Friday. November 11, 1977 Weekender 7
Wrestlers missing starters as season opens Friday
By KEITH JONES
Staff Writer
The starting unit includes:
1 18 pounds Rocky Wing, junior. He's seen some action
as a varsity athlete behind Scott Conkwright. Lam looks for
improvement from him during the year. Freshman Bob
Monaghan will back him up.
126 pounds C. D. Mock, freshman. Mock probably is
Wt ri.'J ,Z "11 u . t ,he t0P recruit on the squad. He is a high school All-America
Scott Conkwr.ght,mVw of5rom hnnsylvSila. " tTX f"" V
Zl lJV&TS '34 Pounds- Tun ReauenSe Rume nuJd some
After finishing a close second to Virginia in the ACC last
year, things looked bright for Coach Bill Lam and his
wrestling team in IV7-78. With the lossof only one seniorto
graduation, all cnamp :
young talent looked extremely
season, n owever as in mp npct Lm in... n a .i. j -r y,v.-w , ttfcr
':.'-'r"-rV "ry"'r'"i''AklKu'M action UttVasnn with ashontdtrmiufv. Before that lM,
as it prepares for its first competition of the year this weekend
in the Monarch Open I ournament in Norfolk, Va 1
I he tirst big blow came to Dave Casals a
conlcrcnc$champ.
Tn.mAhc tlinir FirttfchirftT 'f hiff iri
-nounrf f .i. t . , . - .
junior, (sophomore in eligibility). He will not wastlJaga n ' n V fi Zf r T T.
because of a knee injury. He injured his knee ut vear a.rd l"l?l?J
was red-shirted. After undergoing a second opV.awou onli.s "' Jl SI :
knee this summer, doctors saw no way the lif a merits rri his
knee would be strong enough for comnetirm 'In his
into school. Before he left, he earned an ACC championship
at 167 pounds and was one of the team's top wrestlers. If he
can work himself fckjck into shapt.us addition will be a big
factor in making up for the injuries.
Heavywieght Jody Truesdale, freshman. Lam always
has had trouble with his' heavyweights, but Things should
improve with the recruitment of this ;two-time South
Carolina state champ. Another possibility is the return of
football player Dee Hardison, but Lara is not sure how the
pro football draft will affect his status.
freshman year, the only year he did compete? tie won the?
tuiuciciicc viianipiunsnip ai pounds. i ,
At 1 67 pounds another key starter is out for the year. Deans'
Brior, a conierence runner-up last year (losing in the finals
150 pourtdOyenWtgen, senior. Reintgen prfobahly is
the top wre9tter qrune fcqifyd. Comptfing a 28-2 record last
year, his vvfyWo, wtye, tflr national place winners
, . 158 poujuV junior AAi Ben?.
or sapSwtfofc Carter
l?.!"fotffenzcl spent mos,i yt last year wreffllffiw warn;
,yj-y, p.ajv.u a ui6 Fu i in me icani i success out js on tne ine team smcssyjecame here as air'1- biM Younger
bench this season with back problems. '-Mario may gel jachaTtee
nisu iu me tar neeis win ne anoiB cornerenc? no pounds Uaytfft Barrmre -"atar tftnster. He is i
champion, Chris Conkwright. He decided iridic off-seajSi fiUTwte vo left by Brior. HeY? ' -' jjDMsion iUJt'
iu imiibici iu viiguua lecn.
Lam appears to have lost the backbone of his team front
the starting lineup. Two already had proved themselves
champions and every indication last year was that Brior was
on his way to a title. But an experienced lineup of wrestlers
will return this year and is expected to step in to fill the gaps.
Ah ;, ;4ytond.sh7takLrrove to bfXmirllelTrtn filling ii
"fff ptntnds NofrfffBtt-Walker. sophomore. Walker was
the most highly rated freshman on the squad last year,
finishing as a conference runnerup at 190 pounds.
190 pounds Carl Hoffman, senior. Hoffman did not
wrestle last year because he was working to get himself back
T'ACCrorrtpetition has improved greatly over the past few
J'csrs, n.-mson has a new coach former three-time
ruiiiuiiul chiUTip 'Wade Schalles and he used II
scholarships 'his past spring to strengthen his squad.
V iryinia., which wonlhe championship last year; will again be
strono this vcaV. Lam said State, which was tough last season.
Viii be .even tougher this year, and Mary land always has a
-..gocd, squad.. 1 will not be easy for the Heels to improve their
""sdu)iMipkct finish last year.
"We were undefeated in the conference last year," Lam
said, "but we lost to UVa in the tournament.We'll certainly
be in contention again this year, but any outcome is very had
to predict. We just hope to be well and ready to go at all
times."
iLam isn't too concerned about his team's performance
rin the Mortatfch Open this weekend.
i ins tournament is just to neip oreaK me ice ior a tew
people. It's more or less a warm-up. We're there to get some
competition under our belts. Our real season begins next
weekend when we have our Carolina Invitational," he said.
The Carolina Invitational is Nov. 18 and 19 in Chapel Hill.
Injuries force Dave Casale to bench for life
By LEE PACE
Assistant Sports Editor
He's spent a lot of time this fall sitting atop
Kenan Stadium, thinking, gazing at the sky,
remembering. He enjoys getting away by
himself occasionally. He has to get away by
himself. It helps ease the pain.
