THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501110540
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Booker T. Washington is slowly making inroads towards becoming a competitive wrestling team, and it is a freshman that's leading them.
Duwyne Williams, the Bookers' 160-pounder who debuts at No. 3 in today's Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star rankings, won three matches Saturday to improve to 11-1. And while some of Williams' victories have come against subpar opposition, his 4:40 pin of Deep Creek's Randy Snodgrass Deep Creek coach Steve Culpepper all he needed to see regarding Williams' quality as a wrestler.
``He's the real thing,'' Culpepper said.
Although far from a finished product - this is only his second year in the sport - Williams succeeds by muscling opponents with his powerful upper body while avoiding attempts at takedown with surprisingly quick feet.
``It's an unorthodox style,'' Bookers' coach Robert Toran said.
Natural instincts, however, are what set Williams apart from other inexperienced wrestlers.
``It's hard to believe how much mat awareness he has,'' Toran said. ``You'd think he's been wrestling four or five years.''
In fact, were it not for his own determination, Williams might not be wrestling at all. Some kids are recruited into the sport. Williams recruited himself. As an eighth-grader, Williams would walk from Norview Middle School to Booker T. Washington just to catch the last hour of the Bookers' practice.
``I just wanted to be a part of it,'' he said.
Despite his fast start, Williams is making no grand predictions about what lies ahead, short of mentioning he's looking forward to a Jan. 20 showdown against Lake Taylor's Alvin Sparrow.
``Of course, everybody wants to qualify for the state tournament,'' Williams said. ``But if I don't, hey, I've still got three more years. This year, I just want to make a good bid for it, and at least make make my name known out there.''
OFF THE DECK: Kellam got into the victory column Saturday with a victory over Bayside, but it's otherwise been a highly disappointing season for the Knights, who opened the season ranked fourth in the area. The victory over the Marlins probably ensures that Kellam won't finish in the Beach District cellar, but the Knights' final standing will still represent a dramatic fall for a team which tied for the Beach District title and reached the Eastern Region semifinals last season.
On the other end of the spectrum, Deep Creek opened the season with five losses, but won three straight Saturday and suddenly looms as a legitimate challenger to Western Branch for second place in the Southeastern District.
VIRGINIA DUALS NOTES: Fourth-ranked Lake Taylor has never lost in the Virginia Duals (14-0), although assistant coach Russell Flynn is the first to admit many of the victories have come at the expense of weak competition. That won't be the case Friday, when the Titans take on No. 6 Salem at 7 p.m. A key match should come at 189, when second-ranked Daemon Schultz takes on Lake Taylor's dangerous Alan Hyman. . . . The highlight of Saturday's Denbigh-Western Branch match (5 p.m.) should be at 152, where unbeaten and essentially unchallenged Byron Tucker meets Denbigh's Aaron Martin, who was on a roll last season until a knee injury ended his season. Martin, who won the Newport News Invitational in December, had planned to drop to 145. But he wrestled at 152 on Saturday, one day after the certification deadline, and appears set as a 152-pounder.
PENINSULA'S BEST: The lion's share of the Eastern Region's top wrestlers are generally on the Southside, and this year is no exception. But if Peninsula wrestlers were included in the area poll, one name sure to top the 135-pound list would be Hampton's Eric Thompson, who beat top-ranked Aaron Beatson of Great Bridge in December and downed No. 3 Chris Martin of Granby Saturday.
Martin, who beat No. 2 Christian Basnight of Great Bridge in the Newport News Invitational, would also rank, and these others might too: Hampton's Randy Devlin (130), Gloucester's Beau Dickerson (140), Bethel's Tony Pasley (145) and Denbigh's David Messmer (145). by CNB