THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501140348
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The University of Minnesota remained on track for a Virginia Duals ``three-peat,'' but Old Dominion dropped two of three matches and was eliminated from the 15th annual tournament Friday at the Hampton Coliseum.
The Monarchs dropped a 23-13 decision to Navy in the first round, won a coin toss to advance past North Carolina State after the teams ended their match tied at 17, then fell to Penn, 27-12.
The two-time defending champion Golden Gophers, ranked 10th in the country, will meet No. 14 Illinois in the semifinals today at 12:30 p.m. Seventh-ranked Oklahoma will face No. 13 Cal-State Bakersfield in the other semifinal.
Old Dominion fell despite three victories from All-American Jody Staylor (136 pounds), who is now 12-0 in five appearances at the Duals dating back to his days at Great Bridge High.
Eric Shaw (126) also went 3-0 for Old Dominion and recorded the team's lone pin when he decked Navy's Jay Hamilton in 1:47.
Shaw's fall gave the Monarchs a 9-3 lead against Navy. But the Midshipmen took five of the next six matches. ODU heavyweight Nick Hall, ranked ninth in the country, then dropped a 3-1 decision to Navy's second-ranked Dan Hicks.
Hall narrowly missed being the hero of the ODU-North Carolina State consolation. The Monarchs trailed by four when Hall took the mat against Steve Hawk, but the Old Dominion heavyweight dumped Hawk on his back 15 seconds into the match and nearly produced a match-winning pin. But despite being dominated for the full six minutes, Hawk avoided being counted out and Hall had to settle for a 13-0 major decision which tied the team match at 17.
The teams also had the same number of victories, major decisions, decisions and even match points - 56. So for only the second time in Virginia Duals history, the seventh criteria - coin flip - was invoked and ODU advanced.
The Monarchs' luck didn't hold out against Penn, however, as the Quakers took four of the final five matches to win going away.
VMI, a team with several former area high school stars, also was eliminated Friday. The Keydets fell to both Illinois and Northern Iowa.
The Northern Iowa loss was particularly disheartening for VMI, as the Keydets won six of the first nine matches and led by four going into the heavyweight match before sixth-ranked Justin Greenlee pinned David Hall in 1:30. by CNB