THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 10, 1995 TAG: 9502080178
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY DAN COOLEY, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
WHEN IT COMES down to the heavyweight match and he needs a win, there's no one Western Branch Middle School coach Tom Anderson would rather have on the mat than Marvin Urquhart. Last Friday, Urquhart came through for the Bruins in a big way.
Trailing Deep Creek 44-39 for the city dual meet regular-season championship and needing a pin, Urquhart put an exclamation point on the match by pinning Rashad Cuffee to give the Bruins a 45-44 win.
The Bruins finished the season 5-0. Deep Creek fell to 4-1.
``To win the championship says a lot for this group, especially because the team is so young,'' said Anderson.
Urquhart won all of his matches this year by pin and finished 5-0 for the season.
Cuffee normally wrestles at 175 but was bumped up to heavyweight in a lineup shift by Deep Creek coach Richard Capps that was precipitated by Josh Baker's disciplinary suspension from the 122 weight class. To replace Cuffee, Capps moved regular 157-pounder David Wiegand up. Backup Kerry Bullock filled Weigand's usual slot.
The strategy almost worked. Bullock and Wiegand both picked up six points on a forfeit and a pin, staking Deep Creek to a five-point lead. All Cuffee had to do was keep from getting pinned, and the Hornets would have the match.
Only Cuffee was outweighed by at least 30 pounds.
``I'm proud of all our kids because they wrestled with a lot of heart, especially Cuffee,'' said Capps. ``But when you get caught with a man (Urquhart) that big, there's not much you can do.''
Urquhart's pin spoiled a tremendous Deep Creek comeback. The Hornets trailed by 22 points with just six matches left before winning the next five weight classes to take the lead.
While the matchup between the two teams was as good as anyone expected, it was the crowd inside the packed Deep Creek Middle School gym that made the match an event to remember.
``It was really wild,'' said referee Tom Keeley, who officiated the entire match. ``When they got ready for the heavyweights, I was thinking this was just like the movies. One side was chanting `Cuffee! Cuffee! Cuffee!' and the other side ``Marvin! Marvin! Marvin!'''
The cheering grew louder as the heavyweight match went on. The crowd reached a fever pitch when Urquhart put Cuffee on his back, and began stomping their feet in anticipation. The crowd erupted, both in victory and defeat, when Keeley's hand hit the mat, signalling the pin. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Deep Creek's Jamaal Howard pins Adam Mallory of Western Branch for a
win in the 92-pound class.
by CNB