THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995 TAG: 9512020703
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: High School Wrestling Preview
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
No surprises here. Nationally ranked Great Bridge looms as the prohibitive favorite to collect the Southeastern District title, although Western Branch may have enough talent to at least put some sizzle back into the teams' annual head-to-head showdown.
The rest of the district's teams all feature individual standouts, but have no real shot at a team title.
GREAT BRIDGE Coach: Steve Martin
Last season: 25-1 overall, 7-0 district
Impact wrestlers: Carl Perry (Sr., 130); Jimmy Hawthorne (Sr., 125); Bruce Fowler (So., 119); Travis Woodhouse (Sr., 135); Michael Harper (Sr., 152); Christian Basnight (Sr., 171).
Outlook: The Wildcats, five-time defending state champs and ranked 10th in the country by Centre Mat Magazine, are heavy on seniors (10 should see significant action) and feature their usual assortment of all-stars. The University of Illinois-bound Perry, an undefeated state champ a year ago and a high school All-American, is the Sweetpea Whitaker of local wrestling - the best pound-for-pound of 'em all. Hawthorne seemed prime for a state title before an injury wiped out half his season, while Fowler and Woodhouse each placed at state. Another state title seems a virtual certainty; the larger question is how high can the 'Cats climb nationally?
WESTERN BRANCH Coach: Terry Perdew
Last season: 14-2 overall, 6-1 district
Impact wrestlers: Sean Sanderlin (Sr., 152); Richard Slocumb (So., 119); Matt Viola (So., 103); Corey Bauswell (Jr., 160); Matt Peppers (Sr., 125-130).
Outlook: Perdew got great results out of freshmen last year, giving him optimism that this year's Bruins can seriously challenge Great Bridge for the first time in four years. Prime state title contenders include 1994 state runner-up Sanderlin, Slocumb (fifth in the state) and Bauswell.
DEEP CREEK Coach: Steve Culpepper
Last season: 11-8 overall, 4-3 district
Impact wrestlers: Sonny Sigda (Sr., 112); Darnell Bell (Jr., 125); Doug Norris (Jr., 189); Zach Fletcher (So., 135); Patrick Royster (Jr., 140); Joe Verdi (Sr., 152).
Outlook: Looks good, but it looked good last year until key members bailed out. Norris, a weight-lifting fanatic who won the cadet folkstyle state title over the summer, is one of the best, as is district runner-up Bell. Lower weights will be bolstered by freshmen Fabian Mitchell (103) - son of a former Deep Creek state champion - and Josh Baker (119) - brother of a former two-time state placewinner. Mitchell and Baker were middle school champs a year ago.
OSCAR SMITH Coach: Sid Savoy
Last season: 11-6 overall, 4-3 district
Impact wrestlers: Gary Lewis (112); Malcolm Cherry (125); Rodney Worsley (135); Michael Phelps (160).
Outlook: Savoy isn't greedy. He'll settle for modest improvement from the Tigers, who'll be led by district and region runner-up Lewis. His goals are for his team to win one more match than a year ago and for each wrestler to beat one kid he lost to in 1994. No reason why the Tigers can't meet these expectations.
INDIAN RIVER Coach: Davey Davis
Last season: 7-8 overall, 3-4 district
Impact wrestlers: Keith Reynolds (Sr., 140); Luke Armagost (Jr., 130); Antwain Britt (Jr., 215); Calvin Sutton (Jr., 135); Ronnie Turley (Sr., 152).
Outlook: Reynolds finished fifth in the state a year ago, Armagost was a district runner-up and Britt, Sutton and Turley qualified for regionals. Deeper and more experienced than recent Indian River editions, the Braves figure to improve on last year's district record.
CHURCHLAND Coach: Joe Boone
Last season: 5-10 overall, 2-5 district
Impact wrestlers: Orlando Morton (Sr., 160); Tiree Murphy (Sr., 125); James Worrell (Sr., 171); Matt Allen (So., 152); Mike Allen (So., 145)
Outlook: The highly respected Boone, who coached Poquoson two years ago and served as a tutor to the stars in 1994, will likely do nice work with the Truckers down the road. This year looks bleak teamwise, though, as Churchland won't field a full team. Individually, great things should come from Maury transfer Morton, a state runner-up a year ago, and Murphy (25-4 last season).
WILSON Coach: Tony Reynolds
Last season: 13-6 overall; 3-4 district
Impact wrestlers: Steve Rahimpour (Sr., 160-171); Andre Johnson (Jr., 135-140); Chris Lewis (Sr., 119-125).
Outlook: Presidents will be rebuilding after two solid seasons. Four freshmen should start. Another 3-4 district record will be hard to match, although the Presidents could be a strong second-half team. Rahimpour could shine in the postseason. Lewis (22 victories last year) and Johnson (24) could also emerge.
NORCOM Coach: Buddy Sharp.
Last season: 2-11 overall, 0-7 district
Impact wrestlers: Dawan Brown (Sr., 130); Lance Weathers (Jr., 119); Carlos Williams (So., 189).
Outlook: The Greyhounds lack experience, don't have a full team and are in one of the state's toughest districts. Furthermore, their best wrestlers - Jones and Butler - are in tough weight classes, making the prospects for individual honors bleak as well. ILLUSTRATION: Staff file
Great Bridge's Carl Perry, front, was 41-0 en route to a state title
last season.
by CNB