News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 25

OGEE 12 LAG 1 I EG I 2 PAG tf 0 0 Scorecard Pro Hockey 2C Coll. Basketball 3C Pro Football Pro Basketball 6C College Football 7C NEWS-PRESS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1986 Bp ONLY THE CONTENDERS REMAIN 'f VV-' SEEKING FAME Georgia, Boston College tangle tonight in debut of Tampa's game7C The NFL regular season comes to a close; now begins the playoffs4-5C ON PREPS DONNIE WILKIE Gator hoopla: Florida ranked in Top 20 Area wrestlers showing strength Item: The Class 3A high school state wrestling poll, released Monday, lists Riverdale at No. 2, behind defending champion Hollywood McArthur. Naples is ranked third; Lemon Bay fifth. Fort Myers is mentioned as "also receiving votes." That's three teams from Southwest Florida in the top five.

The Raiders were third-consecutive week, beat Nevada-Reno 115-83 and Ohio University 105-81 last week. The Runnin Rebels capped the week with a 79-75 victory over Louisiana Tech in the championship game of the Rebel Roundup. Purdue, Iowa and North Carolina held the second through fourth spots. Purdue, 6-0, received 11 first-place votes and 1,149 points. Iowa, 9-0, had one first-place vote and 1,095 points, 20 more than North Carolina, 6-1.

Each of the three teams won its only game of the week as Purdue routed Division II Tampa 79-48, Iowa blasted intrastate rival Iowa State 89-64 and North Carolina beat then-No. 5 Illinois 90-77 in a nationally televised game. Auburn, 6-0, which received the other two first-place votes and 896 points, moved into the fifth spot, while Oklahoma, 6-1, also advanced one place from last week with 805 points. Syracuse, 8-0, jumped from ninth to seventh with 769 points, 27 more than Indiana, 6-1 which held the No. 8 position.

Illinois, 6-1, dropped to ninth, receiving 713 points and Georgetown, 7-0, rounded out the Top Ten. Complete poll 2C From News-Press staff and wire Call it a first for the University of Florida. Fresh from their championship in the Gator Bowl Tournament, the Gators' basketball team has been ranked among the nation's Top 20 teams for the first time in the school's basketball history. Florida, 8-1, was ranked 20th by The Associated Press. Florida State, however, which is also 8-1, is unranked.

The Seminoles' only loss was to No. 9 Oklahoma, and they have beaten Florida. Florida won three games last week, the conference opener over Louisiana State 96-75 and both games in the Gator Bowl tournament, beating Virginia Tech 82-60 and Ohio State 82-72. Nevada-Las Vegas, which surpassed the 100-point mark in two of its three victories last week, remained Monday the No. 1 team.

The Runnin' Rebels, 9-0, received 48 first-place votes and 1,220 points from a nationwide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Nevada-Las Vegas, which is No. 1 for the impressive in winning the Captain Archer's dWB1 it Classic on Saturday and the Golden Eagles captured the championship of the Bradenton ManateeHurricane Challenge, nipping the host Hurricanes by a half-point. So is prep wrestling in this area really that strong? Yes. But how does this state poll work? Unlike the more commonly known football and basketball polls, coordinated by the Florida Sports Writers Association (the News-Press is responsible for the basketball ratings; the Tampa Tribune for football), the wrestling poll is a true poll.

COACHES ACTUALLY VOTE. A points system is used to tally the ballots. And that Is proof enough that Southwest Florida wrestling is no longer a well-kept secret. The 16 coaches on the panel include Dave Laxton (Live Oak Suwannee), Richard Prosuch (Palatka), Frank Fuder (Panama City Bay), Tim Worsowicz (Jacksonville Forrest), Joe Jacoby (North Miami), Jim Husk (Miami Southridge), Ron Schulz (Fort Lauderdale Nova), Sam Agrenti (Lantana Santaluces), Russ Cozart (Brandon), Walt Ragan (Lemon Bay), John McGregor (Bradenton Bayshore), David Frayer (Clearwater Countryside, Toby McCormick (Merritt Island), Randy Jessee (Orlando Bishop Moore), Greg Leate (Lake Worth) and Wayne Stapleford (Sebring). Pedro Abigantus, a sports writer for the Hollywood Sun-Tattler, originated the poll two years ago and coordinates it for the Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) which also sponsors Coach of the Year and Wrestler of the Year awards.

