KING OF THE MATS
| ; WSSU's Donnell Rawls reigns as
national wrestling champion at 118 lbs.
| By CRAIG T. GREENLEE
> Chronicle Sports Editor
r
The second time around
really brought out the best in
<; Winston-Salem State's Don
c nell Rawls, who scored four
impressive victories in win
ning the NCAA Division II
Rational wrestling title at 118
lbs. at Fargo, ND.
.v Rawls, a Fayetteville
? sophomore, hung tough to
record a 6-3 decision over
tforth Dakota State's Bret
Maughan in the championship
finals. Rawls' four match
streak ran his record to 24-2
for the year. As a freshman,
Rawls placed fifth at the
nationals in *90.
O "I was a lot more relaxed
this time," said Rawls. "I
knew what I Wanted to do,
knew what I wanted to
accomplish. I told coach
(Melton Hardee) that if I
made it to the final round,
there was no way I was going
fo lose."
'/*? Rawls' feat makes him
tlie first ever wrestler at Win
. Ston-Salem State to win a
i pational title.
The win, however, didn't
come easy. Leading 5-3 with
less than two minutes left in?
the third and final period,
Rfawls suffered torn ligaments
jn his ankle. At that juncture,
it was clear that he was
injured and very vulnerable to
an opponent who wanted to
! go for the kill.
However, Rawls called on
t his inner reserves to pull him
?>- '
NCAA DIVISION II
TEAM RESULTS Ml>
4 - 4 ~ 1 - - - pik iiiiii
tOPTWEHTY
TEAM '\ j\" TV I lH 1 pOfNT$ |
s .s > \ % ' " M
s\ ' >. ?? ?? v ? Pf s
1 i;- NstDrssks^Omfittsi"^ .
2. Central Oklahoma State 64.00
3. Northern Colorado ;?? 1 | l| 60.50 - -
4. North Dakota State /| r 49.50
5. Portland State , . < - - - 48.25
6? 1 Cal State-Chico MHMp| 36,00 |gjj
?' 8.,. ' Colorado-Mines - - \ ' | I ' ?M? ? if?
. Q So. Hlinols-EdwardftVlllB ;_30.S0
10. South Dakota State I t i 28.00 1
- 11. Cheyney State ; I M I iMMi ,26,00 ?g 1
12. Ferris Stat^H s! ' I - \^6.00." B
? 13.' Humboldt Stated .\, If HlHHi # g|
14. Ashland (Ohio) HI llltll 22.00 |
15. Winston-Salem State 20.75
16. Kearney State 19.50
17. | Central Missouri State - Vi9#00 j? |J |J|
18. Wisconsin-Parkside \ / g| 17.00 1 1|
19. iCallfornia (Pa.) " I ! * 17.00 v\ J -
"20. llMarikato State 111 ... 1 15.50 | |
through the final few hectic'
minutes. He was able to score
an additional point to put
more distance between him
self and Maughan.
"I had no more injury*
lime left, so I knew 1 couldn't
let him get a take down/'
Rawls explained. "1 had to
suck it up. The -guy was
wrestling in his home gym
and had the home folks push
ing him and cheering him on."
Rawls entered the compe
tition as the No. 5 seed, but
his ranking didn't bother him,
even though he felt his
chances for winning the title
were as good as anyone's
going into the national cham
pionships.
"I knew I was the under
dog," he said. "But I like it
that way. I didn't have any
thing to prove because nobody
thought I could win. When
everybody expects you to win,
it creates a lot of pressure. If
you're the favorite and you
lose, people think that you
didn't do your best a lot of the
time."
Rawls wasted little time
once he hit the mat for an
opening round match vs. Nick
Rastelli of the State Universi
ty of New York ? Buffalo.
But when the dust finally
cleared, he had earned a victo
ry at 4:47 in the third period.
In the quarterfinals, the Rams
soph easily handled Grand
Valley State's Scott Marvin,
8-1.
But the match that really
set the tone for what was to
come later was Rawls' 8-6
upset win over St. Cloud
State's Rich Douglas in the
semi-finals. Douglas came
into the nationals as the No. 1
seed at 28-6. Rawls, however,
used his aggressive style
which is predicated on piling
up points to put the opponent
at a distinct disadvantage.
Douglas figured to have
an easy time with Rawls sincc
he encountered few problems
when the two face each other
at last year's nationals. Dou
glas placed second in the 4 90
Please see Page B7
1 1 II
photo by Max Dunhilf'
Rawls gained more confidence as he advanced to the finals.
? . 1 ? t
Coppin goes to NIT,
plays tonight on tube
8y Chronicle staff goals, sinking 82 of 191 attempts, He is
.'Itlf a two-time^ all-confcrencc pick.
IfMbe^ca^ isn't oVer for Coppin In the middle, the Eagles have 6-9
$tatws~E|gles just yet, the MEAC's senior Larry McCollum who averages
season champions have been 7.3 points and five rebounds a game.
54th annual Larry Yabray, a 6-0 junior, Is the point
:NjB^a|||vitati guard who ranked among teialue^
The 19-10 Eagles wiO visit South- best in assists, dishing out 5.3 assists
we$t-iM*S$oari JState fto an opening per game, Coppin 's othefefiroNble
rtmrct game tonight at Springfield* MO. starter is 6-7 swingman lames ila^ck,
dine is 8:0$ EST. ESPN will tele- the league's Rookie Of The Year, who
^^ise the game live. avearged seven ppg and connected on
Coppin won the M E AC regular 20 of 63 three-pointers.
||a$on title, their second straight, with a Southwest Missouri is by
1 4-2 record. The Eagles, who were hop- Charlie Spoonhour. The leading scorers
ing s?ccessfuily defend their league for Southwest are 6*2 senior guard
tournament title, were short circuited, Darry Reid (16,3 ppg), 6-6 senior for
74-# in the tourney semi-finals by ward Ryan Thornton (14,3 ppg) and
eventual winner, Florida A&M . point guard Arnold Bernard (11.3 ppg).
