THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501150246
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Great Bridge's Carl Perry spent all day proving he was the best wrestler at the Virginia Duals National Invitational Team Wrestling Championships Saturday.
But in less than two hours into the event, it became clear the Wildcats were not the best team.
With his team trailing by five, Parkersburg South heavyweight Tony Williams pinned Matt Small to boost the West Virginia state runners-up past the four-time defending Virginia state champion Wildcats, 29-28, Saturday in the opening round of the inaugural eight-team invitational at the Hampton Coliseum.
The fifth seeds from West Virginia went on to beat third-seeded Line Mountain (Pa.), 41-21, in the title match.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats (11-1) settled for third place - and the knowledge that at least they avoided taking the kind of pummeling which has marked their Duals performances in recent years.
``It's not like the last two years, when we got annihilated here,'' said Great Bridge's Joey Guth, in reference to recent Virginia Duals losses to Jefferson Township (N.J.) and Nazareth (Pa.). ``We did pretty good today.''
No one did better than Perry. The junior, a 1994 state runner-up whose aggressive, in-your-face style best epitomizes Great Bridge wrestling these days, whipped Poquoson's Eddie Keaton, the 1994 Virginia Group AA runner-up, by 14, then routed McEachern's Todd Lambert, a three-time Georgia state champion who hadn't lost in 118 matches, 16-8.
Perry also notched a first-period pin and a technical fall, and was given the Ron Bottoms Award signifying the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.
But despite the brilliance of Perry and a few of his teammates, Great Bridge couldn't hang on to the five-point lead it had built through the 189-pound match against Parkersburg South.
The Wildcats went into the match without top-ranked Jimmy Hawthorne (119) and Michael Harper (145), both of whom are injured. But while the absence of two state qualifiers might seem like a plausible explanation for a one-point loss, the Wildcats refused to play the ``what if'' game.
``No excuses,'' Great Bridge coach Steve Martin said.
Although Small lost the match that decided it, the Wildcats set themselves up for trouble much earlier.
One turning point came at 160, where Billy Allred appeared headed for at least a major decision after piling up a 7-1 first-period lead on Jason Duncan. But Allred was unable to score another point and had to settle for a 7-2 simple decision.
Scott Camp decisioned Guth at 171 to tie the match at 23. Great Bridge then took their five-point lead on Josh Fannon's technical fall at 189. But that left Small, perhaps the least experienced of Great Bridge's starters, on with no margin for error.
Their bid for the overall title shattered, the Wildcats took out their frustrations on in-state rivals Lake Taylor and Poquoson.
Great Bridge pounded the eighth-seeded Titans, 45-15, then roughed up the seventh-seeded Islanders, 49-15.
The Wildcats then routed No. 2 seed McEachern (Ga.), 47-9, in the third-place match.
Lake Taylor, a late substitute for Maryland's Mount St. Joe, also took a sound beating from top-seeded Grundy (49-17), in the opening round.
``This will just make our guys work harder,'' said 189-pounder Alan Hyman, one of two Titans (along with 130-pounder Joel Jimenez) to win twice Saturday.
Grundy downed No. 7 Poquoson, 41-15, for fifth place.
In the college tournament, 10th ranked Minnesota became the first team in Duals history to win three consecutive titles by beating No. 7 Oklahoma, 25-7. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Brian Childress of Great Bridge takes a foot in the face during his
119-pound consolation match Saturday.
by CNB