THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502050198
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Norfolk Academy completed a sweep of Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools wrestling by capturing the tournament title Saturday on its home mat.
The Bulldogs won for the third straight season after taking this year's regular-season title.
Academy captured six individual championships in the round-robin tournament format, in which each wrestler competes against everyone in his weight class. Team points are awarded for each finish and placement totals are added in for the final score.
``We do that because we only have five teams in the league,'' Academy coach Dave Lindhjem said. ``In some classes, we only had three wrestlers, so if we did the tournament like the public schools, there would only be one or two matches in some divisions.
``This way, the kids get three or four matches in. This is definitely a conditioning tournament. If you're not in shape, you will have trouble.''
The Bulldogs had little difficulty in amassing 279 points to outdistance Cape Henry's 237. Peninsula Catholic was next at 198, while Catholic had 175 and Norfolk Collegiate 124.
The Dolphins took three individual titles, while Catholic had two, and Peninsula Catholic and Collegiate had one each.
Academy and Cape Henry dominated the lower weights, taking every title through 145.
Academy was led by sophomore 135-pounder Josh Raper who captured his fourth straight TCIS title.
``I feel great,'' Raper said, after finishing the day with three pins and a 4-0 decision. ``These last couple of years have been harder, because I'm moving up in weight. The first two, I was at a lower class and nobody really knew anything about me. To get six titles will be really hard.
``This was the toughest tournament I've had, although my first year was pretty hard.''
Teammate Clay Weisberg at 112 won his third straight title, while teammate Ryan Smith at 145 was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.
Academy's other champions were Ryan Ingram at 103, Luke Lindhjem at 119, and Nadim Nasr at 160.
Cape Henry's champions were Brent Matson at 125, Nick Gomez at 130, and Brian Kelley at 140.
Bill Bialecki won for Catholic at 171, while teammate Tom Juskevich took the 189 title. Peninsula's lone champion was 152-pounder Mike Dulin, while Jay Hudgins won for Collegiate at 275.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an 18-point lead after the first round and led by 26 after the third. But heading into the final round, Academy's lead had been narrowed to nine by Cape Henry.
``Pete McCoy and his staff at Cape Henry have done a great job in the last year, just a great, great job,'' Lindhjem said. ``I'd call it something of a minor miracle.
``As for our kids, I'm really pleased with the performances. Especially when you look at the fact that we missed a good part of two weeks' worth of practices because of review week and exam break. But we had some really good practices this past week and we needed it badly.'' by CNB