THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601130469
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Great Bridge may practice aggressive, in-your-face wrestling, but in New Jersey's Highland, the Wildcats met a team that's got the style perfected.
The Tartans, ranked 25th in the country, roughed up the No. 14 Wildcats 43-24 in the quarterfinals of the Virginia Duals' National Invitational Tournament on Friday at the Hampton Coliseum.
``I don't think we were ready for how good they were,'' said Great Bridge 189-pounder Sean Cross, who nearly passed out on the mat after the oxygen to his brain was cut off by a wrenching Mike O'Donnell half-nelson.
``That's one tough team.''
Western Branch also fell in the quarterfinals of the 16-team tournament, as No. 10 Grundy won nine of the last 10 weight classes - seven by fall - in a 51-12 triumph.
But while the outcomes eliminated the possibility of a South Hampton Roads team competing for the championship - Cox, Tallwood and Lake Taylor were first-round losers - they created a potential treat for area fans in Saturday's wrestlebacks - a Great Bridge-Western Branch showdown. An early edition of the area's most intense dual-match rivalry will commence at 12:30 p.m. if the Wildcats get by Tallwood and the Bruins handle Poquoson in first-round consolation matches.
The national semifinals today at 2:15 p.m. will feature four nationally ranked teams: No. 4 Nazareth (Pa.) against No. 21 St. Mark's (Del.) and No. 25 Highland against No. 10 Grundy. The final is set for 9 p.m.
In the eight-team ``Black & Blue'' tournament, Norfolk Academy will face Kellam and Tabb will meet Maury in semifinal action today at 2:15 p.m. Results from the first round of the eight-team ``Top Gun'' tournament were not available at press time. Both finals are scheduled for 9 p.m.
The Great Bridge-Highland match wasn't as one-sided as the final score suggests; the Wildcats trailed by only a point heading into 189. But Great Bridge absorbed a rare physical beating along the way, as the Tartans, tournament leaders in tattoos and chiseled physiques, went after their adversaries with relentless, intimidating zeal and continually powered out of holds by the slicker but less aggressive Wildcats.
``We may not be the best technical wrestlers in the world, but we'll brawl with anyone,'' Highland heavyweight Dave Ritz said.
The intensity level of the match soared beginning with the 125-pound match, where Highland's Jason Joseph manhandled reserve Charlie Halton en route to a third-period technical fall. Halton was filling in for Jimmy Hawthorne, who is still recovering from a chest muscle injury sustained during last month's Mid-Atlantic Classic.
Wanting no part of the devastating Carl Perry at 130, the Tartans sacrificed backup Brian O'Donell, who lasted all of 28 seconds. Highland then gambled and bumped up Dave Rosano and Mike Davidson one weight class each. Rosano fell to Travis Woodhouse, but Davidson bested John Young, giving the Tartans a satisfying split.
Victories at 145 and 152 boosted Highland's lead to 25-12 before matching pins from Jason Byrum (160) and Christian Basnight got the Wildcats to within one.
The Cross-McDonnell 189-pound bout began with a remarkable 60-second flurry during which both wrestlers bridged out of what appeared to be certain falls. But McDonnell's power eventually prevailed, and he pinned a wobbly Cross in 3:20.
Dave Hale's 47-second fall over Eric Leonard at provided the clincher, and Ritz concluded things by pinning Shaun Curl in 2:14.
Western Branch won three of the first four bouts against Grundy before the roof caved in starting at 130, where Clayton Scott pinned Carlton Benton. It was the first of four straight falls for the Golden Wave.
``Teams better get way ahead of us early, because we're really good in the upper weights,'' Grundy coach Kevin Dresser said.
Even Sean Sanderlin couldn't solve the Golden Wave. The 1995 Group AAA state runner-up suffered his first defeat in 23 matches this season, a 10-7 setback to sophomore Donnie Bishop at 152.
Cory Bauswell finally delivered another Western Branch victory at 160, but the Golden Wave didn't lose another match.
Western Branch got into the quarterfinals by pounding Northampton 58-18. Northampton filled in for Tri Valley (Pa.), a late scratch. The Yellow Jackets, who accepted the Virginia Duals berth Thursday, will use their ``B'' team in today's Catholic Invitational.
Great Bridge got pins in the final three weight classes to oust Overton (Tenn.), in the first-round.
In other first-round matches involving local teams, defending 112-pound state champion Mike Mercado moved up to 119 and lost for the first time in 41 matches (12-10 in overtime) in Tallwood's 36-24 loss to St. Mark's; Lake Taylor got victories from Paul Jimenez, Termaine Baker, Lionel Davis and Kenny Hessler - ``The Four Horsemen'' - but didn't have enough horsepower in a 56-15 loss to Grundy; and Highland ousted Cox 51-21. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK, The Virginian-Pilot
Overton's Clyde Clemmons, bottom, tries to escape Carl Perry of
Great Bridge during their 130-pound match. Perry won by technical
fall in 3 minutes, 3 seconds.
by CNB