THE LANCE
Matmen Capture Third
Straight Tourney Title
THURSDAY. FEB. ig,
Led by captain Denny Dod
son, the St. Andrews wrestling
team became the first ever to
win a Dixie Conference tourna
ment three consecutive years.
An upset win by Methodist In
the 1968 tourney prevented five
straight DIAC wrestling titles
for SA. The Knights accumulat
ed 48 points easily outdistanc
ing Lynchburg 27, Methodist
18, and NC Wesleyan 0. Wes
leyan sent only two men, both
of whom were pinned In the
preliminaries.
Still hampered by a knee
that he Injured against Lynch
burg on January 28, Dodson
a senior, pinned Lynchburg’s
Hal Gllham with 1:35 left In
the second period for the 158
lb, championship. Denny was
named Most Valuable Player
for the second year In a row.
This match finished out a fine
9-1 season, it Included a 7-3
point decision over Brian De
wey of Lynchburg in the 150
lb, conference title. Inciden
tally, Dewey lost only one
match, Dodson was conference
runner-up twice, champion
twice, and MVP twice, in his
four SA grappling years. His
loss will be greatly felt.
Three Knights-Carter Mc-
Keithan (118-lb.), Jim Gaslcins
(126-lb.), and Wesley Camp
bell (134-lb.) competed in the
semifinals. Carter lost to
Lynchburg’s Fred Plfer who
ultimately won the 118 crown.
McKeithan, a sophomore, com
piled a 3-8 record in his first
wrestling season. Both Gaskins
and Campbell advanced to the
finals as Jim blitzed Allen White
of NC Wesleyan 18-4 and Wes
ley pinned Hornet Neil Smith
in the second period.
These two plus six others
who were top seeded gave St.
Andrews eight men in the finals
while Lynchburg had six and
Methodist four. Seven points
for a pin, five for a decision,
and three for a loss, constitut
ed the scoring in the finals.
Showing no effects of a month
lay-off while in Mexico, fresh
man Jim Gaskins demolished
Grubbs of Lynchburg with a pin
in only 62 seconds to capture
the 126 lb. title, Gaskins com
plied a 4-1 record this year,
Wesley Campbell, another
frosh, lost a tough 8-2 decision
to Methodist’s Dave Patrick for
the 134 lb, crown. He wrest
led the last six weeks of the
season and finished with a 4-3
record. In an upset win over
Lynchburg, Wesley pinned his
opponent at 167 while weighing
only 145 lb.
Sophomore Buddy Creech won
his second conference title in
a row, this time at 142, by pin
ning Bill Breeden of Lynch
burg with 1:34 left in the se
cond period. In 1970, Buddy was
the DlAC’s top 126 pounder.
Creech has a fine 7-3-1 sea
son. Freshman Marty McIntyre
was defeated in the 167 title
match by Ken Valentine of Me
thodist. Marty had a respec
table 4-6 season considering
he wrestled at 150, 158, and
167 lbs. Those weight classes
are far from easy.
In the grand finale, 270 lb.
sophomore Ed Bartlett dispos
ed of Lynchburg’s Robert Brown
In a mere 70 seconds to retain
his conference crown in the
unlimited category. This vic
tory and a pin vs. Wilmington
gave big Ed a 2-0 season.
Next year everyone will re
turn except Dodson. If Compy
Groff, 150 lb. conference cham-
pin 1969, comes out and Rich
ard Bridgefort, conference and
District 29 champ In 1969 re-
tumns from the Far East, the
SA matmen will be heavily fa
vored to make it four In a row.
Senior grappler DENNY DODSON appears to have “hardly i
leg to stand on’* against Lynchburg’s Hal GUham In the 158
lb. championship match.
DIAC Tournament Starts Tonight ;
Knights Meet UNC-Greensboro At Rocky Mount
After finishing the season
with three consecutive victo
ries, the Knights collide tonight
with UNC-Greensboro In Rocky
Mount at 7:00 In the quarter
finals of the DIAC tournament.
SA should be psyched up to blow
UNC-G off the court. They beat
us twice in regular season com
petition, once incredibly over
coming a 23 point lead.
Coach Spencer Boyd feels the
Knights can win the tourney
with teamwork. An average of
25 turnovers per game in our
last three outings must de
crease to perform well at Rocky
Mount, Except for VA. Wesle
yan, any of the teams in this
year’s DIAC, which Boyd de
scribed as the most balanced
he has even seen, are capable
of capturing the tourney.
Three seniors will be play
ing their last games. They are
Gary G r e d 1 e 1 n, Tony Fernan
dez, and Craig Hannas, Gary
has averaged 15.3 points per
game In the conference this year
and is perhaps the DIAC’s fin
est defensive guard. Tony en
joyed his best season at SA,
averaging 14.7 points and 12,9
rebounds per game and led.
the conference in field ac
curacy with 51%. “The Leap-
er” averaged 19,6 points per
game (Among the top five In
DIAC), led the conference In
rebounding with 15.4 per game,
and finished among the top ten
In free throw accuracy with
75%.
A win over UNC-G would ad-
vance us to the semi-finals a.
gainst top-seeded Lynchburgon
Friday at 9:00. A consolation
game and the championship lut
are scheduled for 7:00 and 9;00
r e s p e c tlvely Saturday night.
Tickets are now on sale In the
PE office for $1.
Thurs
Lynchburg
Ei
St. Andrews
7:00
UNC-G
Greensboro
3:00
Va. Weslevan
NC Weslevan
9:00
Methodist
GARY LINN
YOU ARE INVITED TO A SEMESTER'S
INQUIRY INTO "GETTING GOD AND
MAN TOGETHER IN TODAY'S WORLD"
Beginning With
A LENTEN SERIES
FEBRUARY 24 — SUFFERING AND LENT — DICK PRUST
MARCH 3 — SUFFERING IN RACIAL ISOLATION — CHARLES FARRIS
Mr. Farris is on the staff of the Southern Christian MKKI3
Leadership Conference, long led by Martin Luther
King and committed to radical change in race re
lations.
MARCH 10 — SUFFERING AND HUNGER — GEORGE FOUKE
MARCH 17 — SUFFERING AND WAR — BILL ALEXANDER
MARCH 24 - SUFFERING AND SOCIAL CHANGE - WILL CAMPBELL
Mr. Campbell is the leader of the Fellowship of CAMPBELL
Southern Churchmen, committed to radical social
change through reconciliation
MARCH 31 — SUFFERING IN CONTEMPORARY FICTION — W D WHITE
APRIL 4 — “JESUS CHRIST, SUPER STAR”
WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AT 10:15 IN THE ALCOVE