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1997 Season SummaryThe 1996 - 1997 was a succesful one for the Collegiate Cougars. Under second year head coach Wortie Ferrell, Collegiate took second place at the VISWA tournament, an impressive touraround from a team that finished 24th two years before. Part of this was due to a schedule that was tougher than in years past. In dual meets, Collegiate finished with a 16-6 record. Against private school competition Collegiate fared vary well, losing only to Woodberry Forest and St.Christopher's. The Saints match was a very tight one, decided by a 4 point margin. The other 4 losses came against public school competition, where Collegiate had a record of 3-4. In tournaments, Collegiate took 4th at Preps, 12th at St.Alban's, and 2nd at States. The Prep League was very tough this year, with 10 State Champions and 5 runner-ups competing, in addition to several All Americans. At St.Albans's Collegiate had 3 placewinners, John Mcleod, Jimmy Carr, and Andy Deck, and was 3.5 points shy of Woodberry's score. At States Collegiate wrestled very well as a team to take second place. Many of the younger wrestlers stepped up their performance. Freshman Patrick Boswell finished second losing 3-6 to John Davis of Paul VI. This was after hammering the second seed Shawn Conway of Peninsula Catholic in the semi-finals. Sophomore Dustin Greene finished third after failing to place at Preps two weeks earlier. Jimmy Carr won states, and Andy Deck finished third as well. In addition, John Mcleod captured the Most Outstanding Wrestler award for pinning his way though the tournament. Collegiate's Sunny Clemons also become the first female ever to win a match at the VISWA tournament. For his strong performance thoughout the year, John Mcleod was named as one of the top wrestlers in the State by Intermat: 1997 Intermat Elite Wrestler (Senior) John finished with a 36-2 record, his only losses coming to state runner-up Christian Devol of Hermitage and Devin Pardun of Blair Academy. Over his career at both the Miller School and Collegiate, John amassed 205 wins, 3 States Titles, and placed 4th at Prep Nationals and at the AAU Grand Nationals. |