THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512170215
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
It was a bad night for champions.
Granby replaced Oscar Smith as titleholder in the Portsmouth Invitational Holiday Wrestling Tournament Saturday night at Wilson. And five of seven individual winners last year were dethroned.
The steadily improving Comets, under second-year head coach John Cerminara, racked up 220 points to edge the runner-up Tigers by 7. Salem finished a distant third in the 12-team field with 155 1/2 points.
Oscar Smith had forged a 13-point lead over Granby, 203-190, at the outset of the championship matches.
Granby sent seven into the finals. Six came away with championships - Reuben Waites (119), Brian Jones (130), Chris Lee (135),Chris Martin (145), Anthony Allen (189) and Antwaine Dowe (215).
Waites pinned Norfolk Academy's Clay Weisberg, ending his winning string at 14 and just Weisberg's fifth loss in 105 matches.
The lone Granby loser in the finals was William Thornton, the area's top-ranked 171 pounder. He was pinned by Churchland's Orlando Morton at 5:27. Morton, South Hampton Roads' No. 1 rated 160-pounder, moved up a weight.
Stepping in at 160 for Churchland, James Worrell beat 1954 PIT champ Duwyne Williams of Booker T. Washington for the title and was chosen by coaches as the meet's outstanding wrestler.
``The award surprised me,'' said Worrell. ``But I thought I could win.'' It was the first loss of the year for Williams and raised Worrell's record to 6-1.
Oscar Smith's Gary Lewis (112), last year's MVP, and Raphael Butts (275) were the lone repeat champions. Lewis pinned four foes en route to the finals before decisioning Norfolk Academy's Ryan Ingram, 6-2. Ingram won the 103 crown last year.
Butts pinned Booker T. Washington's Raymond Bell in 1:09 to wind up the tournament but Granby already has salted the championship away with two wins in the two previous matches.
Allen, a junior with an 8-3 record, pinned Bayside's Jose Araiza and Dowe won an overtime tussle with Oscar Smith freshman Tim Gatson, 7-5.
In another overtime match Salem's Romon Copeland beat 1994 125-pound winner Tiree Murphy of Churchland. Currituck had a pair of titlists in Mark Gilbert (103) and David Lowe, who claimed the 140-pound championship by default when Oscar Smith's Shrell Watson suffered a rib injury.
Salem's Doug Clark, who took an 8-2 decision from Churchland's Mike Allen at 152. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/The Virginian-Pilot
Churchland's Tiree Murphy is on top here, but Salem's Romon Copeland
won their 125-pound Portsmouth Invitational final 5-3 in overtime.
by CNB