He remembers the day he signed a
wrestling scholarship with the University of
North Carolina, how proud his parents were
of his accomplishments and how pleased he
was to have the chance to elevate his
wrestling career.
He remembers the night two years ago
that he won the Atlantic Coast Conference
wrestling championship at 190 pounds, and
the bear hug that friend and teammate Dee
Hardison "damn near killed me" with after
the champ galloped off the mats.
He thinks of all the time, pain and sweat
he's invested over the years in striving for
athletic excellence. He wonders if all the
sacrifice has been worth it. But he still
cherishes his past; it satisfies his psyche to
remember it.
But it also hurts to reminisce he knows
that the memories he now harbors about a
sport he's worshiped for 1 3 years are the only
real ones he'll ever have. The doctors told
Dave Casale the afternoon of Sept. 15 that
he'd never wrestle again.
The wrestling career of David Paul Casale
began modestly enough in 1964. His older
brother needed a sparring partner and his
father wanted Dave to be able to protect
himself on the streets of suburban
Pittsburgh.
"It was a pretty rough neighborhood,"
Casale says. "It was a middle class
neighborhood, but there were a lot of tough
asses running around. Everybody had their
own group they ran around with. They
weren't exactly street gangs they had a
little more class than that but they were
still gangs. M y father wanted me to be able to
handle myself."
He studied and practiced the sport
through grade school, junior and senior
high. He finished third in the state once,
second twice. He also played football and
impressed a number of college scouts with
his performance at linebacker. Johnny
Majors wanted him at Pitt, Joe Paterno
wanted him at Perm State. But he preferred
the one-on-one challenge of wrestling.
"Wrestling is much more rewarding. It's
just you against one other guy. In football
there are 1 0 other guys with you. If you screw
up, you hope one of your buddies makes up
for it. In wrestling you can't afford to make a
mistake. There's no one else to help you," he
said.
Besides, football is a dangerous sport.
"1 thought I'd get hurt playing football.'
Problems began for Dave Casale the
summer of '75, several weeks before he
entered UNC.
Wrestling in a summer tournament up
north, an opponent drove his head into
Casale's right knee. The knee was placed in a
cast, and doctors in Chapel Hill diagnosed
the injury as torn cartilage. Since injured
cartilage can't get any worse, Casale lifted
weights and ran to rebuild his strength,
waiting until spring for corrective surgery.
He had an outstanding freshman season,
winning the ACC title. H is future was bright.
But surgery in April that year revealed it
wasn't damaged cartilage after atl. The much
more serious injury was to ligaments.
"1 then worked all summer to get the knee
back in shape," Casale said. "It was strong at
the beginning of my sophomore year. I was
wrestling the best of my college career
much better than my freshman year."
But in an early season tournament last
December, he felt his ankle frozen with pain.
Thinking it was merely a sprain, he finished
the remaining 45 seconds of the match. The
diagnosis indicated a fracture, and the ankle
was put in a cast. But when it hadn't healed
three weeks later, further examination
showed a torn tendon.
"With the tendon torn, I couldn't wrestle,
so I asked to be red-shirted," Casale said. "I
sat out the year, had the tendon fixed and the
bone chip removed."
He hobbled around last spring with a cast
on his left ankle. He noticed some pain and
swelling in his bad knee, but thought it was
merely a result of compensating for his
ankle.
"It wasn't all that bad, it just sort of
bugged me. The knee didn't bother me at all
until they put the cast on my ankle. They
examined it and found that 1 had torn
cartilage. I honestly don't know when 1 tore
it. It might have happened during the season,
maybe before. I really don't know."
The knee was operated on again three
months ago. That's when Casale realized he
might never wrestle again.
"After the second knee operation I kind of
prepared myself. After a while you know
your body's getting old, and mine was
getting old as far as injuries and wrestling
''went. But I wouldn't give it up until the
doctors said so. They had to telimel couldn't
wrestle anymore."
It took several days for Casale to get over
the initial shock. Normally easy-going,
friendly and happy, he kept to himself for
several days, saying little to anyone.
"At first I felt cheated. I've always felt I
had a God-given gift, a talent that I enjoy
doing. I've spent my entire life training for it.
You can't imagine how much it hurts to have
something like that pulled from underneath
you at no fault of your own or of
anybody's. It was unavoidable; it was just
bad luck.
"Now I'm just thankful I had the chance to
compete. I'll cherish it for as long as I live.
Wrestling's been important to me up to this
point. Now my life will justihave to take a
different direction. I'm not sure just what
direction, though."
"A lot of people have things they love
taken away. You can't feel sorry for yourself.
TOWN & COUNTRY WITH A FLAK
Cape Cod comes to the Triangle with clothing,
accessories, and gifts for casual or formal attire.
JVj.
CAPE COD
ASHBY'8
DURHAM, N.C.
Take 15-501 to 1-85 - Turn left on Gregson St. Exit - Go 8
blocks to corner of Duke St. - You're There!
I've accepted it. It'll hurt at times. Wrestling
was important to me, but it wasn't that
important. There are better things in life
than college athletics."
Casale still has his scholarship. He'll still
be associated with the UNC wrestling
program as a part-time assistant to Bill Lam.
He's still in school and hopes to make up
some of the times he's lost the last two years
in his industrial relations studies.
"I've got loads of time on my hands. Sp
much I don't know what to do with it
exactly."'
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