THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503040591
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Stonewall Jackson's Todd Mason wasn't going to let a little nose trouble stop him from trying to become a state wrestling champion.
Even if he had to go through a returning state champion in the process.
Mason shrugged off a broken nose and pinned Salem's Chip Reyes in a 119-pound quarterfinal before nearly 3,000 fans in the Group AAA state wrestling championships Friday at Oscar Smith High.
Great Bridge is the leader among teams with 52 points, 14 better than second-place Western Branch, although the Wildcats took a few hits along the way. Five of their nine state qualifiers got dumped into the wrestlebacks, including 135-pounder Aaron Beatson, a state runner-up a year ago who was pinned by Woodbridge's Damon Stewart in 5:02.
``I love beating Great Bridge guys,'' said Stewart (35-2), a state placewinner at 119 last year. ``And if front of a Great Bridge crowd too? I love it.''
But the most dramatic fall of the night came from Mason, busted nose and all.
Mason's injury occurred in the first period when the two wrestlers, each attempting a shot, collided heads. Immediately upon impact, Mason said he knew his nose had been broken.
``I heard it,'' he said.
Eager to continue, Mason had tape stuffed up his nose to stop the bleeding. Another strip of tape was placed across his face and around his headgear to keep the nose plugs in place.
Then, able to breathe only from his mouth, Mason continued to confound a struggling Reyes. He rode him out the entire second period, then countered a shot and whipped the Sun Devil onto his back. Reyes battled mightily for about 30 seconds, but there was no escape.
``I wanted it more,'' said Mason, who improved to 40-0. ``This is what I worked for all year.''
Mason spent about a half-hour receiving treatment after the match, but said there's ``no way'' he'll miss taking on Robinson's John Borrelli in today's semifinals.
``Not unless I die tonight,'' Mason said.
Reyes, the 1994 103-pound state champion who had won 58 of 59 matches heading into last week's Eastern Region final, lost for the second straight time.
Gloucester's Joey Legg, who won that regional final over Reyes, also lost Friday's quarterfinals. Justin Baker of North Stafford nipped the Dukes' sophomore, 2-1.
Another returning champion, Lee's Brandon Rushing, narrowly avoided Reyes' fate. Rushing, who won at 125 last year, pulled a five point move with 15 seconds remaining to thwart Ocean Lakes' R.J. Davis, 8-7.
Rushing (35-1) said he heard announcer Ken Berger call out Reyes' upset, but ``I never thought about it happening to me.''
Davis, who won his second-round consolation match some 90 minutes later, said he didn't think the loss would affect him the rest of the way. ``It'll just make me madder out there,'' he said.
The two other returning champions, Centreville's Jeremy Ferry and Cox's Brian Wilson, cruised into the semifinals without incident. Ferry, a 145-pounder gunning for his third state title, won both his matches by fall. Wilson, the defending heavyweight champion, won by fall and technical fall.
Western Branch is in second place among teams. Four of the Bruins' five state qualifiers - Byron Tucker (152), Sean Sanderlin (145), freshman Richard Slocumb (119) and Lee Butler (103) reached the semifinals.
All 103-pound semifinalists are from the Eastern Region, which isn't surprising considering an Eastern Region wrestler has won the 103 class every year since its inception in 1988, and has won the lightest weight class at state every year since 1984.
Action resumes today at noon with the semifinals, followed by the fifth-place matches at 3 p.m. and the third-place matches at 4 p.m. The separate admission finals are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Admission is $4 per sessions. Tickets for the final go on sale at 5:45 p.m. at the high school. ILLUSTRATION: GROUP AAA STATE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
[For a copy of the schedule, see microfilm for this date.]
LAWRENCE JACKSON
Staff
Lewis Wallace of Maury attempts to fight off Mike Dixon of South
Lakes in 140-pound match, but bows in a technical fall in 5:31.
by CNB