THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602080563
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Have a letter that absolutely, positively needs to get there? Hand it to a Great Bridge wrestler. Seems neither rain nor sleet nor brutal winter storm stops these guys from delivering, either.
The Wildcats, looking to be in typical postseason fighting trim despite just one practice the last five days, rolled to their sixth straight Eastern Region Duals title Wednesday at Lake Taylor.
Great Bridge routed Gloucester and Tallwood, then hammered Western Branch 51-17 in the championship match. It was the Wildcats' third victory over the Bruins in less than a month.
Both finalists will advance to the Group AAA state duals Saturday at Atlee High School, where the Wildcats will again be looking for their sixth straight title. The Eastern Region teams will meet Central Region opponents in the first round. The Central Region championship will be decided today.
Unbeaten against Eastern Region teams since 1990 and owners of victories over five of the seven other tournament qualifiers this season, the Wildcats were such prohibitive favorites that it seemed the best hope for the rest of the field would be if the lack of workouts caused by the storm would serve as an equalizer.
Wednesday, however, the Wildcats showed that mat-rust is something that happens at other schools. Great Bridge won 22 of the 28 bouts in their first two matches, then handled the Bruins in an even more convincing manner than they displayed 11 days ago in the Southeastern District finale (a 37-23 Wildcat victory).
Brian Childress (112), Carl Perry (130), Travis Woodhouse (135), John Young (140), Stacy Woodhouse (145), Jason Byrum (160), Christian Basnight (171) and Shaun Curl (275) all had 3-0 records for the Wildcats Wednesday. Perry ran his unbeaten string to 77.
``The break was the best thing that's happened to us all year,'' Great Bridge coach Steve Martin said. ``It gave me an excuse to keep them off the mat. A lot of our kids were banged up. This gave 'em a chance to get healthy.''
For Western Branch, which won the only regional duals title Great Bridge didn't (1990), simply reaching the final was an accomplishment after years of disappointments.
``We did what we had to do to get to state,'' Bruins heavyweight Marvin Urquhart said. ``When we get to Richmond, we'll try to get another shot at (Great Bridge).''
The Bruins earned a berth in the final by knocking off Cox, 37-23. The pivotal match came at 145, where Chris Mendez, trailing 5-0 in the third period, caught Jeff Kramer in a headlock and pinned him in 5:18. Instead of losing three points, the Bruins picked up six in a match they led by only five heading into 275.
``All I was thinking about was winning the match somehow, because I knew how important it was,'' Mendez said. ``But for awhile there, I thought I was going to lose the way he was beating up on me.''
Off-the-mat fireworks marred the Tallwood-Great Bridge semifinal, which the Wildcats won, 60-5. In third period of the opening bout, Tallwood 103-pounder Winston Escalante lost two points on his third and fourth caution warnings, and seconds later was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct call for firing a couple of open hands to DiDio's face trying to tie his man up.
Both benches emptied at that point, although order was quickly restored. Still enraged, Escalante wrestled out the final 24 seconds of his bout - a 6-4 defeat - and shook hands with both DiDio and the Great Bridge coaches before shouting something in the direction of one of the Wildcat wrestlers. The mat official immediately docked the Lions one team point and ordered Escalante to leave the gym.
Under Virginia High School League rules, an athlete ejected from a match must sit out his team's next scheduled competition. In Tallwood's case, that would be next week's Beach District tournament, although the Lions could add a match this weekend since they didn't qualify for the state duals.
The Lions were docked another team point against Great Bridge when 189-pounder Alvin Wilson, after being disqualified in his bout with Matt Small, slammed his headgear to the ground and punted a chair.
Ironically, Tallwood, the Beach District champions, lost, 60-6, to Great Bridge in this same gym in early December during thee Norfolk Sports Club/Titan Kickoff Classic. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Aubrey Wilson of Tallwood, left, reacts to his semifinal pin at 135
pounds by Travis Woodhouse of Great Bridge, who won three matches
for the Wildcats Wednesday along with seven other teammates.
by CNB