THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503040594
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
At the end of the first period of his opening-round match Friday, Western Branch's Richard Slocumb was in complete control. He held a 9-2 lead over Lee's Guillermo Valdivia, the top seed out of the Northern Region, and was performing his game plan to perfection.
But then the freshman did the unthinkable: He started thinking for himself.
``We knew exactly what the kid was going to do, and we had a game plan,'' said Bruins coach Terry Perdew. ``But then Richard decided to do his own thing. (Valdivia) pulled a tilt on us, and we weren't ready for that.''
Valdivia systematically chipped away at Slocumb's lead and eventually sent the match into overtime.
``He got me in an arm-bar tilt and I got kind of confused,'' said Slocumb. ``I started taking him down and letting him back up, which wasn't what I planned to do. I wanted to ride him out and see how the match went.''
Slocumb played the aggressor at the start of the overtime period and was rewarded with a takedown, winning the match, 14-12.
But in his next match, Slocumb played hard-to-get.
Next up for the Bruins' 119-pounder was Meadowbrook's Gio Cordova, the second seed out of the Central Region, who had annihilated his opponent, 14-1, in the opening round.
``He was real fast, so I tried to play it more defensively,'' Slocumb said. ``Instead of trying to take him down, I let him attack and tried to score off that.''
Having learned a lesson, Slocumb didn't waver from his strategy. He scored first on a takedown and held a 2-1 lead after one. Back points and another takedown allowed Slocumb to build a 6-2 lead.
Cordova's only offensive points came in the waning seconds of the match on a reversal, but Slocumb was already too far ahead. He earned a semifinal berth with a stellar 9-4 win.
Both Slocumb and Perdew anticipated a rematch with Gloucester's once-beaten Joey Legg, who defeated Slocumb, 8-1, in the Eastern Region quarterfinals and was wrestling at nearly the same time as the Slocumb/Cordova match.
But just when Slocumb and Perdew got into the locker room and out of hearing range, Legg wilted and dropped a 2-1 decision to Justin Baker.
``In some ways that's good, and in some it's bad. We were looking forward to wrestling Legg,'' said Perdew. ``Now I've got to do a little scouting.'' by CNB