THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 20, 1995 TAG: 9501180144
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE AND JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
GREAT BRIDGE'S stunning one-point loss to Parkersburg South (W.Va.) in the opening round of the Virginia Duals National Invitational Team Wrestling Tournament may have stopped the Wildcats bid for the title, but it didn't stop the Wildcats.
Instead of going into the tank, the Wildcats regrouped and rolled over Lake Taylor (45-15), Poquoson (49-15) and Georgia's McEachern (47-9) with such fury that when they were done, even Parkersburg South coach Paul Jackson, whose team went on to win the title, conceded that Great Bridge probably had the best squad in the field.
The McEachern victory was particularly impressive, as the Wildcats trailed, 9-3, before sweeping the final 10 matches. Carl Perry triggered the Great Bridge run by dominating three-time Georgia state champion Todd Lambert, 16-8, at 125. Having seen their biggest warrior wiped out so thoroughly, the rest of the McEachern wrestlers went quietly.
Perry won three other matches Saturday and was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler. Other four-time winners for Great Bridge Saturday were 103-pounder Aaron Anton, a senior, and 160-pounder Billy Allred, also a senior, who gave college recruiters a nice sample of his vast potential.
Of course, since they didn't win the overall title, the Wildcats, who finished third, left Hampton Coliseum Saturday still feeling they have something to prove. For the teams remaining on Great Bridge's schedule, this is not good news.
Western Branch was the only school to win both its matches in the four-team ``Battle of the Best'' competition. Byron Tucker remained undefeated at 23-0 in the 152-pound class with technical falls against Denbigh's Aaron Martin and Jeremy Gibbs of Gloucester.
In the Bruins' opening round matchup against Denbigh, the Dukes managed to keep the score close until 145 when Sean Sanderlin handed Denbigh's David Messmer only his third loss of the year, 7-2. Tucker followed with a technical fall, and 160-pounder Cory Bauswell clinched the match by pinning Wes Loch at the 5:39 mark.
After dispatching Denbigh, Western Branch switched mats to face Gloucester. The Bruins dropped just one of the first five matches, surging out to a 16-3 lead, then started to pull away with Bryant Clemmons' pin at 140 and Sanderlin's 5-4 disqualification win over Beau Dickerson at 145.
Gloucester lost two team points due to unsportsmanlike conduct when Dickerson began swinging at Sanderlin with 10 seconds left in the match.
Tucker scored a 21-6 technical fall to clinch the match as Western Branch won 42-16. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by LAWRENCE JACKSON
During the tournament, Great Bridge senior Aaron Anton, top, pinned
freshman Brandon Fitzpatrick of Poquoson in a 103-pound bout.
Brian Childress of Great Bridge seemed to have the upper hand, but
was pinned by his Poquoson opponent.
by CNB