THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 1996 TAG: 9602150496
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
An ``innocent mistake'' has cost Booker T. Washington's Duwyne Williams a chance to defend his 160-pound Eastern District title.
Williams, 21-1 and ranked third in the area at 160, wrestled a match at 189 against Norcom on Jan. 27, a move which makes him ineligible at 160 for the remainder of the year.
According to Virginia High School League rules, a wrestler who moves up more than one weight class after the weight certification date (Jan. 5) must immediately re-certify at the next lower weight. Williams, who qualified for the state tournament as a freshman last season and would have been top-seeded at 160 in Saturday's Eastern District tournament, is now seeded second behind Granby's William Thornton at 171.
Booker T. Washington coach Robert Toran said he was aware of the VHSL rule, but was guided by a national high school wrestling rule which suggested the number of weight classes a wrestler could move up was based on where he weighed in.
Williams weighed in at 171 against Norcom, and Toran moved him up because the Greyhounds didn't have a 171-pounder. Norcom had just six wrestlers.
``It was an innocent mistake,'' Toran said. ``I won't even call it a mistake. I just interpreted the rule differently according to the national handbook.''
Even at 171 - the weight at which Williams lost his only match this season, to Churchland's James Worrell - Williams should have no trouble qualifying for next week's Eastern Region tournament, and a final-round meeting with Thornton (top-ranked in the area at 171) Saturday shapes up as the match of the tournament.
But with Williams at 171, the Bookers have no 160-pounder in the district tournament, and Detrell Wood (the usual 171-pounder) and Kevin Harper (usually at 189) must each move up a class.
STREAKING: Cox has had at least one district champion in every year since 1969, but at one point during the season that streak appeared in jeopardy given the Falcons' struggles in tournaments.
Cox had no champions in either the Western Branch or Deep Creek tournaments, and only one Falcon finished in the top three at Deep Creek. Friday, however, Cox will have three No. 1 seeds - 103-pounder Brad Pond, 145-pounder Jesse Correll and 171-pounder Mohammad Youssoffi - when the Beach District tournament kicks off at Ocean Lakes, and even typically cautious coach Jud Stokes is confident the streak will continue.
``I think it will happen,'' Stokes said. ``If my No. 1 seeds don't do it, somebody will. It would be a complete fluke if none of guys won.''
NEW BLOOD? On paper, the arrival of Churchland, Norcom and Wilson into the Eastern District next year should make Norfolk wrestlers work harder to earn berths in the Eastern Region tournament.
Saturday, for example, 87 percent of Eastern District wrestlers will advance to regionals.
In reality, however, unless the Portsmouth schools have more success getting students to come out, next year's eight-team tournament probably won't look too much different from this year's five-team event.
Both Norcom and Churchland have gone into competitions with only five wrestlers this season, and Wilson was almost as forfeit-prone until four starters returned from academic probation two weeks ago.
DUALS WRAP: Great Bridge's 66-0 championship-round victory Saturday at the Group AAA state duals may have underscored the Wildcats' superiority, but it also obscured an otherwise extremely competitive tournament.
Three of four matches that didn't involve Great Bridge weren't decided until either 215 or 275. Last year, three of the four non-Great Bridge matches also came down to the final two bouts. And three years ago, in perhaps the most exciting match in the tournament's seven-year history, Stonewall Jackson saw its defending state champion get pinned at 145, bumped up its next five wrestlers and got a pin at heavyweight to edge Centreville 31-30 in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, over the past three years, Great Bridge has won its nine state duals matches by an average score of 51-11. by CNB