amherst (AM), Patrick County (PC) 17; 33. King George (KG) 16.5; 34.(tie) Liberty-Bedford (LIB), Northside (NS) 16; 36.(tie) Warren County (WC), Broadway (BW) 15; 38.(tie) Lord Botetourt (LB), Harrisonburg (HB) 14; 40. Tunstall (TUN) 13; 41. Loudon VAlley (LV) 12; 42. Waynesboro (WAY) 8; 43.(tie) Handley (HAN), James Wood (JW) 7; 45. Liberty-Bealton (L-B) 6; 46.(tie) Southampton (SH), Graham (GRA) 5; 48.(tie) Spotsylvania (SP), Abingdon (AB) 4; 50.(R) 3.5; 51.(tie) Louisa (LOU), Carroll County (CC) 3; 53. Tazewell (TAZ) 2; 54. Magna Vista (MV) 1; 55.(tie) Franklin, Appomattox, Orange, Courtland, Blacksburg, 0.
Championship finals
103 pounds-Akers (POQ) d. Gibson (GRU) 8-1; 112-Harris (CBG) d. Newport (GRU) 13-10; 119-Shortridge (GRU) d. Gillispie (POQ) 6-1; 125-Anderson (WB) d. Bell (OSB) 3-1,OT; 130-Scott (GRU) d. Riggs (VA) 6-3; 135-Baker (TA) tf. Griffey (GRU) 24-9, 5:32; 140-Hartford (GRU) d. Inge (POQ) 8-5; 145-Robertson (GRU) d. Everhart (VA) 6-0; 152-Fitzpatrick (POQ) Staton (RC) 3:37; 160-Bishop (GRU) d. Kirby (WA) 6-4; 171-S. Justus (GRU) d. Howard (Mar) 11-9; 189--Matney (GRU) d. Sprague (BR) 3-2; 215--Stevenson (GRU) d. Cox (LEE) 6-5; 275--Owens (GRU) won by default over Inskeep (CUL).
Third place
103 pounds-Smith (TA) md. Ridgeway (SR) 12-0; 112-Clark (CHA) d. Evans (PV) 2-1; 119-Sell (WB) d. Hoffman (M) 6-4, OT; 125-H. Justus (GRU) d. DeSantis (KG) 8-4; 130- Flynn (REL) d. Dooley (L-B) 11-5; 135-Gori (POQ) d. Thomas (SR 5-2; 140-Gerber (BR) d. Woody (BKV) 4-3; 145-Hurr (POQ) p. Nelson (BW) 2:49; 152-Looney (GRU) d. Wright (HB) 6-5; 160-Taylor (OSB) d. Cashwell (AM) 6-0; 171-Hill (NR) d. Thompson (POQ) 10-4; 189-Giarla (SAL) d. Lane (TA) 6-2; 215-Holmes (y) d. Hale (VA); 275-Miller (B) d. Hughes (LEE) 6-5, OT.
Fifth place
103 pounds-Molina (RL) d. Tep (NR) 4-3; 112-Miskell (POQ) d. Austin (MAT) 9-5; 119-Rudolph (SHE) d. Parker (BKV) 14-7; 125-Shuler (BKV) won by forfeit over Palutke (SHE); 130-Hendershot (JF) d. Montoya (SHE) 10-3; 135-Holloway (BRU) d. Mason (WC) 6-5; 140-Vaughn (NS) d. Baylis (SHE) 11-6; 145-Richman (SHE) d. Templeton (CUL) 7-2; 152-Stanley (PC) d. Smith (WB) 2-0; 160-Lanier (LP) p. Oswald (PV) 1:39; 171-Gaskin (BR) p. Wright (LV) 4:52; 189-Lark (LB) d. Keohane (TUN) 6-3; 215-Boothe (WB) d. Temple (LK) 9-6; 275-Horsley (JF) p. Lawrence (WAY) 2:12.
LENGTH: Long : 114 linesby CNB