THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 18, 1995 TAG: 9511181510
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEVIN DOEPP, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
One concern that any college coach has with any sport is trying to keep his or her players healthy.
Old Dominion wrestling coach Gray Simons is no different. He believes that this is a key to any successful season.
``We think that we can have a good season if we can keep our best guys healthy,'' Simons said. ``We are pretty experienced and we have a couple of solid freshman coming in.''
Long Island, N.Y., native Nick Hall, a former high school All-American and state champion at Longwood High School, is currently ranked third in the country in the heavyweight division by Amateur Wrestling News.
Hall, a senior, finished last season fifth overall at the NCAA championships making him the 20th all-time All-American at Old Dominion.
He finished at 32-5 overall and was 7-0 in the CAA.
Also coming back for the Monarchs is senior Erick Shaw. The Indian River graduate was 26-5 and 11-1 in duals wrestling at 126. He also was 6-1 in the CAA.
Filling out the rest of the Monarchs' tentative lineup will be: Chad McPhatter, a Cox graduate (158), Curt Krazer (150), Phil Donnelly and John Alexander (142), Brandon Vera, the Lake Taylor graduate (190). Randy Devlin is at 134. At 118 will be Brian Miller, a transfer from George Mason and Alex Ernst (First Colonial).
Great Bridge graduate Jamie Kelly is at 167 and Todd Place at 177.
Today the Monarchs open hosting the ODU Invitational against The Citadel, Campbell, Norfolk State, Shippensburg and Howard. The matches start at 9 a.m. and admission is free.
NORFOLK STATE
One of Norfolk State wrestling coach Jackson Gerst's concerns heading into his eighth season with the Spartans was inexperience. Now, his team has given him a little more to be concerned about.
Two wrestlers that he was counting on quit and one broke his leg and is most likely out for the year. So his depleted squad will grin and bear the minor setbacks hoping for a better season than last year.
``If each person does their job we will be able to overcome all of this,'' Gerst said.
``We did well in the Pembroke Classic meet last weekend and the young guys got to see a lot of what the competition will be like on the college level.''
Leading the way is senior All-American Corey Williams, wrestling at 134. Williams, a Princess Anne graduate, finished last year at 20-2 and will defend his 134-pound Southeast Regional title.
Other key returners are senior Felton Woodson of Deep Creek (158), juniors Marcus Johnson (HWT) and Rodney Turner (118).
Some newcomers are Clayton Holmes (142), Devin Godsett (118) and Jamaal Jones (126).
The Spartans finished last season second in the Virginia State Division II/III tournament and 17th in the Division II NCAA championships.
They finished second in the Virginia State tournament and 13th in the nation, the school's best finish in history. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Nick Hall is currently ranked 3rd in the country.
by CNB