THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601140212
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
It was one of the delicious ironies of a ambitous, often hectic but never-dull two days of wrestling at the Hampton Coliseum - while several of the nation's best high school teams watched, Kellam, a second-division team in the Beach District, competed for a championship at the 1996 Virginia Duals.
But such was the unique charm of this 16th edition of the Duals, which for the first time gave all 32 teams in the field title shots against teams on their own level by debuting a three-tournament format.
The Knights came up short in their bout with the big time, falling to Tabb, 49-23, the final of the eight-team ``Black & Blue'' Division for rebuilding teams ordinarily not quite ready for prime time.
But on another of the Coliseum's six mats, it was ``Miller time'' for First Colonial as an unlikely hero lifted the Patriots past Gloucester, 29-27, for the championship of the ``Top Gun'' Division.
Prior to the final, First Colonial coach Joe Bothel said he expected it to come down to the heavyweights. Sure enough, Patriot 275-pounder Eric Miller took the mat against Jason Valcourt with the Dukes leading 27-26.
Miller is a first-year wrestler. He'd lost both of his previous Duals matches. He'd been pinned by Valcourt in a tournament less than a month ago. And he trailed, 2-0, heading into the final period. Somehow, however, he rallied for a takedown and a reversal in the final two minutes to produce a 4-2 victory.
``I just starting thinking about that big trophy and the big smile on my coach's face if I pulled it off,'' Miller said. ``That helped me get through.''
The biggest smiles, however, were worn by the Duals' organizers, who hailed the event best-attended Duals ever. Approximately 8,100 tickets were sold over the two days.
In the National Invitational Tournament, Nazareth, ranked fourth in the country, rolled to the title. The Blue Eagles spanked Grundy, 35-15, in the final and won their four matches by an average of 42 points.
Great Bridge, which seemed to get stronger as the day wore on, knocked off four teams, including nationally ranked St. Mark's (Del.) and Bakersfield (Calif.), to place third for the second year in a row.
``The kids wrestled up to their ability levels in the last three matches,'' Wildcats coach Steve Martin said.
Great Bridge was coming in off a physical and emotional beating Friday against Highland (N.J.), and had to scramble for a 30-24 first-round consolation victory over Tallwood. In early December, Great Bridge hammered the Lions, 60-6.
``We gained their respect today,'' Tallwood coach Don Robertson said. ``We opened their eyes.''
The Wildcats retreated to their locker room, where coach Steve Martin ``lit into 'em'' and Perry delivered an emotional sermon. The rest of the day was vintage Great Bridge. The Wildcats took out archrival Western Branch by 22, St. Mark's by five (despite forfeiting heavyweight) and Bakersfield by 15.
Norfolk Academy, which went 3-1 against private schools, took third in the ``Black & Blue'' Division. Denbigh downed Ocean Lakes to finish third among ``Top Gun'' teams.
A hard-luck award could have been handed to Oscar Smith, which lost by a point to second-seeded First Colonial in the ``Top Gun'' opening round, then tied Ocean Lakes, 34-34, in the consolation semifinals, only to see the Dolphins advance on the sixth criteria (most near-fall points).
The way the Truckers saw it, however, they may not have made the final, but they did make a statement.
``We showed teams Oscar Smith is not to be played with,'' heavyweight Rafael Butts said.
``This is only going to make our team stronger,'' added 112-pounder Gary Lewis.
In the college tournament, Minnesota won its fourth straight Duals title by downing Illinois, 21-16.
Most outstanding wrestler honors in the college division went to Lock Haven 134-pounder Cary Kolat, who pinned all five of his opponents and averaged just over a minute per pin.
The other top wrestler award, given in the national high school division, went to Woodford (Ky.) 140-pounder Joe Carr.
In other tournaments:
Catholic Invitational: Led by top-ranked 215-pounder James Temple, Lakeland wrestlers won seven finals to capture the team title.
Temple recorded a 13-second fall in the semifinals in addition to his 33-second victory in the final to help the Cavaliers amass 213 1/2 points. Norview was second with 176 and Manteo (N.C.) third with 146 1/2.
Other champions for Lakeland were Mike Sheline (112), Kevin Jackson (125), Sean Sheline (135), Tim Askew (145), Andy Vardaro (189) and Nathan Carr (215).
Oak Duals: Host Norfolk Collegiate swept through Chincoteague, Booker T. Washington and Norcom to win the championship. Jay Hudgins won each of his three matches by fall to key the effort.
Kevin Harper (189) won two falls and Duwyne Williams (160) had pin and a technical fall in victories over Wilson and the Halifax ``B'' squad to help the Bookers place second.
In boys basketball:
Lake Taylor 77, First Colonial 53: Brian Kelley and Darnell Whitaker scored had six points and the No. 8 Titans hit 13 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter. Toot Young had 21 points for Lake Taylor. Josh Withers scored 15 for the Patriots.
Norview 70, Wilson 52: Andray Jones scored 21 points for the Pilots. Perez Bottoms had 16 points for the Presidents, who led by a point at the half before losing for the third time in as many nights. by CNB