University of Virginia Library

Wrestlers Thump Tech, ODU;
Bow To Buckeyes In Blacksburg

BY FLETCHER THOMPSON

If Saturday's 25-9 drubbing
the Ohio State wrestlers gave
the Cavaliers is any standard,
Virginia still has a long way to
go before it is equal to the Big
Ten on the mat.

According to Coach George
Edwards, though, this may be a
lot of hogwash. "A lot of the
guys overestimated them, I
thought, " Edwards said.
"Some of our boys didn't look
like themselves".

The grapplers reverted to
form in the last two matches of
the quadrangular meet in
Blacksburg and took out their
wrath on state rivals Old
Dominion and VPI with 27-9
and 23-9 victories.

Heading the list of Cavalier
heroes for the afternoon were
the familiar names of Denis
Bittenbender, Tom Derrickson
and captain Kevin Michaels,
each of whom wound up with
3-0 slates.

Bittenbender, competing at
142, registered the 'Hoos' first
victory of the day with a 7-4
decision over Buckeye Mike
Pace. The Bethlehem, Pa.
sparkplug, who was down
midway through the bout, put
on a strong third-period rally
to overtake the tiring Pace.

Obviously inspired,
Bittenbender went on to pin
ODU's Dean Williamson in
3:18, after keeping him on his
back for most of the match
and then toyed with Hokie
Elmo Wilcox, shutting him out
11-0.

Derrickson also displayed
the effects of George Edwards'
rigorous workouts and broke a
2-2 stalemate with OSU's Jack
Brewer to wrap up a 6-2
decision in their 158 pound
match. Later in the afternoon,
ODU's Dave LaRose, a Virginia
high school champion last year,
and Tech's Bob Holstein
experienced similar fates, going
down 6-3 and 4-1.

After struggling for much of
the season at 177, Michaels
appears to have hit his stride
after dropping down to 167. In
a fashion reminiscent of some
of his performances of last
year, Michaels completely
dominated three foes and sent
them home with some
expensive grappling lessons.

Surprisingly, the name of
Dave Wendell showed up in the
loser's column. The previously
once-beaten Pittsburgh
strongboy was completely
stymied by Ohio State's Terry
Branhan, losing 11-1. Wendell
saved face to some extent by
edging ODU's Steve Perdew,
who held Branhan to a
standoff.