University of Virginia Library

Terps Do It Again,
Michaels Shines

By FLETCHER THOMPSON

It was Maryland versus the
ACC All Stars and the All Stars
didn't have a chance.

For second straight year
the Terrapins dominated the
conference wrestling
tournament held at College
Park last Friday and Saturday
by sending all ten men to the
finals and ran away with their
eighteenth title in as many
tries.

A distant second were
Virginia's Cavaliers, who again
failed to break the Terps'
string. The Cavs compiled 71½
points to Maryland's 114½.
while N.C. State finished with
46½, Duke with 35, and North
Carolina with 23½.

While Terrapin Coach Sully
Krouse looked on like a stuffed
walrus, his team swept all but
one of its matches and finished
with nine champions.

The Terps' only loss came at
the hands of Virginia's Kevin
Michaels, who earned a split
referee's decision in the 177 lb.
class over defending champion
Rich Ragan when their bout
ended in a tie after eight
minutes of regulation and three
minutes of overtime.

The match went slowly as
both wrestlers were generally
cautious from their feet and
drew simultaneous warnings
for stalling midway through.
The eight minute regulation
bout ended in a 1-1 standoff
with escapes accounting for the
only points.

The action picked up in the
three one minute overtime
periods, although neither
succeeded in scoring. Michaels
did a better job in controlling
his man, however, and was
awarded the decision on a 2-1
vote of the officials panel.

He also was recognized as
the Outstanding Wrestler of the
tourney and became the
second Cavalier in history to
earn that distinction, following
in the footsteps of Virginia's
John Pegues who won the
trophy last year.

The award did not go
without a dissenting note from
Krouse, who complained, "If
Maryland had had ten winners,
they would have voted for a
loser." Virginia mentor George
Edwards dismissed Krouse's
remarks and attributed the
slow pace of the match to the
fact that Michaels and Ragan,
who drew earlier in the year,
had great respect for each
other.

He also pointed out that the
only referee who had voted for
Ragan had been blackballed
from the ACC four years ago.
Krouse had hired him anyway.

Except for Michaels'
exploits, there were few bright
spots for the Cavs who did not
come close to ending the
Turtles' domination. They did
place all ten men, though,
including four seconds, four
thirds, and one fourth to go
along with Michael's first.

Among the second place
finishers for the Cav matmen
was 118-pounder Dave
Wendell, who looked strong in
his preliminary bout, but was
easily dominated in his finals
match against the more
experienced John Ferrara.
Ferrara, a former New Jersey
state champion, broke open a
scoreless tie with an
overwhelming second period
and eased to an 8-1 decision.

Wendell's fate bode ill for
the rest of the field as the
Terps did not let up. Virginia
Captain John Pitas, a finalist in
the 126 lb. division fell behind
early against Terp Dave Pappas
and was unable to close the gap
before dropping four more
points in a desperate attempt
at a takedown in the last
seconds. Pappas finished with
an 11-2 victory and his second
straight conference
championship.

150-pounder Denis
Bittenbender also experienced
disappointment in his first
effort in the finals.
Bittenbender, who went out on
the mat fired up, held a 2-0
lead midway through the bout
but deteriorated rapidly in the
latter part and dropped a 9-2
decision.

Heavyweight Bill Farrell
gained the finals by downing
two-time ACC Champion Ed
Newman of Duke for the third
consecutive time, but was
nosed out by Mark Reid in the
finals, losing a 3-2 decision with
riding time spelling the
difference.