THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412180509
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
With the championship of the Portsmouth Invitational Wrestling Tournament riding on the outcome of the final match Saturday, Oscar Smith's Raphiel Butts pinned Bayside's John Fuller.
The Tigers finished with 157 1/2 points, edging the Marlins by 8 1/2 points in the two-day tournament at Churchland High.
Indian River was third with 124 1/2, followed by Norfolk Academy, 105 1/2; Wilson, 94; Cape Henry, 88; Booker T. Washington, 60; Churchland, 59; Catholic, 40 1/2; and Norcom, 33.
``I knew I had to win,'' said Butts, a 234-pound sophomore with an 8-2 record this year. ``But I really wanted the pin.''
Bayside, with a strong showing in earlier bouts, rallied from a 17 1/2 point deficit Friday to carry a 149-142 1/2 lead into the final two matches of the 156-bout tourney.
As Oscar Smith's Anwar Sparrow stepped on the mat for his 189-pound match with Catholic's Tom Juskevich, Tigers coach Sid Savoy said: ``I'd like to see this go down to the heavyweights. Wouldn't it be something for the spectators to see the championship hinge on the final match?''
Sparrow and Juskevich both carried unblemished 9-0 records into their tussle. And in a classic, Sparrow claimed an 11-7 decision, setting up the last-match showdown and Butts' heroics.
``I never have wanted to win a match more,'' said Butts, who was leading, 4-2, when he pinned Fuller at 1:35.
Another Oscar Smith wrestler who was picked as the tournament's most valuable performer by the coaches - 112-pounder Gary Lewis, who posted a 2-1 decision over previously unbeaten Clay Weisburg of Norfolk Academy in their championship bout.
Lewis, a junior who is now 9-1 for the season and 26-7 in his career, had pins in his two earlier matches.
Weisburg, a two-time Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools champion, was 12-0 before the final.
Three other Tigers, six in all, won titles. Rodney Worsley pinned Cape Henry's Ed Calle in 3:35 for the 135-pound crown and 140-pounder Cameron Midgette won by fall over Booker T. Washington's Mike Vander in 1:25.
William Cox handed Wilson's Jason Lewis, the defending champ at 171, his first loss of the year in the finals. Cox pinned Lewis in 5:21, a victory the Tigers had to have to overtake Bayside.
Bayside had four finalists, but only 119-pounder Owen Kink, who is 9-1 this year, was able to capture a championship.
Kink decisioned Luke Lindhjem of Norfolk Academy, 9-4.
Other title winners were Norfolk Academy's Ryan Ingram (103), Churchland's Tiree Murphy (125), Cape Henry's Nick Gomez (130), Indian River's Keith Reynolds (145), Wilson's Steve Rahimpour (152) and Booker T. Washington's Duwayne Williams (160).
Ingram pinned Cape Henry's Michiel Sival, the first loss of the season for Sival. Vander also suffered his first setback. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
Rodney Worsley of Oscar Smith holds down Cape Henry's Ed Calle.
Worsley pinned Calle in 3:35 for the 135-pound title.
by CNB