THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220538
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 60 lines
Great Bridge put its regular starting lineup on the mat last week for the first time since the Titan Classic and the results were almost predictable.
The six-time defending state champion Wildcats crushed Deep Creek 55-6 and upset nationally-ranked Poquoson 37-24 just a week after losing to the Islanders by 15.
Most notable for Great Bridge was the return of Brian Childress at 112 after missing six weeks with a knee injury. Childress scored a pin against Poquoson in a spot where the Wildcats gave up a major decision in the first meeting.
Childress, ranked second behind Lake Taylor's Paul Jiminez, is Great Bridge's most experienced wrestler and one of only three seniors on the team along with Bart Sawyer and Adam Swift. Sawyer, ranked third at 135, wrestled only twice before the Virginia Duals because of a strained rib cage.
``I don't think we've ever had two main guys out at once and it was killing them to watch,'' Wildcats coach Steve Martin said. ``But we knew if we brought them back too soon we could lose them for good.''
Childress' return forced Jason Honaker (15-4) down to 103 where he will have to wrestle-off with Brad Davenport. Honaker was ranked third at 112 last week and Davenport is 18-7 at 103.
``That's not settled,'' Martin said. ``They are both sophomores, both very good and they're going to be leaders of our team in the future.''
GOING. . . GOING: The 112-pound weight class was one of the toughest in South Hampton Roads in December with a state champ, Western Branch's Matt Viola; a state runnerup, Oscar Smith's Gary Lewis; and three state place-winners, Cox's Brad Pond, Lake Taylor's Jiminez and Great Bridge's Childress.
But Viola has returned to 103. Pond has a broken hand. And now Lewis is considering moving up to 119 where he has wrestled the majority of his matches.
``We'll know shortly,'' Oscar Smith coach Sid Savoy said. ``I'm not trying to be coy, but there's not much I can say.''
MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: Tallwood's Winston Escalante, the Group AAA runnerup at 103, meets Poquoson's Mike Akers, the defending Group AA champ, in a quad meet Saturday at Tallwood. Akers is undefeated and handed Escalante his only loss in December's Northern Virginia Invitational.
MAT BURNS: Wrestling seems to attract an unusual number of brother acts, but none is more startling than Lake Taylor's Joe and Chris Kriz. Joe is 5-7 and 103 pounds and Chris is 6-5, 268. ``I have to tell people we're brothers and they still don't believe it,'' Chris says . . . The Southeastern District faces a dilemma when it comes to seeding the heavyweights. Defending champ Raphael Butts of Oscar Smith lost to Lakeland's third-ranked Nathan Carr and was sick and didn't compete against Western Branch's top-ranked Marvin Urquhart. Urquhart was sick and didn't face Carr. Carr has won his last five matches by forfeit. ILLUSTRATION: STANDINGS, RANKINGS
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