Sanderson High School - Lakonikos Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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Varsity Sports at Sanderson annually succumb to a gener- ous helping of defeats, that is the varsity sports -that everyone goes to see. In the atmosphere of perennial losers, no one seems concerned with the advent of a true champion. Has anyone ever seen the wres- tling team lose? Chances are slim because very few people , have seen the wrestling team in action, much less seen them lose. As the most successful teams at Sanderson, these gladiators of grapple are wholly the most underrated. They not only must fight the rigors of conditioning, but also the lack of support from the student body. The quality of Sanderson's wrestling teams has always been excellent. Rarely has anyone on the team made a profession out of counting the lights, a wrestler's expres- sion for being pinned on the mat face up. Yet, amazingly the majority of Sanderson's wrestlers began the season with very little experience. But as inexperienced as the new wrestlers were, their en- thusiasm usually seemed to overcome their mistakes. As a team, the wrestlers seem to have a spirit unequaled by any other team. For the past two years the team has compiled a 21 and 1 record. Last year they were Conference Champions and this year lost onlyin the finals. 64 FGRCCDTTE CI-IAMPIQNS he coach gave us the desire not to quit. Mark Blackburn Each member conditions, trains, and wrestles on his own -alone. Only he knows how physically prepared he is. Each wrestler is expected to confront and defeat his opponent by him self. There is no help from his team on the bench except for yells of encouragement. The wrestler must use his own strength, his own cunning, and his own quickness to defeat his adversary. When the Match is

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CROSS COUNTRY TEAM: Mark Fulghum, Mike Iacobs, Henry Cocke, Mark War- ren, Bill Lynch, Coach Bill Harrington, David Bryan, Pat Patterson, Alan Williams, Bill Bradley, Mike Pandich, lay DeLancy, Duane Brooker. Not Pictured: Carl Bum- gardner, Sean Ellison. t of the runners welcome the pain of fatigue and stress. They say that at the end, when they cross the finish line and its over, they've won. They have pushed themselves beyond a normal limit. They have beaten the pain. They havent run entirely against others or against a clock, they've run against the desire to quit the urge to stop, the despair of P ersonal defeat. They have pushed themselves beyond a I1 ormal limit. Sure it's impor tant to win the race-as members representing the team, they go all out. There is the pride O fwinning the event as in any sport. But in this sport, to Win is toshow you've pushed Y o ourself farther than the thers. You've pushed your self harder and farther in both the conditioning and the race and no onethelped you because Y ou did it on your own 1 I 1

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over and the referee raises the victor's hand, it is his hand, his victory. He is the best on the mat. I started wrestling to stay in shape for football, now I play football to stay in shape for wrestling. Steve Niemyer Wrestling gives me a chance to co- ordinate brains with muscle to batter my opponent. Eric Winte It's you against him. , Mike Baker WRESTLING TEAM: Row one: Mike Baker, Iames McNeil, Mike Vevurka, Wes Harrelle, Eric Winte, Ieff Muschell, Bobby Walters, Mark Blackburn. Row two: Iohn Ligotino. Richard Fleming, Les Ellis, Steve Nie- myer, Dale Craft, Rick Donnalley, Reginald Blackman, Charles Gardner. 65 4