. Mountain’s Mountaineers Sn ESSE ASS It’s time to By PHIL WEATHERS This is one of my favorite times of the year. Cooler weather, the high school football playoffs, and the start of the wrestling season. Local high schools have been prepar- ing for actin and can begin their season even though many teams might not have complete team rosters due to the football playoffs. Local middle schools are already in actin and have a few matches under their belts. Good luck to our area teams as they begin a new season. With the new season upon us let's first take a look at the weight classes and the time allowed for each period. When a wrestling match begins wrestlers from each team appear on the mat by weight class. Last year a rule change occurred that calls for a random draw to be conducted to deter- mine the “first” weight class that will be conducted in dual matches. >This begins with the regular season and continues with high schools through the State Dual Team Championships. The draw takes place immediately fol- lowing weigh-in. First, the weight classifications for middle and junior high schools. There are 15 weight classes, including 83, 93, 103, 112, 119, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189 and heavyweight. The maximum weight for the heavy- weight contestants is 250 pounds. The minimum weight for the heavyweight class is 188 pounds. A two pound The Kings Mountain Herald growth allowance is allowed after January 15 for mid- dle and junior high wrestlers. Now let's take a look at the high school weight classi- | fications. There are 14 weight classes, including 103, 112, 119,125, 130,135, - 140, 145, 152, 160, 171, 189, 215 nd 275. On January 15, a two pound growth allowance is allowed. Generally the wrestlers” weigh is monitored daily. Sometimes wrestlers will weigh in before practice and again at the conclu- sion of practice. Daily weight checks can be done by the coach. In some cases teams will post a “weight chart” in the locker room that is maintained and kept current each day as wrestlers weigh in and out. At the middle /junior high level no wrestler can represent his school in more than one weight class in any match or compete in more than three full-length matches in tournament or championship play in any one day. A minimum of one hour rest between matches must also be observed. A wrestler also cannot wrestle more than one weight class above for which his actual weight, at the time of the weigh- in-in, qualifies him. One of the great things bout the sport of wrestling is that you can be about any size to participate. Now, let’s look at the time of each individual match in middle /junior high school. First period, one minute; second period, two minutes; and third period, two minutes. At the high school level the length of each period is two minutes. A couple of rule changes for the 2002-03 season include: -The 215 pound weight class is no longer an option. There are now 14 weight classes. -The throwing of any wrestler’s equipment is unsportsmanlike con- duct. Wrestling tidbits: - The ACC recently released its 50th anniversary team. North Carolina and NC State led the team with 15 wrestlers each. Here are a couple you might recall: Tab Thacker, NC State heavyweight, and T.J. Jaworsky, UNC, who wrestled in the 134 pound class. -Congratulations goes out to Shon Byers. Shon is a graduate of Kings Mountain High School and recently won the 264 pound Greco-Roman World Wrestling Championship by defeating Hungary's Mihaly Deak- Bardos. Shon won the U.S. team’s only medal in the tournament. Don't forget to get out and support your favorite team. (Phil Weathers is former wrestling coach at Kings Mountain Junior High and is now director of student servic- es for Kings Mountain District Chris Jolly total offense leader, Simmons top rusher for Mounties Senior quarterback Chris Jolly was the statistical leader on offense for Kings during the recently-complet- ed football season. Jolly was the only player carry. to top the 1,000-yard mark But in total offense. He connect- ed on 73-0f-153 passes for times for 141 yards, givin “him a total offense figuré 6 1,318 yards in 12 ball games. Derrick Smith, who spent time between quarterback and wide receiver, finished with 944 total yards. He was the team’s #2 rusher with 282 yards in 66 carries, the #1 pass receiver with 26 catches for 497 yards, and also hit 10 of 28 passes for 165 yards. Smith was the only KM receiver to have a 100-yard game with seven catches for 109 yards in a 40- 28 playoff loss to Kernersville Glenn. Aquino Simmons led the KM holds off Huss 63-57 Kings Mountain's girls grabbed an early 9-8 lead but Huss came back to take a 22-19 halftime lead and 34- 29 advantage going into the Kings Mountain High's men’s basketball team won its second straight game Monday night at Hunter Huss, 63-57. The Lady Mountaineers lost for the third straight time, 39-36. The two KM teams host Ashbrook in their first home game tonight. The Mountaineers fell behind early but led most of Mounties in rushing with 903 yards in 197 carries, an average of 4.5 yards per Simmons, who gained 1,177 yards and. hie singe ele annnReen | FIR TRE Yen go Southwestern Foothills team, had only one 100-yard game this season. He gained 163 yards in 22 carries in lop-sided victory over Fred T. Foard. The only other KM m yards in 31 carries in a victo- ry over