THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601170110
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Great Bridge may not have been the best team in the Virginia Duals' National Invitational Tournament, but no team save champion Nazareth (Pa.) finished the two-day, 16-team event on a bigger high.
The Wildcats' conditioning, one of the trademarks of the program under coach Steve Martin, helped Great Bridge turn a potentially embarrassing tournament into a showcase for their unsurpassed stamina and patented brand of six-minutes-of-all-out wrestling.
``I'm not happy about finishing third, but I'm happy about our performance in the last matches,'' Martin said after the Wildcats rallied from an opening-day loss to Highland (N.J.) and their closest decision over a South Hampton Roads' team since 1992 (a 30-24 victory over Tallwood) to finish a strong third.
Great Bridge's showing was even more impressive considering that it came without the services of Jimmy Hawthorne, who has wrestled in only one match since sustaining a chest muscle injury Dec. 23 at the Mid-Atlantic Classic in Delaware. Hawthorne said he hopes to be back in action soon; Martin says he'll do nothing to jeopardize the junior's chances in the state tournament and will hold off until Hawthorne is 100 percent.
The Wildcats also wrestled the second day of the Duals without heavyweight Shaun Curl, who got hurt in the Highland match.
Without a complete lineup, Martin knew he'd need big points where possible. Carl Perry was instructed to go for pins and, as usual, Perry delivered by pinning all five guys he wrestled (he won his sixth by forfeit).
According to Martin, however, Perry's greatest contribution may have come off the mat. The Great Bridge senior gave a fiery pep talk after the lackluster performance against Tallwood, and the Wildcats wrestled with passion through convincing victories over Western Branch, St. Mark's and Bakersfield.
``Emotion definitely played a part in those matches,'' Martin said.
Perry, however, refused to take credit for the team's revival.
``This was a gang effort, from 103 through heavyweight,'' he said. ``It's not easy to fight through four matches the way we had to do today, but the guys came through tremendously. I feel lucky to have teammates like this.''
Western Branch caught a break in its opening round match when its scheduled opponent, 7th-seeded Tri Valley (Pa.), withdrew. Tri Valley was replaced by Northampton, a team the Bruins whipped, 78-0, a little over a month ago. The Yellow Jackets wrestled shorthanded in that match, but even with their full complement were no match for the reigning Group AAA state runners-up.
The Bruins had problems of their own, however, and they were exposed against stiffer opposition. According to Western Branch coach Terry Perdew, a Chesapeake policy that prohibited practicing when schools are closed because of the weather left them woefully underprepared for Grundy, the Bruins' quarterfinal opponent and the nation's 10th-ranked team.
``We haven't had a full practice in eight days,'' Perdew said. The coach insisted some schools skirted the no-practice edict; the Bruins abided by the rule and paid the price - a 51-12 loss to the Golden Wave.
The Bruins then won just four of the 13 matches against Great Bridge; a fifth victory came by forfeit.
The outcome raised serious questions about the Bruins' chances when the teams meet Jan. 27 at Western Branch for the Southeastern District title. The Bruins figure to be better prepared, but Great Bridge should have Hawthorne and Curl. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
Brian Wilson of Western Branch fell to Jamie Connor of Northampton.
However, Western Branch won the first round of the Virginia Duals.
by CNB