ROANOKE TIMES Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702180021 SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
Franklin County wrestling coach Kris Kahila is very emotional when it comes to his sport or his school.
So when new Christiansburg coach Kevin Dresser, formerly of perennial Group AA power Grundy, compared wrestling in this region of the state to other places, Kahila was upset by a rating of 3 or 4 given to schools in the Timesland area.
Dresser said if Iowa wrestling is 10 on a scale of 1-10, that the sport among Virginia High schools ranks at 5. More specifically, he said, ``It's 7 or 8 in Virginia Beach and Grundy, and probably 3 or 4 around here. It's the Beach, then Grundy, then Northern Virginia, then this area and Richmond.''
Kahila is miffed because Dresser lumps Franklin County with the 3 or 4 rating when it has competed on a state level with Frank Cox and Great Bridge at Virginia Beach, beaten most Northern Region powers and come out second or third in Grundy's holiday tournament the last few years.
``Cox is ranked 25th in the nation by Prep Wrestling Coast to Coast Magazine. We've beaten Cox the last two years and lost a close one this year,'' said Kahila.
``We have three wrestlers in college [wrestling]. We've been in the top five [Group AAA] teams five of the last eight years. Last year we beat Stonewall Jackson in the [Northwest] region and they were second in the state. We've been second in the state [AAA] dual meet tournament two years.''
Kahila says this was the second time Dresser had ranked teams in this area. ``The first time, I thought he meant among nationally ranked teams. But this time he really states it. He has a ranking system. If I came into an area and I was God of the coaching world with a team that is 1 on a scale of 1 to 10, I wouldn't say this,'' said Kahila.
Still, the Franklin County coach admits that in preparing Franklin County to be a state contender, he has had to wrestle Grundy, Great Bridge, Cox and teams from the Northern region.
``I travel to get matches to get to a higher level of competition. We can't wrestle ourselves,'' said Kahila, indicating that teams in Timesland can't provide a supreme level of competition.
Kahila says he wouldn't have been upset had Dresser ranked teams in Timesland except for Franklin County a 3 or a 4.
Dresser says he was speaking about the area in general, not Franklin County specifically, which he admits is above a 3 or 4.
``They have an excellent program because Chris has spent a lot of time and effort at it,'' said Dresser. ``If you break the state into five areas - the Beach, Northern Virginia, Grundy, Timesland and Richmond - then the Beach is No.1 because you can find eight or more teams that give you good matches. In Northern Virginia, you can go across the state line to Maryland and Pennsylvania for good competition plus some Group AA and A teams.''
He points out that Grundy, like Franklin County, stands out in its region. The Golden Wave had to schedule teams from other regions to improve.
``I was talking in terms of finding competition. When I talk about competition, I look at an area,'' said Dresser of his rankings. Of course by saying that, then Grundy's region should probably be a 3 or a 4 since there is no other top team in the Golden Wave's area.
William Byrd wrestling coach Adam Williams sees both sides of this issue.
``Team wise, I think he's correct [about a lack of state powers in this area]. Franklin County has been doing it and they're bringing everyone else up with them. We're looking to do [the same thing],'' said Williams.
``I don't take offense [to Dresser's comments]. We go to tournaments in Grundy and Halifax [counties] and to the beach [to improve our program.]''
CAREER BESTS: How often does this happen? It's a key district game and two stars - one for each team - not only have big games, but they score their career high in points on the same night.
It happened Monday when Patrick Henry held off Cave Spring 64-59 in a key Roanoke Valley District game that set the Patriots up to win or share the regular season title with William Fleming.
PH guard Ronnie Kasey scored 26 points including a 50-foot basket at the end of the third quarter that switched momentum in favor of the Patriots. Kasey's previous best was 25 points when he turned around a game against Gar-Field with his 3-point shooting as the Patriots prevailed 67-65 in overtime to win a NationsBank Holiday Hoops Classic.
For Cave Spring, 6-foot-6 center Alex Phillips scored 26 points in a losing cause for the Knights. That topped the 25 points Phillips scored against Alleghany in a 66-47 victory in December.
In the PH-Cave Spring game, Patriots sophomore Boo Battle also scored 24 points. Battle, the RVD scoring leader, has been above 24 points eight times this season and equaled it in one other game. His career best was 34 points in a 97-81 victory against Martinsville in December.
RVD ADVANTAGE: Under the new Northwest Region tournament format, the Roanoke Valley District boys' and girls' tournament champions will have the home-court edge for making the Group AAA tournament.
The boys' winner, likely to be William Fleming or Patrick Henry, will play at home in the region for the first two games, assuming it wins the first contest. That means that highly ranked George Washington-Danville or Albemarle might play both first-round and semifinal games in Roanoke.
If the RVD champion survives those first two games, it will play the championship game at home only if a district runner-up from the Commonwealth or Cardinal districts comes out of the other bracket.
The RVD girls' champion, likely to be Pulaski County or Cave Spring, has a better draw. That team will play at home in the Northwest Region and first round of the state as long as it wins.
In Region III, the Blue Ridge District regular-season champion, William Byrd or Salem, will need to win just one game at the Salem Civic Center to make the Group AA tournament. That game might be against a very tough Heritage team.
Liberty, which won the Seminole District title Friday, must win two. The first contest will be against the Blue Ridge District runner-up.
LATE, NOT FORGOTTEN: For all those e-mails and inquiries by phone on the whereabouts of the All-Timesland cross country team, it's good to see the interest.
No, the team has not been forgotten, but it will be delayed in its announcement because we are going to present it this year in a bigger and better way than past seasons. If it works, it could mean changes in the way we present All-Timesland teams in sports other than basketball, football and wrestling.
The target date for the All-Timesland cross country team is March 6, so have patience as we try something new.
UP TO THE MINUTE: When Liberty beat Jefferson Forest 69-51 this past week in its final Seminole District regular-season game, it marked the second consecutive year the Minutemen finished unbeaten in the district.
Liberty has won 31 consecutive Seminole District regular-season games dating to a 57-54 loss to Amherst County on Feb.10, 1995. That year, Liberty lost its first Seminole District game at Brookville and then won 18 of 19, meaning the Minutemen have won 49 of 50 league games.
Add Seminole District tournament games during the same period and Liberty has won four out of five, giving the Minutemen 53 victories in 55 games against league competition.
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