Thornton leads the Bears m rebounding
Southwest Missouri (21-11) fin- at 6.5 a game, while 6-9 senior center
ashed second in the Missouri Valley David Brewer adds five caroms an out
Conference and lost to top seeded tng.
illjto 68-52 in their conference Bernard ranks ninth in the nation
. ? : ; inasststs at ?*per game.
coached by Tlfth year The HIT second rounds are sdhed
mtt^ Ron "Fang" Mitchell, averaged ^cd for next Mcinday and Ttesdaywith
offttnsiv^ allowed just pairings, sites and game times to be
70 a*r the defensive end. CSC was the announced later; The same applies for
&g&e's ffe? 1 unit in scoring defense the third rounds to be played next
ind ife. 2 in swing offense. Wednesday and Thursday, The seifti
The Eagles are led by the splendid finals and championship rounds wiU be
pair^F Lany Stewart afid Reggie Isaac, held at New York's Madison Square
Stewart a 6-7 senior forward from - -
Ppladelphia, is a two-time ME AC The MEAC has not had a learn in
;|||^ Of The Year. Stewart averaged the NIT the oldest of college basket
and 13.6 re&mnds a game ball's posi-season tournaments* since
whiteshooting 63.4 percent from the 1981 when North Carolina AAT
fieji; The Eagles chief inside threat dropped a hard-fought, 79-69 decision
in Division I rebounding, to Duke in a South Region first round
i3tfc.5t6el<rgoal percentage, and 21st game. Prior to that, the Aggk? lost to
in w|4 JProvgNsnce 84-68 in 1976. In 1974,
immm * ^ g^ird, l| also from MaryfamtEastern Shore defeated iMan
l&ladelphia and is the team's prime hattari, 84-81 before losing to Jack*
lig^r marksman. Isaac averaged 24 sonville University 85-83 in the sccond
ppg and led the MEAC in' three-point round.
Nationals motivate Smith for '92
By Chronicle Staff
The departure of national champion
Donnell Rawls makes Robert Smith the
prime returnee for Winston-Salem State's
wrestling Hams next season.
Smith, who wrestles in the 150 lbs.
weight class, finished the year at 19-4 and
qualfied for this year's NCAA Division II
national championships.
" Looking back on it, I was a little
jittery because it was a new experi
ence for me. But that will make it
easier for me next year because I'il
be more comfortable. " I
?Robert Smith I
At the nationals, Smith didn't finish
among the top eight, which would have 1
made him an All- American, but he did j
leave his mark as a hard to beat mats man.
After winning his first match 9-4 against
Jim Kennedy of Lowell University, the
Fayettevillc junior dropped his next two
matches by one point each. His first defeat
was 7-6 to Cheyney State's Herman Moul
trie (who placed fourth). The final loss '.that
eliminated him from the competition
3-2 decision at the hands of Cal-State^s
Blu Taylor.
Even, so, Smith isn't cyring the bhtosft
"Looking back on it, I was a little' jifc
tcry because it was a new experience' <f2*
me," Smith said. "But that will mafctf'Ht
easier for me next year because I'Wbfe
more comfortable. Plus I learned aMfeW
things, such as new take down technijqu&s
and certains moves I can make whefi'l^h
in the top position."
*' Melton Hardee, Rams wrestling citfacji,
feels that Smith's experience at the n&tfoft
als will serve as a motivator for hiitjf for
next season. "He had some really t< 5tt^h
matches where he lost by one point,
was always in position to win," Hijf&fe'c
said. "But Robert will be OK, because he
knows the sport and he can adjirgi'^b
what's happening on the mat. That's
advantage, especially when yonNfc
wrestling at that level of competition *v *'
Smith qualified for the nationali .t*y
winning the NCAA South Regional
decisioning Jess Wilder of Pembj^Jcfc
State, 5-3 in overtime. V
t . # jt .
Josh Henighan
Henighan to compete in regional free*
throw shooting contest this weekend
By Chronicle Staff
shooting, 13-year old Josh
Henighan is right on target and
he has a few trophies to prove
it.
Henighan recently won the
state free throw shooting com
petition at High Point College,
hitting 24 of 25 foul shots.
?? ?- ? ? ?*
" His victory at the state
level qualifies him for the
National Eastern Regional
Competition to be held Satur
days Charleston, W.Va.
Henighan 's ultimate goal is
to compete in the nationals of
the Elk's Hoop Shoot Free
Throw Competition for the 12
13 year-old age group.
Going into this weekend's
competition, Hengihan has
won four straight free throw
shooting contests. He advanced
to the state by winning the
regional competition held at
SK
Catawba College in Salisbury,
canning 20 of 25 free throws.
Prior to that, he won the* oityr
competition, hitting 23 of, 7J\%
and also emerged as top
er at the Philo Middle Softool
competition, hitting 24 of 25><v >
TV? V!
Henighan is an eighth gi#&
er at Philo Middle School, -wiio
has a B average and is a Dttfe
University Top Scholar. tH'iA
the son of Louis and K>aye
?Henighan.