University of Virginia Library

Cavaliers Wrestlers Successful
In Weekend Quadrangle Meet

BY FLETCHER THOMPSON

A semester break sojourn at
Penn State and a revamped
lineup helped the varsity
wrestling team to its best
outing of the year Saturday as
the grapplers swept a
quadrangular in U Hall.

Falling to the turned-on
matmen were ACC rivals Duke
and N.C. State and
Pennsylvania power
Shippensburg State. Duke and
State, losers by scores of 29-15
and 33-11, respectively, are
perennial whipping boys for
the Cavs, but the 24-11
scouring of the rebuilding
Raiders had to come as
somewhat of a surprise.

The triple-win, which raised
the squad's record to 5-3,
establishes the matmen in their
usual position of chief
challenger to the Maryland
Terrapins, who have never lost
an ACC tournament. "We're
still underdogs," says Coach
George Edwards, "but if we get
some help from other teams we
have a chance."

Heroes of the long
afternoon's word were
126-pointer Dave Wendell,
who has been virtually
unbeatable of late; captain
Kevin Michaels, who dropped
down from 177 to 167; and
Denis Bittenbender, another
member of the weight-reducing
club, moving from 150 to 142.
Each registered three victories.

Wendell, whose record for
the year is blemished only by a
loss and a tie, began his string
with an 8-0 shellacking of
Shippensburg's Dave Mertz and
then gave his next two
opponents equal treatment,
stifling them, 5-0 and 8-2.

Wrestling at 167 for the
second time this year, Michaels
broke out of his early-season
syndrome of close matches and
chalked up three relatively easy
decisions, including a default
over Duke's Walt Reinhardt.

Bittenbender, determined
to win an ACC crown at any
cost, appears to have found a
new home at the 142-pound
spot, where he has piled up
three straight victories. In his
final bout, he stepped back up
to his usual 150-pound spot
and flattened Duke's Mike
Orwig in the third period.

Other Cavs who wound up
with perfect afternoons were
Steve Schmidt, who returned
to the 134-pound spot, Tom
Derrickson, Jeff Curzi, Paul
Weatherhead and Mike Henry.
Bill Voliva also turned in a fine
performance, finishing with a
decision and a pin.