Thursday, March 9,  2006

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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
         It was unfamiliar territory for Grundy.
         Not a single Grundy wrestler advanced beyond the quarterfinals at the Group AA state tournament Friday and Saturday at Salem Civic Center.
         Five Golden Wave wrestlers: freshman Derek Anderson (103), sophomores Demarco Owens (171) and Josh Lee (189), junior Jerami Bartley (152) and senior Aaron Stiltner (135) advanced to the quarterfinals.
          Four of those five, along with junior Josh McCowan, placed among the top eight. McCowan, who lost in the first round and had the longest trek back through the wrestlebacks, was the only Golden Wave wrestler to reach the consolation finals, placing fourth at 145 pounds.
         The other four placers finished the tournament in the seventh-eighth place matches, a round added this season.
         Owens and Aaron Stiltner (135) won their final matches to place seventh. Anderson and Lee (189) each placed eighth.
          It was not what Grundy Coach Travis Fiser and his staff expected from a young team which had fared well against a tough schedule during the regular season and had once again dominated its district and region.
          “We’d done a pretty good job all year,” Fiser said.
          “We just got down. I knew we had some tough matches (early) and we didn’t rebound from them. We didn’t show up in some cases. If it could go wrong, it did.”
         In a strong weight class, McCowan lost an 8-5 decision to third-ranked Adam Owens of Fort Defiance in the first round. The Wave 145-pounder then won three straight decisions, one in overtime, to reach the consolation finals, where he dropped a 7-3 decision to Dorian Carter of Martinsville.
          “I thought Josh did a good job learning how to win in a competitive weight,” Fiser said. “He wrestled a pretty good tournament, he stayed solid and fought hard.
           “Some of these guys, like Demarco Owens, had tough weights. He faced a kid who had beaten him before and ended up in the finals, and he wrestled him better. He wrestled the toughest he had all year at the state. He wrestled with heart, he put it all out there.”

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Haysi Takes Top-Ranked Floyd Co. To Final Minutes Before Falling in Girls' Group A Quarterfinals, 70-67

by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
         Haysi didn’t finish on top, but it went down taking the top-ranked team in the state down to the wire.
          The Lady Tigers led until early in the fourth quarter, and stayed close until the end of a 70-67 loss to Floyd County in the girls Group A quarterfinals Friday night at Blacksburg High School.
          Haysi led until a layup by freshman Brittany Avancini gave Floyd County (28-0) a 53-51 lead with six minutes remaining.
         The Buffaloes led the rest of the way, but Haysi got within one point after a steal and two free throws by senior Kendra Rowlett with seven seconds remaining.
         Lindsey Thompson, who led Floyd County with 21 points, hit two free throws to account for the final margin with six seconds left. Haysi didn’t get a shot on its final possession as Avancini stole the ball at midcourt as time expired.
          Foul trouble, full court pressure and a packed house combined to erase what had been an 18-6 lead for Haysi, whose five seniors and longtime Coach Ronnie Compton bid farewell with a 21-6 record and a second trip to state in three years.
          Whitney Compton scored 10 of her 19 points in the first quarter for Haysi, which held a 33-28 lead at the half, and led 47-46 by the end of the third period. Dana Edwards added 14 points, Rowlett finished with 12 and LaRae Boyd scored 11 points for the Lady Tigers.
          “They put a little bit more pressure on us late in the game,” Compton said. “We got tired on the 94-foot floor, and the combination of those two things and our
foul trouble sort of turned the game around.”
          Compton announced his retirement as Haysi coach after 19 seasons, six trips to state and one of the best games he’d ever seen.
         “No fan could say this wasn’t one of the best games they’ve seen in their life,” Compton said. “We went up there with some people thinking we’d be doing well if we kept it under 25 points. We knew we had a better team than that.”
            Its five seniors and tough regular season schedule prepared the Lady Tigers well for Friday’s contest, Compton said.
 

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

         Wrestling legend Jerry “The King” Lawler is set to storm the ring Friday night at Grundy High School.
         Currently one of wrestling’s best-known TV personalities, Lawler can be seen every Monday night on WWE’s flagship broadcast, “Raw.”
         Although known primarily as a color-commentator these days, Lawler still finds time to step into the ring on the independent circuit.
         “My passion and love for wrestling hasn’t waned over the years,” Lawler said in a recent telephone interview. “I could do three [indy shows] a week.”
          Lawler’s career is as storied as they come. Boasting over 200 title reigns, no one has held wrestling gold more times than “The King.”
           A Memphis, Tennessee native, Lawler left the Memphis-based USWA in 1993 to join the ranks of WWE.
           Lawler quickly settled into a memorable feud with soon-to-be hall-of-famer Bret “Hitman” Hart upon his arrival in the company. Lawler’s character took exception to Hart winning WWE’s inaugural “King of the Ring” pay-per-view. The feud culminated in the infamous “kiss my foot” match at 1995’s “King of the Ring.”
          Lawler’s best-known angle, however, was his highly-publicized feud with the late comedian Andy Kaufman. The seemingly real-life bad blood between the two entertainers produced an unforgettable confrontation on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1982 where Lawler pushed Kaufman around. The segment ended with Kaufman cursing at Lawler and walking off the set.
          The angle was so convincing that fans were shocked in 1999, 15 years after Kaufman’s death, that the long-running feud had been staged from the beginning.
          Since the mid-90’s, Lawler has worked primarily behind the microphone for WWE, calling play-by-play for Raw and various pay-per-view events. Until recently, Lawler and Jim Ross, WWE’s other popular color commentator, comprised what might be the company’s most famous ringside duo.
         “J.R. and I were the ideal combination,” Lawler admitted.
          Wrestling fans became accustom to the duo’s mix of humor and sarcasm. In fact, Lawler believes his tell-it-like-it-is persona is what has connected with fans for so long.
           “I think [fans] probably relate to me because I’ll wind up saying what they are thinking,” he said. “I just try to add a little humor.”
 

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

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