THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150678
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 51 lines
Cox took a big step toward adding the Beach District tournament title to its regular-season crown Friday with a powerful semifinal-round performance at Ocean Lakes.
The Falcons advanced nine wrestlers into today's finals and amassed 215 points, 38 more than second-place Tallwood.
The Falcons led the defending tournament champion Lions by only two points when the semifinals began. ``It's what we've done all year,'' Cox coach Joe Boone said. ``Our top guns keep winning, and our other guys hang in there, too.''
The Lions have seven finalists and 13 wrestlers still in the tournament, one less than Cox.
``We need to place all 13 of our guys in the top four, and we need to beat 'em head-to-head as many times as possible,'' Tallwood coach Don Robertson said.
The Falcons and Lions will go head-to-head in the 112, 140, 145 and 215 finals.
Cox has won eight tournament titles, the most of any Beach District team. Tallwood won the event for the first time last season.
Kempsville is in third place with 115 points, followed by First Colonial (106.5), Princess Anne (73.5), Ocean Lakes (61.5), Kellam (40.5), Salem (37), Bayside (35.5) and Green Run (24).
Friday's action went mostly according to form, as all seven returning champions and all 14 top seeds advanced into today's finals.
Tallwood lost one of its stars from the main draw at 103, when 1996 state finalist Winston Escalante fell in overtime to Kempsville sophomore Brian Consolvo. But this was only a mild upset: Escalante, ranked third in the area, needed overtime to beat Consolvo during the regular season.
``I knew it was going to be real close, but I definitely felt I could win,'' said Consolvo, who improved to 22-5 this season.
The Chiefs sophomore will face undefeated Falcons freshman Ryan Ingram in today's final. The top-ranked Ingram won two bouts by fall Friday to improve to 32-0.
A month ago, Ingram whipped Consolvo 10-2.
``I think it'll be a lot closer this time,'' Consolvo said.
The tournament resumes today at noon with the consolation quarterfinals. Third-place matches begin at 3:45 p.m., with the finals set for 7 p.m. ILLUSTRATION: Aubrey Wilson of Tallwood is bent backward and shows
the strain during a loss to Kellam's Jason Boswell in the 130-pound
weight class in the Beach tourney.
HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot