
DATE: Friday, February 28, 1997             TAG: 9702280817
SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C6   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  156 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * Winston Escalante wrestles for Tallwood. A caption in Friday's editions contained an error. Correction published Saturday, March 1, 1997 on page C2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. * THERE'S NO CLEAR FAVORITE THIS TIME IN STATE WRESTLING

The most competitive high school wrestling season in years comes to a head today when the Group AAA state tournament gets under way at Oscar Smith.

Great Bridge, winner of six straight team championships and nine of the last 10, rates as no better than a tri-favorite with Western Branch and Cox. Northwest Region champion Hylton also deserves consideration.

Western Branch leads all schools with eight qualifiers. Hylton, Herndon, Franklin County, Douglas Freeman, Lee-Davis and Atlee have seven each. Great Bridge and Cox have six each.

Great Bridge qualified 11 wrestlers last year and eight placed, but the Wildcats have won with as few as six.

``The six guys we have don't have too many weaknesses and that's what wins at this level,'' Great Bridge coach Steve Martin said.

Western Branch's Matt Viola (103) is one of only two returning champions. First Colonial's Jason Bernd, who moved up to 125 from 119, is the other.

Each weight at a glance:

103: The Eastern Region has ruled this weight since 1985 and this year should be no different. Defending state champ Matt Viola of Western Branch and runner-up Winston Escalante of Tallwood are back and could meet in the semifinals. But the man to beat is Cox freshman Bobby Ingram, the unbeaten Beach District and region champ.

Pick: Ingram

112: Herndon's Peter Bakke, fifth last year, is the only returning placewinner. He's split two matches with Centerville's Tim Sugrue, losing in the district final and winning 1-0 in the region final. Atlee's Adam Britt is the Central region champ. He beat Eastern champ Paul Jimenez of Lake Taylor 4-3 in the Virginia Duals. Jimenez could face Sugrue in the quarterfinals, Britt in the semifinals and Bakke in the finals. Eastern runner-up Jason Sigler of Bethel has an easier road to the title.

Pick: Bakke

119: Great Bridge's Bruce Fowler won two matches at state last year and is 40-0 with 26 pins. Northwest champ Richard Dombrowsky of Osbourne Park qualified for state last year but is 0-2 vs. Fowler. They can't meet until the final. Dombrowsky likely will meet Oscar Smith's Gary Lewis in the quarter. Waiting for the winner could be Western Branch's Willie Evans.

Pick: Fowler

125: First Colonial's Jason Bernd and Western Branch's Richard Slocumb, first and second respectively at 119 last year, have only one loss between them. That came last week when Slocumb fell to Churchland's Nate Parker in the region semifinals. Parker then extended Bernd to the limit in the finals and ranks as a darkhorse to win it all if he can stay off bottom. Jeff Kepler of Stonewall Jackson is on a roll, but is in the same half of the draw as Parker and Slocumb.

Pick: Bernd

130: Stonewall Jackson's Seth Cameron, a slick technician, placed fifth last year at 119 and is 32-0. He's in the same half of the draw as Gloucester's Joey Legg, a three-time state qualifier who placed third at 125 last year. The bottom half includes Herndon's Matt Gallagher, third at 103 last year, and Eastern runner-up Jason Boswell of Kellam.

Pick: Legg

135: Cox's R.J. Davis is 38-0 and placed fifth at this weight last year. He could meet Hylton's Chip Allen in the semifinals. Allen placed fourth at 140 last year. The other half of the bracket includes Stonewall Jackson's Adam Bacon, who beat Davis 2-0 in last year's consolation semifinals; Great Bridge's Bart Sawyer; and Jeremy Randolph of Lee-Davis.

Pick: Davis

140: The most eagerly awaited match of the tournament should occur here in the semifinals between Cox's Pierre Pryor (37-0) and Hylton's unbeaten Benji Main. Pryor placed second and Main third at 135 last year. Main is a takedown artist; Pryor is superior on the mat. Tallwood's David Pittman and Godwin's Josh Chamberlain should meet in the quarterfinals with the winner favored to reach the final.

Pick: Pryor

145: Freeman's Josh Fultz is a two-time state placewinner and was fifth at 145 last year. Fairfax's John Eastman is making the jump from 119 where he was third last year. Gar-Field's Richard Appau and Lee's Kenny Cornnell won matches last year, but didn't place. Eastern champ Steve Sakis of Great Bridge could hit Appau in the semifinals. Eastern runner-up Chris Mendez of Western Branch could meet Fultz in the quarterfinals.

Pick: Fultz

152: This shapes us as a duel between Great Bridge's Stacy Woodhouse, runner-up at 145 last year, and Christian Devol of Hermitage, fifth at 140 last year. They are on opposite sides of the bracket and Woodhouse beat Devol 6-5 in December on a last-second escape. A possible trip-wire for Devol is Tallwood's Andre Kemp; they could hit in the quarterfinals.

Pick: Woodhouse

160: Hayfield's Ron Blount placed third last year and is coming off a tech fall victory in the region finals. Patrick Henry-Ashland's Ali Abri, fifth at 160, and Brooke Point's Keith Cline, sixth at 152, are other returning placewinners. Eastern runner-up Derek Lipoli of Great Bridge is on the opposite bracket and can't meet Blount until the finals.

Pick: Blount

171: The top state placewinner here is Nansemond River's Damon Hill. He was third last year in Group AA, but earned his AAA stripes last week by outlasting a deep field for the Eastern Region title. Booker T. Washington's Duwyne Williams and Cox's Mohammed Youssofi each suffered their first loss last week and should be in contention, as well. Northwest champ Rick Hartman of Albemarle won two matches in last year's tournament and should meet Williams in the quarterfinals. Central champ Dale Seymour of Bird could hit Youssofi, also in the quarters. A darkhorse contender is R.J. Osborne of Pulaski. He placed third in 1995, but was injured last week and placed fourth in the region.

Pick: Hill

189: Northern champ Brent Lancaster of Hayfield was third last year. Northwest champ Caleb Race of Halifax was third at 171. Eastern champ Tom Juskevich could meet Race in the semifinals.

Pick: Lancaster

215: The top returning placewinner is Josh Goodman of Thomas Dale, who was sixth. Eastern champ Antwain Britt of Indian River won two matches and Oakton's Brian Welch won one last year before he had to withdraw with an ankle injury. Welch pinned all four of his opponents in the Northern Region tournament and could hit Britt in the semifinals.

Pick: Welch

275: Oscar Smith's Raphael Butts finished second last year and leads three returning placewinners. Hopewell's Marshall Crockett was third after getting pinned by Butts in the semifinals and Kempsville's Donald Stakes was fourth. Western Branch's Marvin Urquhart split two matches with Butts this year. Crockett may have to beat all three of the top Eastern entries to win the title. Butts has the clearest path to the final.

Pick: Butts ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

GROUP AAA

WRESTLING

Where: Oscar Smith High

When: Today and Saturday

Schedule: Today, first round, 11 a.m.; quarterfinals, 7 p.m.;

second-round consolations, 9 p.m. Saturday, semifinals and

quarterfinal consolations, noon; semifinal consolations, 2 p.m.;

fifth place, 3:15 p.m.; third place, 4 p.m.; finals, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: All session-pass (4 sessions) $15; general admisssion, $5.

No student or children tickets.