The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday, March 3, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

With one of the major goals in
Coach George Edwards' two-year
old building program accomplished
by last weekend's win over
Maryland, the Cavalier wrestlers
have suddenly found themselves in
an excellent position to reach a
second major goal this weekend
with a win in the ACC-tournament
in Raleigh, N.C.

Mr. Edwards is naturally pleased
over last week's win, but looks for a
tough battle this weekend. "For the
first time, there will be a four team
tournament, instead of one dominated
by Maryland. Duke has two
or three good wrestlers who can
win, which should keep them in the
running with Maryland, N.C. State,
and us," he says.

"Tournament wrestling is completely
different from the regular
season. A wrestler must be able to
go for two or three matches
without tiring. Also, seedings and
drawings are important. A good
seeding allows a wrestler to compete
in the first round and pick up
extra team points, which is very
important in a match with only five
teams. As of now we have three
wrestlers, Kim Hatcher, John Pitas,
and Shelley Zablow, who should be
top seeded in their class. Also, there
is a chance the John Pegues and
Ted Moore could be top seeds.

"Tournament winners should be
evenly divided between the four
schools, so second and third places
and pins will decide the winning
team."

Edwards cited an excellent recruiting
year as one of the reasons
for the 24-11 win over Maryland, a
complete reversal from last year's
31-3 loss. Virginia's team featured
six first-year men.

The crowd, estimated at 1,500
to 2,000, that packed Memorial
Gym and went wild with every
Cavalier win, had a definite effect,
according to Edwards. "Kim
Hatcher told me that the crowd
spurred him on and made him feel
like he had to get that takedown,"
says the coach. Hatcher's takedown
with 1:35 left in his match gave
him a win and the team a 3-0 early
lead." In the future we will
definitely get back to Memorial
Gym for some of our matches."

As for the effect of the win on
future recruiting, Edwards feels
that it is "definitely going to help.
However, our recruiting can only go
so far without some kind of
financial aid. The really good
wrestlers are going to continue to
go where the money is. We have
started a wrestling scholarship fund,
but so far it has amounted to
nothing. To be a big-time winner
you've got to get some aid for your
wrestlers."

By "big-time," Edwards means
competitive nationally. "The ACC
is a good league, but it has nothing
like the prominence it has in
basketball when it comes to wrestling.
We'd like to go on from the
start we've got and build a team
that can compete with national
powers such as Penn State, Navy,
and Lehigh."

These goals might seem a bit
preposterous, but no more impossible
than the thought of beating
Maryland was when Edwards became
coach two years ago.

Thoughts this week, however,
are only on the upcoming tournament.
Despite recent accomplishments
and the unblemished 4-0
ACC records, Edwards and his
wrestlers know that "when you get
in the tournament, the score is 0-0,
and the records are thrown out."

118 Kim Hatcher (V) d. Gary
Mulligan, 6-5

126 John Pitas (V) d. Ed
Dobler, 5-2

134 Shelley Zablow (V)
pinned John Fellinger, 7:36

142 John Pegues, (V) d. Tom
Talbert, 7-3

150 Tom Nordland (M) d.
Wayne Hoffman, 703

158 Lynn Housner (V) pinned
Harry Griffiths, 7:59

167 Pat McCall (M) d. Kevin
Michaels, 3-1

177 Ted Moore (V) d. Pat
Toomey, 8-5

190 Gerry D'Amore (M) d.
Paul Bochm, 10-6

Heavyweight - Draw - Bill
Farrell (V) and Mark Reid, 3-0