FEBRUARY 17. 1967 THE DECREE p«ge 7
Wrestlers Pull Near Upset
Finish Second In Tourney
St. Andrews College scored
u dramatic win in the last
match of the day to edge
Wesleyan’s Battling Bishops
37-33 for the team champion
ship honors in the first Dixie
Intercollegiate Athletic Con
ference wrestling tournament
held at Wesleyan February 11.
Four teams competed in the
tourney in the Wesleyan gym,
but it turned out to be a tense
two-way struggle all the way
between favored St. Andrews
and the game Bishops. Lynch
burg College and Methodist
College were clearly out
classed, Lynchburg finishing a
distant third with nine points
and Methodist fourth with
three.
The team championship
trophy went to St. Andrews
on the strength of Frank
Greir’s decision over Wes
leyan’s Leon Anderson in the
unlimited match, the final bout
of the tornament.
Heading into that final match
St. Andrews led Wesleyan by
32-30, the Bishops needing a
pin to win the championship
or a decision to tie. With
everything at stake, St. An
drews’ Greir, the Knight’s
assistant coach and top wrest
ler, and Anderson waged a
close, tough match that went
to Greir by a 5-4 point score.
Anderson actually led 4-3
on floor score, but Greir got
two points for riding time,
giving him the match and St.
Andrews the title. In riding
time, a wrestler earns apoint
for each minute he has the
advantage over his opponent.
In this scoring category, Greir
had riding time advantage for
three minutes and Anderson
for one minute.
Preliminary matches in the
afternoon, featuring 35 com
petitors, produced ISwrest-
lers for the nine matches
in the championship, with St.
Andrews and Wesleyan each
qualifying seven finalists
while Lynchburg had three
and Methodist one.
Wesleyan wrestlers who
won matches were Tom
Dickenson in the 152-pound
class, Nat Railey in the 167-
pound class and Whit Black-
stone in the 177-pound classj
All three pinned their oppon
ents, giving Wesleyan one
more pin than St. Andrews.
However, St. Andrews won
four other final matches by
decisions. In the scoring
a team received seven points
for a pin, five for a decision
and three for a loss.
St. Andrews came into the
tournament as the solid fa
vorite, thus making the Bish
ops showing a major accom
plishment. The two teams
met once during the season,
St. Andrews defeating Wes
leyan 30-9.
Wesleyan enjoyed its first
winning season ever in wrest
ling, posting a 5-4 season
record.
In addition to the unlimited
match there was one other
very close final battle. In
the 123-pound class Dean
Leake of St. Andrews edged
Ray Martin 2-0. The other
matches were clear-cut de
cisions or pins.
The quickest pin in the fi
nals was registered by Wes
leyan’s Nat Railey in the 167-
pound class. He stopped Jack
LaPointe of St. Andrews in
2:37.
In the other Bishop vic
tories, Dickenson won his 152-
pound match by pinning Bill
Warr of Lynchburg in 5:20
and Blackstone in the 177-
pound class pinned Sam Ne-
pore of Lynchburg in 4:12.
Wesleyan coach Bill Music
had nothing but praise for
his wrestlers, especially An
derson and Railey. "Leon’s
effort was outstanding, espec
ially when you consider that
Greise is one of the best
wrestlers in the state.” He
had only been stopped once
in about 16 matches prior
to the tournament.
“Railey was also a pleas
ant surprise,” Music said.
“He beat one of the outstand
ing boys in the tournament
in the preliminaries (Richard
Swink of Methodist) and real
ly gave us a boost in the
finals.”
“I am very proud of every
one of my boys,” he con-
c luded.
Results of the nine final
matches:
123 pounds—Deane Leake
(SA) defeated Ray Martin (W),
2-0;
130 pounds—Warren Maxon
(SA) pinned Steve Smith (W),
4:01;
137 pounds--Buzz Rogers
(SA) pinned Paul McKee (M),
4:22;
145 pounds--Jan Bartlett
(SA) defeated Chris Strope
(L), 4-0;
152 pounds—Tom Dicken
son (W) pinned Bill Warr (L),.
5:20;
160 pounds—Rick Reynolds
(SA) defeated Skip Gilbert (W),
4-0;
167 pounds--Nat Railey (W)
pinned Jack Lapinte (SA)
2:37;
177 pounds--WhitBlackston
(W) pinned Sam Nepore (L),
4:12;
Unlimited--Frank Grier
(SA) defeated Leon Anderson
(W), 5-4.
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