THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602250239
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH POMPEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Norfolk Academy walked away with three individual champions in the Virginia Independent Schools Wrestling Association state tournament Saturday night, but the Bulldogs fell short of their dream of winning the team title.
Norfolk Academy finished in third place, 61 points shy of Woodberry Forest, which scored 222 1/2 points to win third VISWA title in four years Saturday night at Cape Henry. St. Christopher's finished second with 171 points.
After Friday's quarterfinals Academy had been in second 28 points behind Woodberry.
``Woodberry Forest had two much and we didn't have enough depth to stay with them,'' Academy coach David Lindhjem said. ``But we came close. We had some disappointments, and we had some quality performances.''
The Bulldogs' Clay Weisberg wasted no time winning his third consecutive title. The 119-pound senior pinned Peninsula Catholic's Brom Miller in 66 seconds.
``I was eager to wrestle,'' Weisberg said. ``I have been waiting the whole season to get out there.''
But the match of the day was between Norfolk Academy's Josh Rape and Cape Henry's Mark Kelley in the 145 final. It was a rematch of the TCIS championship won by Kelley. After losing to Kelley for the first time in seven matches, Raper promised revenge. He got it, winning 3-1.
``Kelley said after beating me before that the legend of Raper is dead,'' Raper said. ``It's not dead. He just got a little bit better. But I doubt if he ever beats me again.''
``He just beat me. I'm looking forward to going up against him again,'' Kelley said.
The third Bulldog to win a title was Ryan Ingram at 112. The sophomore defeated St. Stephens/St. Agnes' Rudy Lopez 6-1. The score didn't tell the true story, as Ingram whipped Lopez all over the mat to win his second straight title.
Other South Hampton Roads top finishers were: Norfolk Collegiate's Jay Hudgins, second at 215, Norfolk Academy's Luke Lindhjem (fifth at 125), Jamil Muasher (third at 135), Ramin Fatehi (fourth at 130) and Cape Henry's Josh Thompson (fourth at 130). by CNB