ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 12, 1997 TAG: 9701140024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
When Kris Kahila awoke to see snow and ice on the eve of the Big Orange wrestling tournament, the Franklin County High School wrestling coach did not panic.
His Eagles missed their annual appearance last year when snow forced the postponement of the Big Orange to a date when the Eagles had another match scheduled. Kahila said the Big Orange is important to his team, which happens to have Timesland's best wrestling program.
The Eagles had won eight of the past 10 Big Orange tournaments they had entered, and Saturday they made it nine of 11. Franklin County scored 271 1/2 points to outdistance host and defending champion William Byrd with 211 1/2.
``Whenever they had rescheduled it this year we would have made it, no matter what,'' Kahila said.
With no postponement, though, Franklin County dominated from start to finish as Stacy Menefee (103 pounds), Donnie Hutchinson (112) and Ivan Trotter (145) won championships for the Eagles.
Menefee opened by beating Byrd's Chris Madonia 18-9. Menefee kept swapping takedowns for escapes seeking a major (eight- to 11-point victory) or a superior (12- to 15-point victory) decision to score more team points.
``I wanted one because we wanted to beat the school record of 284 1/2 points in this meet,'' Menefee said of his major decision. ``I was hoping to get a pin.''
``This year the kids really wanted to do well for last year's seniors,'' who didn't get to compete in the Big Orange, Kahila said. ``Byrd did a good job and there were a lot of good teams that always had a wrestler who was good enough to take points away from you.''
The tournament went according to form. Only one wrestler below a third seed reached Saturday's finals. Patrick Henry's Rob Mangus lost to Byrd's Randall Sell 28-10 in the 119-pound championship match. Like Menefee, Sell kept trading two-point takedowns for one-point escapes by Mangus.
``I just had surgery on my right knee in December, so I wanted to be on my feet and get better for later on down the road,'' Sell said.
Hutchinson had the fastest finish in the finals, pinning Byrd's Corey Walker in 1:52. Walker led 2-0, but Hutchinson got a reversal to set up the pin.
``I knew when I got a cradle lock [on the reversal], I'd get the pin,'' said Hutchinson, who beat Walker two years ago for the 103-pound title in the Big Orange.
Northside's Tommy Dickenson had a remarkable comeback to beat Staunton River's Danny Thomas 8-6 in overtime in the 140-pound final. Dickenson got a last-second takedown for the tie against last year's fourth-place finisher in the Group AA tournament, then won in overtime with a takedown.
``I shucked him and spun him around'' for the reversal, Dickenson said. ``Then I chicken-winged him to put him on his back'' for the takedown.
Revenge was a factor for Salem's James Giarla when he defeated Byrd's Daniel Wagner 13-6 for the 189-pound title. Giarla, a lineman on the Spartans' Group AA Division 4 title team, finished third in the state and first in the Region III tournament a year ago when he beat Wagner. He hadn't lost to him in eight previous matches until dropping a 7-2 decision in a dual meet this season.
``Most exciting thing to happen since the state'' football title, Giarla said. ``I just didn't do anything when we first met.''
Cave Spring's Adam Maneen won the 152-pound title when Bassett's Jeff Shivley picked him up over his head and slammed him. Maneen was unable to continue, and Shivley was disqualified. see microfilm for results
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: William Byrd's Randall Sell (top) works over Patrickby CNBHenry's Rob Mangus in a 28-10 victory Saturday in the 119-pound
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