THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 23, 1994 TAG: 9412210138
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Oscar Smith wrestling coach Sid Savoy calls it ``the tournament for the other guys.''
And his Tigers are King of the Hill.
Oscar Smith won the annual Portsmouth Invitational Holiday Wrestling Tournament at Churchland Saturday, edging Bayside for top honors by winning the final match in the two-day competition.
The Tigers' Raphiel Butts pinned Bayside's John Fuller in 1:35 of their 275-pound match, giving Oscar Smith an overall total of 157 1/2 points. Bayside finished with 149.
``We like to take part in this tournament every year and we've been participating since it was expanded from only Portsmouth schools,'' said Savoy. ``It has grown into a very good tournament.
``Not every team gets invited to tournaments, you know. Those like Great Bridge can go just about anywhere.
``I look at this one as the tournament for the other guys. And we're delighted to be able to win.''
It was Oscar Smith's first title since the Tigers backed up championships in 1990 and 1991. Last year, the Tigers were runner-up to Lake Taylor.
This year's field was the largest in history - 10 schools. It included the three Portsmouth teams, two from Chesapeake, one from Norfolk, one from Virginia Beach and three private schools.
``We're still looking into the possibility of making it even larger,'' said Churchland coach Darin Bracy, the tournament director. His Truckers finished eighth with 59 points.
Third place went to Indian River with 124 1/2 points. Norfolk Academy was fourth with 105 1/2, Wilson fifth with 94, Cape Henry sixth with 88, Booker T. Washington seventh with 60, Catholic ninth with 40 1/2 and Norcom 10th with 33.
Oscar Smith won six of the 13 individual titles and had the meet's outstanding wrestler in 112-pounder Gary Lewis, who was picked as the MVP by the coaches.
Lewis, a junior with a 9-1 season record and a career record of 26-7, handed two-time Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools champion Clay Weisburg of Norfolk Academy his first loss of the year in the finals, 2-1. Weisburg had a 12-0 record.
In the quarterfinals and semifinals, Lewis won both matches by pins. Last year, Lewis was a runner-up at 103.
The other Oscar Smith winners, in addition to Lewis and heavyweight Butts, were Rodney Worsley (135), Cameron Midgett (140), William Cox (171) and Anwar Sparrow (189).
Sparrow was the lone defending champion able to retain his title. He beat Catholic's Tom Juskevich in the finals, 11-7. It snapped a nine-match winning streak for the previously unbeaten Juskevich and upped Sparrow's record to 10-0. A junior, Sparrow has a career mark of 30-3.
Wilson's Jason Lewis, the reigning champ at 171, was pinned in the finals by Cox. It was the first loss this year for Lewis, a senior with a fine 38-13 career record. Cox, now 9-1, pinned Lewis in 5:21.
In his title bout, Worsley pinned Cape Henry's Ed Calle in 3:35. It was only the second loss for Calle in 11 matches this season. Midgett, the lone senior on the Oscar Smith team with a career record of 54-18, handed Booker T. Washington's Mike Vander his first setback this season. Midgett won by a fall in 1:25.
Butts, a 234-pound sophomore, knew the Tigers had to win the final two matches in the 156-bout tournament to take the title. He rooted vociferously for Sparrow and then went out and pinned Fuller, a winner by falls himself in two earlier matches.
``I knew I had to win, but I really wanted the pin,'' said Butts. A year ago, he bowed out in the quarterfinals, pinned in 46 seconds.
The other seven winners were from seven different schools.
Portsmouth teams had a pair of champions - Churchland's Tiree Murphy at 125 and Wilson's Steve Rahimpour at 152.
The other winners were Norfolk Academy's Ryan Ingram (103), Bayside's Owen Kink (119), Cape Henry's Nick Gomez (130), Indian River's Keith Reynolds (145) and Booker T. Washington's Duywne Williams (160).
Murphy, a loser in the final at 119 last year, said he was never more nervous before a match. ``I don't know why, but I was really keyed up,'' he said. ``I know I didn't sleep more than four hours Friday night. Then my mother usually comes to watch, but she couldn't come. So I really wanted to win.''
Murphy's foe in the final was Bayside's Fred Jasmin, whose previous eight victories this season were all by pins. Murphy won by decision, 15-6.
Rahimpour, a third-place finisher last year at 152, won over Cape Henry's Robert Gautreaux in the championship match, 8-3. Gautreaux entered the match with a 9-1 season mark while Rahimpour, a junior, was 5-2.
In the quarterfinals, Rahimpour registered an eight-second pin over Norcom's Maguell Martinez, believed to be the fastest win in tournament history.
One other Portsmouth wrestler reached the final. Wilson's Mustafa Muhammad lost to Booker T. Washington's Williams in the 160-pound showdown, 6-5. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
Oscar Smith's Gary Lewis (112 pounds) escaped from Norfolk Academy's
Clay Weisburg to win the meet's outstanding wrestler award.
by CNB