THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 17, 1995 TAG: 9504170113
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Facing the type of pressure he rarely endured during a dominating senior wrestling season, Western Branch's Byron Tucker signed a letter-of-intent Sunday night to attend the University of Oklahoma.
The signing occurred at Norfolk International Airport shortly after Tucker, a high school All-American and the Group AAA state champion at 152 pounds, had returned from a weekend visit to the Norman, Okla., school.
``I really like the campus and I like the guys on the team,'' Tucker said. ``I just wish I had a little more time to think about it.''
The national signing period began Wednesday and runs until Aug. 1. But according to to Tucker, Oklahoma coach Jack Spates said if he didn't sign Sunday night, he ran the risk of losing the scholarship offer. Tucker has already qualified academically for Division I athletics.
Tucker said Edinboro, a school he visited last weekend and was also strongly considering, also wanted an answer by Sunday.
Spates flew to Norfolk with Tucker to oversee the signing and plans to return to Oklahoma on Monday morning.
Spates said NCAA rules prohibited him making any comment about Tucker until the signed letter-of-intent of intent was back at the university.
The Sooners finished 10th in the 1995 NCAA championships and had three All-Americans under Spates, who just completed his second year. Previously, he coached at Cornell, where he recruited Great Bridge's Carlos Eason. During his college wrestling days, Spates defeated Old Dominion's Tony Perdew, Tucker's coach at Western Branch, en route to a small colleges national championship at 118 pounds for Slippery Rock University in 1973.
Clarion and Virginia Tech were other schools being considered by Tucker, and Perdew said Michigan was a late entry into the Tucker sweepstakes.
Tucker is the second Western Branch wrestler in as many years to earn a major college scholarship. Chris Viola landed at the University of Michigan last season.
Tucker, who transferred to Western Branch from Dinwiddie High last summer, went 38-0 for the Bruins last winter, with most of the victories coming by first-period pins or technical falls. He capped his campaign by whipping Maury's Orlando Morton, 14-7, in the state 152-pound final.
He then placed third in the High School National Wrestling Championships two weeks ago, earning All-America status.
Like Viola, Tucker said he will redshirt his freshman year. He will wrestle collegiately at 158 pounds, where he'll be competing for a starting job in 1996 with former All-American Jacob Newby. Newby placed fifth in the nation as a 150-pounder for Oklahoma State in 1994 before transferring to Oklahoma. He sat out last season, leaving himself two years of eligibility. by CNB