ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 14, 1997 TAG: 9702140044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
There are some questions to be answered this morning when the Group AA and A wrestling tournaments are scheduled to open a two-day run at the Salem Civic Center:
* Will the winter weather that hit the Roanoke Valley on Thursday force a postponement of the tournaments?
* Will Radford win the Group A team championship, ending a dry spell by Timesland schools that dates to William Byrd's Group AA crown in 1982?
* Will Floyd County's Kamal Chantal complete a perfect season and repeat as a Group A champion?
* Will the crowd from Grundy boo Christiansburg coach Kevin Dresser, who left the Golden Wave in the spring of 1996 after winning eight consecutive Group AA crowns?
* Will Grundy win an 11th consecutive Group AA title, and will William Byrd, the top team from Timesland, take second place?
Now for some answers.
Unless the weather paralyzes the Roanoke Valley, the state wrestling tournaments will open today with first-round matches at 10:30 a.m. for both classifications. Quarterfinals are at 6:30 tonight, with the consolation and championship rounds set for Saturday night.
The tournament's director, Larry Hall, said the matches will be held as long as 80 percent of the teams or more are present. All teams were due in the valley Thursday, though a representative of one squad from the eastern part of the state said his team wouldn't be able to come, then changed his mind an hour later.
``We'll be there if we have to jog to get to Salem,'' said Tony DeHart, Radford's coach.
The Bobcats have plenty of motivation. DeHart and others say Radford has a legitimate shot at the Group A title. Perennial power Brentsville District didn't dominate Region B as it usually does, winning by seven points. But the Tigers still claimed four individual titles and qualified 12 wrestlers for state competition.
Radford has 11 wrestlers in the Group A meet, but five are regional champions, so the Bobcats might make up in seeds what they lack in numbers.
``I'm pretty well pleased,'' said DeHart, whose team was third behind Brentsville and Strasburg in 1996. ``The five in first place really helps in seedings and, with the two we had in second, puts us in a little better position than last year.''
Two key Radford wrestlers - Peter Lee, who was second at 152 pounds last year, and Mike Dunbar, who was fourth at 145 - are back. Lee moves up to 160. The other regional titlists for the Bobcats are Benji Fry (119), Ryan Hall (125) and Brian Hudson (130). Will Shelor (112) and Bud Redden (189) were Region C runners-up.
``All five have a legitimate chance to win a title,'' DeHart said of his Region C champions. ``Fry is in a very tough weight class. It's his third year in a row [in the Group A meet] and he knows how it runs.
``Brentsville, Strasburg and ourselves all appear pretty even. We have a good shot at the title, and that's a good feeling.''
Chantal has moved up to 152, but he's rolled along as he did last year when he won the 140-pound crown. He's the only defending state champion from Timesland in either tournament.
Grundy is back looking to defend its Group AA title again, but without Dresser. The Blue Demons' coach knows some of his former wrestlers, still competing for the Golden Wave, are miffed because he said he would not get back into coaching when he retired in 1996.
``People who understand wrestling and understand me, understand I'm where I want to be - around wrestling,'' Dresser said. ``When I moved back, I told the Grundy paper two things: I was naive and somewhat stupid that I thought I was ready to retire from wrestling; Christiansburg or someplace like it is for me, where I can start over and build over.
``I saw the Grundy program suffer. It was hard for me to get motivated. When it gets hard to get motivated, the kids suffer. Now I'm the underdog, so they'll be fired up to wrestle me.''
Dresser says he's been told there's a dummy in the Grundy wrestling room with a torn Christiansburg T-shirt with some quotes on it that aren't kind to him.
``I've talked to several of them and I'm happy he's at Christiansburg,'' said Jim Wayne Childress, president of the Grundy wrestling club. ``We need a good coach [like Dresser] in the area.
``There are some kids who are upset. They don't understand. There will be a few fans who will boo him, but it won't be true of the entire Grundy crowd - not the ones who know wrestling. He gave us eight good years.''
As for Grundy winning an 11th consecutive title, Dresser knows as well as anyone how strong and deep the Golden Wave is. ``They'll have to miss the bus'' not to win, he said.
Grundy has four defending state champions - Luke Owens (heavyweight), Scott Justus (171), Donnie Bishop (160) and B.D. Robertson (152). Robertson won last year at 145.
Poquoson brings 13 wrestlers and nine regional champions to the Group AA meet. Even though that is one fewer wrestler and two fewer regional champions than Grundy, Hall believes the Islanders have an outside shot at the title. But Dresser says, ``There are three levels: Grundy; Poquoson; and Brookville, William Byrd and Turner Ashby'' fighting for third place.
``I can agree,'' said Adam Williams, Byrd's coach. ``We want to be as competitive as possible, and third place is one of our goals. Poquoson is on another level, and they're bringing more people.''
Byrd's Randall Sell (119), Christiansburg's Jamie Harris (103) and Eric Schmucker (152), Salem's James Giarla (189) and Magna Vista's Waylon Ryder (135) have the best chances to win a Group AA crown.
LENGTH: Long : 101 linesby CNB