THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602210146
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY DAN COOLEY, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
The Middle School wrestling championships were supposed to be a three-way showdown among Great Bridge, Deep Creek and Western Branch. After all, the head-to-head dual meets were decided in the final match.
But Great Bridge spoiled the party and won the title in a rout last Wednesday at Western Branch Middle School. The Wildcats piled up 149 points, 30 more than second place Deep Creek, which finished with 119. Western Branch followed with 108, Oscar Smith was fourth with 60. Crestwood scored 60 points, good for fifth place, and Indian River was sixth, with 25.
Great Bridge wrapped up the team championship early by placing 11 of 16 wrestlers in the title matches, four more than Hornets and Bruins. At the end of the first round, Great Bridge had rolled to a 26-point lead.
The easy Wildcat win avenged a heart-wrenching 37-36 loss to Deep Creek in the dual meet championship just four days before. Great Bridge led 36-31 going into the final match, but a pin by Deep Creek heavyweight Ricardo Phillips was enough to change the outcome.
``I'm tickled to death with (the dual meet title),'' Deep Creek coach Richard Capps said. ``The guys worked hard all year, and they deserve it.''
Things, however, didn't go as well for the Hornets in the two-day city tournament. Capps said going in, he felt as many as 12 Deep Creek wrestlers could make the final. Instead, the Hornets placed just seven.
``The guys had a bad day wrestling the first day,'' Capps said. ``It's just the way it goes sometimes.''
But everything went smoothly for Great Bridge, which picked up five individual titles, including Chase Wilson's dramatic 5-0 upset over top-seeded Paul Newmann of Western Branch. Ironically, Wilson was the tournament's top seed in 1995 at 103, but fell to second-seeded Jason Antonucci of Western Branch.
``I was determined not to lose this time,'' said Wilson, who lost to Newmann 8-4 earlier in the season. ``I wrestled a better match. My head was in it more.''
Along with Wilson, Nathan Wray took the title at 74 pounds, Mike Champagne won at 108 and Brian Whitehurst won the 115 crown for Great Bridge.
Like Wilson, Western Branch's Patrick Zydron avenged last season's loss as a No. 1 seed. Zydron captured the 86-pound title with a win by fall over Kevin Bush in 1:28.
``I was angry about last year and more confident,'' Zydron said. ``I had already faced (Bush) six times before (without a loss), so I knew what I had to do.''
Also winning titles for Western Branch were Justin Davis (92 pounds) and Eddie Barrow (98).
Two Deep Creek wrestlers, Jamaal Howard (108) and Rhondell Barnes (129) also got revenge of sorts. Barnes and Howard finished second and third, respectively, in last year's tournament.
Howard took control immediately and pinned Great Bridge's Joey Young in 3:18, while Barnes took a more dramatic route.
Barnes, seeded third, trailed top-seed Hasani Simmons of Oscar Smith, 3-0, before pinning him in 1:48.
``I wanted this one for my team, myself and for Justin Seaton,'' Barnes said. ``He would've won a title if he hadn't (gotten ill), so I got one for him.'' Seaton was 4-0 before being hospitalized with a kidney problem.
Besides Barnes and Howard, other Deep Creek winners were Carlos Lind (80) and Brian Atkins (157). Also winning titles were Oscar Smith's Antoine Davis (143) and Asa Parker (150) and Crestwood's Greg Gill (175) and Calvin Hamlin at heavyweight.
Though they did not win titles, Crestwood's Kelly Deane (129) and Brandy Golt (103) made an impact as the city's first two girls to compete in the tournament.
Golt, seeded third, moved into the forefront immediately when her originally scheduled opponent did not make it to the meet. The win by forfeit moved her into the semifinals and assured her an automatic finish in the top four. She was then pinned by Howard, moving her into the consolation finals.
But Golt proceeded to show that her placement was not tainted. With a quick takedown and three back points, she was on her way to a major 10-2 decision win over top-seeded James Seed of Western Branch. Seed fell to No. 4 Young of Great Bridge in the semis. by CNB