North Gaston. Kings Mountain scored 293 points. For only the second time in their 80-year history, the Mountaineers gave up over 300 points. They gave up the game at Huss. The Huskies held a 15-13 lead after the first eight minutes but KM rebounded to lead 23-22 at intermission and 45- 36 going into the fourth quarter. Dominique Odems led a balanced KM attack with 16 points. Dashawn Young added 14 and Brandon Houze and Derrick Smith contributed 11 each. game back to hit the 100-yard Quinn 3-6. mark rushing was Montrell Banks, who gained 100 PASSING fourth quarter. Shonda Cole led the Lady Mounties with 16 points. In JV action, Huss won the boys game 38-36 in over- time, and won the girls game 46-5. Darik Gary led the KM boys with 12 points. Sil 300 r already low C%-scason rates! Our patented system 4 offers the mast durable ond effective gutter you can buy. 304 points in 12 games, an average of 25.3 points per The only other team in KMHS history to give up over 300 points was the 2000 team, which surrendered 324 points in 10 games, an average of 32.4 per contest. RUSHING, sr Batting ¢ Aquino Simmons. 197-003, vo “Derrick Smith 66-282; ? Montrell Banks 53-184, Jamarl Barrino 25-150, Cortney Smith 43-134, Chris Jolly 51-141, Brandon Houze 11-93, Deon Holland 18-79, Jeremiah Adams 6-26, John Chris Jolly 73-153-7-1,177. Derrick Smith 10-28-1-165. RECEIVING Derrick Smith 26-497, Cortney Smith 16-249, Jarmarl Barrino 14-263, Deon Holland 5-82, Brandon Houze 5-69, Tae Tae Roebuck 6-60, Chris Jolly 2- 25, Montrell Banks 3-41, Aquino Simmons 2-11, Adrian Parker 1-15, Justin Branham 3-30. Page 3B ‘Mounties top Tit the mat North Gaston for first win Kings Mountain broke open a close game in the second half to defeat North Gaston 70-51 in a non-conference bas- ketball game Friday night at North Gaston. The victory evened KM’s record at 1-1 going into a game last night at Hunter Huss. The Mountaineers host Ashbrook in their first home game Wednesday night. They host Weddington next Monday and Shelby on Wednesday. Kings Mountain got 14 points from Dominique Odums and 13 from Dashaun Young in a balanced attack that saw 11 players score. Britt Bates led the Wildcats with nine points. The Mountaineers led by only 17-13 after the first quarter and 34-28 at intermission but began to pull away in the sec- ond half. KM led 51-40 going into the fourth quarter. “It’s always nice to get that first win,” said Coach Danny McDowell, whose team had opened its season three nights earlier against a powerful Charlotte Garinger five. But, McDowell recognized that the Mountaineers have a long way to go to be a good basketball team. “This time the big men played better than the guards,” he noted. “We've got to get some consistency,. Once we put it together we'll be okay, but right now we're still trying to find a solid five. “It looks like just like last year,” he added. “You never know who;s going to show up, when and where. But we played a real good second half as opposed to the first half. We did a lot of good things, but we've got a lot of work to do.” McDowell said winning an early game on the road should give the players’ confidence a boost. “I love playing on the road first if I can,” he said. “You get used to a hostile atmosphere. “But we're still got to get better on offense and defense. They players work real hard and they don’t ever make excuses. That's what I love about them. We'll get better.” KM (70) - Odums 14, Young 13, Byrd 8, D. Smith 8, Lipscomb 6, Blair 6, Houze 4, Roebuck 4, Crosby 4, Johnson 2, C. Smith 1. NG (51) - Bates 9, Bolick 8, Brown 8, Forney 5, Robinson 5, Chandler 3, Tyson 3, Williams 2, Littlejohn 1, Johnson 1. Make Someone’s Week Bring a little sunshine into SOmehe ’s life. Put their name in the paper. It’s simple inexpensive - and memorable. Give us a call at 3 704-739-7496. J op Petits UE rita ~The Center For Facial TE =) Plastic & Laser Surgery FOR FACIAL PLASTIC AND LASER SURGERY “Only Faces, Only The Best Care” Has An Announcement! The stock market is down, textile business has decreased and now so have Dr. Freeman's prices for procedures and services not covered by insurance. Dr. Freeman has decided to reduced his prices 25% for the next six months to show his understanding of the economy for the region 1 and the support he has received by the residents of Cleveland County. Dr. Freernan has an international reputation having taught his innovative techniques from 1 China to Europe and throughout the United States. To learn # more about his contributions to his field, log on to his web site at www.onlyfaces.com. Dr. Freeman has limited his practice to facial plastic and reconstructive surgery since 1988; the only board certified fellowship trained surgeon in the greater Charlotte area with this degree of specialization. Phone: (704) 734-0511 Letters to Santa Our annual Letters to Santa will be published in our papers December 18 & 19. we will need to have the letters by Monday, December 2. Thank you and please send in your letters! Kings Mountain Herald Bessemer City Record PO Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086 Cherryville Eagle In order to get them typed PO Box 699 Cherryville, NC 28021 Belmont Banner Mount Holly News PO Box 589 Belmont, NC 28012 If you would like to advertise your business in this section as a Seasons Greeting ad, please call 704-739-7496. SRR