ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604220002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: High Schools
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
It might be the end of an era or the perfect way to bid adieu to a high school coaching career.
Kevin Dresser, whose Grundy wrestling teams won the Group AA title every year he coached them, is resigning to enter private business in his native Iowa.
Dresser coached Grundy for eight years and won eight titles. When the talk turns to high school sports dynasties, this one might be the longest and most successful in state history. That's better than the five consecutive World Series' crowns won by the 1949-53 New York Yankees.
``It's the hardest thing I ever had to do,'' Dresser said of his resignation. ``It was based on two things: First, I got a good business opportunity; and second, it's a chance to go home. I won't coach anymore, but if you want to coach, this [Grundy] is one of the best jobs.''
Dresser's final team was nationally ranked and had the Group AA title won on the first day of the meet. In other words, if the Golden Wave hadn't won a single match on Saturday, the meet's second day, Grundy still had enough points to win the championship. That is almost unheard of in wrestling.
Dresser hints that burnout, probably from too much success at all levels, might have had something to do with his decision to step down.
When Dresser wrestled at Iowa, he was on teams that won five NCAA titles, including one in a redshirt year. In his two years an assistant coach at the Iowa City school, the Hawkeyes won the NCAA once before failing to take the crown for a 10th consecutive year. That's the only time in the past 15 seasons a Dresser team hasn't won the biggest championship possible.
``For the first time in a few years, I can sleep, eat and breathe a little better,'' Dresser said.
As his last act for Grundy, he'll help choose a new coach. The job figures to go to a coach with a background similar to Dresser, meaning his successor likely will come from a wrestling-crazy state such as Iowa.
``Not just anyone can coach here. It has to be a good fit with the community,'' Dresser said. ``But this is one of the best jobs.''
BIG LOSS: The death of someone as young as Emory Brackman always is a shock and his loss will be keenly felt in Covington.
Brackman, who died of a heart attack Sunday at the age of 53, was sports editor of the Virginian Review, a daily newspaper dedicated to covering news in the Alleghany Highlands. He was a preacher, and he was a good friend to all the coaches in the Pioneer and Blue Ridge districts.
Brackman called in most of Covington's athletic events to this newspaper and saw to it that we got any help needed from his staff on Alleghany.
More than that, Brackman loved high school sports. He was a hands-on sports editor who, most every time I called him, was busy putting out the sports section for his paper.
Several years ago, the coaches at Covington High School gave Brackman a surprise roast. When coaches do that for a reporter, it shows their high regard, something that's rare in the relationship these days between writers and their news sources.
TWO OF A KIND: Adam Sorells and Scott Sorrells are no relation and come from opposite ends of Rockbridge County. Yet, they play the game of baseball the same way.
In an 18-7 victory over Stuarts Draft, both smacked grand slams. Adam, a freshman, added a two-run homer. Scott Sorrells is a sophomore. Together, they knocked in 10 runs.
THE GREAT INDOORS: At least someone had a good winter despite the weather. Patrick Henry track star Louis Booker, in winning the Group AAA indoor 500-meter title, had the nation's fastest time (1 minute, 5.43 seconds), according to Track & Field News.
William Fleming's Fenn Crutchfield had the nation's sixth-best long jump among prep athletes (23 feet, 11 inches) at the Northwest Region meet, and Potomac's Mike Newell had a leap of 24-5 in the same meet to rank fourth. Neither mark came in the Group AAA meet, which Newell won with a leap of 23-4. Crutchfield failed to place.
COSTLY TRIP: Cave Spring's trip to C.D. Hylton for a boys' soccer game Friday was a late addition to the schedule, but one the Knights needed as they try to establish their credentials on the state level.
The game came about when Hylton, which lost 2-1 to eventual champion Lake Braddock in a 1995 Group AAA semifinal, had a late opening and the Knights, through their booster club, were willing to pay for a bus to Northern Virginia.
Unfortunately, by the time the game was scheduled, all companies with bus charters in the Roanoke Valley were booked. Cave Spring's athletic director, Otis Dowdy, finally found a company in Staunton that could transport the Knights to Woodbridge. Because of the logistics, the trip cost $185 more than if a local company had been available.
The two teams might play again in the Northwest Region. If both squads win their district tournament, then win in the first round of the region, they would meet for a chance to go to the Group AAA tournament.
RED-HOT: William Byrd's softball team was 9-0 heading into the weekend with seven shutouts and had outscored opponents 87-7. The Terriers face their toughest test yet Tuesday at unbeaten Lord Botetourt in a battle of the Blue Ridge District's strongest squads.
WANTED: Rob Bennett, the Covington girls' basketball coach, is in need of games in the fall after Glenvar moved to the Three Rivers District and two Blue Ridge schools had to drop the Cougars when Blacksburg and Christiansburg entered their league.
Covington is getting stronger and has one of Timesland's premier players in Joann Helton, a second-team All-Timesland choice and Pioneer District player of the year.
The Cougars have only 14 games scheduled, leaving them with three home-and-home openings or room to enter a preseason tournament. Anyone needing a game is asked to call Bennett at the school at 965-1410.
Salem is looking for a football scrimmage Aug.16 or 17 or Aug.30 or 31 at any site. Anyone interested is asked to call coach Willis White at 387-4504 after 1:30 p.m. any weekday afternoon.
LENGTH: Long : 108 linesby CNB