THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602250203
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Great Bridge shattered yet another record Saturday in rolling to its sixth straight Eastern Region wrestling title Saturday at Churchland.
The Wildcats finished with just two champions - hardly an overwhelming number by Great Bridge standards - but amassed 253 1/2 points, 19 1/2 better than the previous high set by - who else? - Great Bridge in 1992.
``We're on right now,'' Great Bridge coach Steve Martin said. ``Usually we're burned out at this point. Now, we've got some seniors that are very hungry.''
Carl Perry (130) and Christian Basnight (171) got individual titles for Great Bridge, and nine other Wildcats qualified for the Group AAA state tournament, which begins Friday at Oscar Smith. The top four finishers in each weight class earned state tourney berths.
Perry's victory, a 3:43 technical fall over First Colonial's Jason Bernd, was his 159th career triumph and added to the all-time state record he set in Saturday's semifinals.
Basnight rallied from 5-2 down in the third period to oust Churchland's James Worrell, 7-6.
The Wildcats forfeited a chance for another title when 125-pounder Jimmy Hawthorne defaulted to Gloucester's Joey Legg. Hawthorne, who has wrestled only five matches since sustaining a chest muscle injury in late December, appeared sharp in reaching the final. He donned his green-and-gold singlet Saturday and said he wanted a shot at Legg, who won a regional title at 119 last year. But with the state tournament just six days away, Martin decided against using his injury-prone star, leaving a frustrated Legg on the mat all dressed up with no one to wrestle.
``We looked at this as a qualifying tournament for state in Jimmy's case,'' Martin said. ``I'm not going to take any chances with him.''
Tallwood's Mike Mercado (112) and Hampton's Eric Thompson (140), both returning state champions, and Western Branch's Sean Sanderlin (152) all earned their second straight regional titles.
Mercado whipped previously unbeaten Gary Lewis of Oscar Smith, 8-4. Thompson used his superior defense to down Indian River's Keith Reynold, 10-6. And Sanderlin won for the fourth time this year over Great Bridge's Michael Harper, 12-4.
For sheer dominance, however, no one could top the performance of Granby's Chris Martin, who pinned Great Bridge's Stacy Woodhouse 49 seconds into the 145-pound final. It was the fourth first-period pin in four matches for Martin, a state runner-up a year ago who improved to 32-0.
``People thought I was a fluke last year,'' Martin said. ``This shows I'm no fluke.''
The eagerly anticipated 160-pound final pitting Churchland's Orlando Morton and Great Bridge's Jason Byrum in a rematch of the Southeastern District final was all Morton, as the Truckers senior raced to a 5-0 lead after one and held off Byrum for a 7-0 victory.
Morton, whose late-match pace has been heavily criticized by Great Bridge fans, was roundly booed by Wildcats supporters after the match. Saturday, however, the rest of the crowd drowned out the boos with a round of applause as Morton left the mat.
``The (Great Bridge) crowd just hypes me up,'' Morton said. ``They're helping me more than anything.''
At 135, Beach runner-up Pierre Pryor of First Colonial outdueled Beach champion R.J.Davis of Ocean Lakes, 13-11, to avenge his only loss to a Virginia wrestler this season.
``All I was thinking about was getting my respect back,'' Pryor said after pausing to sign an autograph. ``I wanted revenge.''
In another Beach final rematch, Tallwood's Winston Escalante held off Beach champion Brad Pond of Cox, 6-4. Pond was 3-0 against Escalante going in.
Western Branch's Richard Slocumb took the 119-pound division by easing past First Colonial's Jason Bernd, 11-10.
Gloucester's Jason Beach (189), Deep Creek's Nick Cuffee (215) and Oscar Smith's Rafael Butts (275) also won titles. Butts' knocked off Green Run's Leevi MacDonald, handing the Stallions' senior his first loss. by CNB