University of Virginia Library

Grapplers Sweep
In Durham Meet

By FLETCHER THOMPSON

A crafty job of scheduling
by Coach George Edwards and
a three week rest paid off for
the wrestling team last
weekend as they swept a
quadrangular meet against
league rivals Duke and North
Carolina and independent
Georgia Tech.

The Cavaliers began their
second semester campaign,
which is climaxed by the ACC
and NCAA tournaments, with
what Edwards called their
"best performance of the
year." He accounted for this
fine showing by noting that the
matmen had gained valuable
experience in three January
losses to Athletes In Action, an
all-star team which gave them a
41-6 shellacking, Navy and
Harvard, which defeated them
30-5 and 23-14, respectively.

Extra Practice

A semester break sojourn in
College Station, Pa. to work
out with Penn State, Edwards'
alma mater, also aided the
young grapplers. When they
returned to their own class,
Edwards said, they found they
were the best.

The meet, which took place
in Durham, N. C., last Friday
and Saturday, saw the Cavaliers
emerge from the fray with
three victories, downing Tech,
27-13, and State, 21-11, and
crushing host Duke, 32-9. No
opponent was able to notch
more than three victories
against the inspired matmen.

Three Undefeated

Several Virginia wrestlers
came away with undefeated
records for the weekend.
Heading the list at 3-0 were
Lou Pavia at 134, Tom
Derrickson at 157 and Kevin
Michales at 177. Derrickson,
who was the only victor against
Navy, again turned in the Cavs'
outstanding performance, by
handily defeating his State and
Duke opponents and edging
Tech's Bob Goldstein, an
NCAA performer last year, by
a score of 3-1 134-pounder
Pavia, returning after a two
month absence due to an
elbow injury, appeared to be
fully recovered as he recorded
three easy victories. Michaels,
who managed a victory and a
tie against Harvard and Navy,
added 14-3 and 7-3 decisions
to a forfeit against Tech to
round out a perfect weekend.

Pitas, Farrell Score

At 2-0 for the Cavaliers
were Captain John Pitas at 126
and Bill Farrell at heavyweight.
Pitas had a rough time, barely
getting by Wolfpack and
Engineer opponents, while
Farrell easily shut out State's
heavyweight and then forged a
4-3 victory over the two-time
ACC champion Ed Newman of
Duke.

Other Virginia standouts
were Dave Wendell at 118, who
downed both his league
adversaries, and 150-pounder
Denis Bittenbender, who added
two wins to his record,
including a pin against Duke.

With the three victories this
weekend, the matmen broke
into the plus column at 6-4.
They are now assured of a
winning dual meet record as
they only left against VPI this
Saturday following the
basketball game.

Tourneys Lie Ahead

The VPI meet will be the
Cavs last home action. They
then take a two week break
before the ACC tournament at
Maryland February 25-26.
Following this is the NCAA
tournament also at Maryland
on March 9-11.

During this period, the
grapplers will be without the
services of star 142-pounder
Shelley Zablow, who
apparently has decided to quite
the squad. They are
strengthened, however, by the
addition of former ACC
runner-up Lynn Housner, a
third-yearman who will be
wrestling at 190.