Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 16, 1992 TAG: 9202160206
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By M.J. DOUGHERTY CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
GRUNDY WRESTLERS RULE REGION IV
Statistics tell the story of Grundy's domination of the Region IV wrestling tournament Saturday at Radford High School.The Golden Wave had 10 individual champions and 12 finalists and qualified all 13 of its wrestlers for next weekend's Group AA state tournament in Hampton.
It also accumulated a tournament-record 325 points, more than the combined totals of runner-up Richlands (165 1/2) and third-place Carroll County (156 1/2).
Carroll County advanced seven wrestlers to the state tournament - more than anyone else besides Grundy.
Marion finished sixth with 120 points and had five wrestlers advance. Radford was ninth with 88 points and three state qualifiers. Christiansburg placed 10th with 74 1/2 points and will send two wrestlers to the state meet. And Blacksburg finished 12th with 54 1/2 points and had one wrestler qualify for state competition.
"I think we've done a good job," said Grundy 125-pounder Eric Kendrick. "This is the best I've seen us wrestle in a long time. Today, everything seemed to work for us. And we've got the crowd going for us."
It seemed more than half the spectators filling Radford's gym were rooting for the Golden Wave. And they had plenty to cheer about.
Only a pair of wrestlers from Carroll County - 119-pounder Joe Shumate at 189-pounder Paul Hash - as well as Richland's Brad Salyers at 145 prevented the Golden Wave from completely rolling over the competition. Hash and Shumate had unusual distinctions.
Hash ran his record to 25-0 by pinning Tass Robertson of Grundy in the 189-pound final.
"He made a mistake and I took it - that was that," said Hash, who led 8-2 when he recorded the fall at the 5:21 mark. "He tried to drop me and he didn't get his hip out. I just stepped across."
Meanwhile, Shumate was the only wrestler to defeat anyone from Grundy before the finals. He then defeated Jacob Turner of Christiansburg on a technical fall with 5:29 left in an all-New River District final.
"This is my senior season and I haven't done as well as I'd like to in the past," said Shumate. "I wanted to make up for it this year. I worked a lot for this season. I focused on what had to be done.
"Kendrick had to move up a weight [class] this year. And he's been beating me for the past two years. . . . It's always Grundy against the world."
Meanwhile, Kendrick (30-0), Shane Bowman (32-0) at 135 and Chris Childress (31-0) at 152 kept their records perfect with regional titles. Kendrick, Bowman, 145-pounder Brian Large, 160-pounder Jeff Stiltner, 171-pounder Time Rutherford and 275-pounder Laddie Fields each repeated as a regional champion.
Childress was voted the region's wrestler of the year, and Grundy coach W.J. Caudill earned coach-of-the-year honors.
Radford, Marion and Christiansburg each had one wrestler reach the finals - only to get rolled over by the Golden Wave. Radford's Mike Goff, who was wrestling with a sprained left arm, was pinned by Large at 145.
Dwayne Colley of Marion lost 7-3 to Rutherford at 171.
Turner was Shumate's victim in the 119 finale.
The best showing by a Blacksburg wrestler was a fourth-place finish by Jim Hensel at 103.