THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180544
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
McEachern (Ga.) High School's Todd Lambert brought three state titles and a 118-match winning streak to the Virginia Duals Saturday, and no one was happier to see a man with those credentials than Great Bridge's Carl Perry.
``I definitely wanted to wrestle him,'' the Wildcats' junior 125-pounder said. ``You always want to wrestle the top competition, and he was supposed to be the big deal.''
That must make Perry the new deal, because in what was billed as the match of the day, the Great Bridge star whipped Lambert, 16-8, in a thoroughly convincing display of wrestling proficiency.
``Give him all the credit,'' Lambert said after the match. ``He did a great job.''
That match, along with three other big Perry victories in the Duals Saturday, earned him the tournament's most outstanding wrestler award and The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star's boys athlete of the week honor.
That Perry prevailed over Lambert wasn't too big a surprise - Great Bridge coach Steve Martin predicted such an outcome hours earlier. And Perry did go into the match with a fairly impressive resume of his own.
An undefeated two-time Chesapeake city champion at Great Bridge Junior High, Perry has been an impact wrestler from Day One in high school and reached the state final last year.
The shock was the ease with which Perry took Lambert out. Midway into the first period, Perry's superior quickness and technique left onlookers with little doubt about the match's outcome. A few minutes later, Perry knew it, too.
``Midway through the second period, I could see he was getting a little tired,'' Perry said. ``I know I'm in shape, so I started feeling pretty good about my chances.''
Perry said his victory became even sweeter after he saw the way his teammates fed off of it.
Great Bridge trailed, 9-3, heading into the Perry-Lambert showdown, but didn't lose another match.
``I like to get the team motivated,'' Perry said. ``Once I beat him, that gave us the momentum.''
Despite wrestling quality opponents - one of his other victories Saturday came against a 1994 Virginia Group AA runner-up - Perry hasn't really been challenged in compiling his 21-0 record.
Still, he shrugged off the notion he may be peaking too soon.
``Actually,'' he said, ``my goal is to be peaking the whole year.'' by CNB