Miami finishes Orange Bowl era with 34-27 loss Final standings 2C ByJOESANTORO News-Press Staff Writer MIAMI It had to happen. The Orange Bowl has left us with one more memory. You can add the New England Patriots' 34-27 win over the Miami Dolphins Monday night to your list of treasured Orange Bowl thoughts. This one was a classic. The Patriots' victory put 11-5 New England into the playoffs as the AFC East champion and sent the Dolphins, 8-8, packing to next season and their new Dolphin Stadium.

You want pressure? If New England hadn't rallied for two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes, the defending AFC champions would have missed the playoffs, allowing the Cincinnati Bengals to qualify as a wild-card team. Fittingly, the winning score, came with less than a minute left (44 seconds) on a marvelous 31 -yard catch by the Patriots' Stanley Morgan in the end zone on a pass from veteran Steve Grogan. The Patriots drove 86 yards for the game-winner. It was one last thrill, and the Orange Bowl wouldn't have left us any other way. A season-best crowd of 74,516 was on hand for the Dolphins' finale in the Orange Bowl, and they not only witnessed a record display for Miami quarterback Dan Marino, but 109 yards rushing by Lorenzo Hampton.

Marino set NFL records Monday night for completions (378) and attempts (623) in one season. The old completion record (362) had been set by Marino in 1984 and the attempts mark was set by the Chargers' Dan Fouts (609) in 1981. Marino hooked up with wide receiver Mark Clayton for two second-half touchdowns and a 27-20 lead with 13:29 left to play. See DOLPHINS, page 5C "The last two years, the wrestling poll has VJT JD i i been the most accurate of any poll in the state," Abigantus says unabashedly. "Of the 40 ranked teams at season's end the past two seasons (4A and 3A), 75 percent have placed in the state tournaments." COMPARE THAT TO THIS YEAR'S football playoffs.

The Class 4A champion, Fort Lauderdale Dillard, was unranked after VVV vr 3s y. tfnL hi United Press International New England receiver Irving Fryar (80) is separated from the ball by Miami's John Offerdahl (56) and Bud Brown. The play was ruled an incomplete pass in the Patriots' 34-27 victory. Falcons end Henning's four-year tenure ByTOMSALADINO Associated Press Henning, appearing later on his radio show broadcast on WSB-AM with play-byplay broadcaster Brad Nessler, cited the SUWANEE, Ga. Dan Henning was fired Monday as coach of the Atlanta Fal cons, after a 7-8-1 season that was the best of his four-year tenure.

ning. But the move was greeted with surprise, shock and disappointment by many of the players, who were told of the firing in a team meeting with Henning. "It shocked everybody. It was thick in there. There was a lot of emotion," cor-nerback Scott Case said.

"He felt hurt. A lot of players felt the same way." Rankin Smith the Falcons' owner and chairman of the board, was not at the Falcons' training complex when the announcement was made. His son, Falcons President Rankin Smith was in his office, but refused to comment. "There is some structuring that has to be done on the other side of the ball," he added. "We neglected the offensive personnel." Asked if he were a failure as a coach, Henning said, "I think that success is a journey that you take and you approach things the way you think they ought to be approached.

You have to put aside and sacrifice things for other things. You've got to have patience. It takes time and investment. You just continue and you do the best job you can under the circumstances." A team spokesman said the defensive staff would remain, but that most of the offensive staff would be ousted with Hen The announcement from the manage 1 A team's improvement on defense and added that the offense had been neglected. "Before you win in this league the way it is structured now you have to be stable on defense at least, hopefully dominant," Henning said.

"That's the approach we took. I think that's shown a great deal of progress. ment of the NFL team came in a terse two- paragraph statement. Henning had nothing to say immediately. Henning stayed at the team's training HENNING complex for four hours after the announcement, but left without saying a word.

an 8-2 regular season. Runner-up Tarpon Springs was ranked just ninth. And North Fort Myers, also unranked, made it to the semifinals. So if Riverdale, Naples, Lemon Bay and Co. are still in the wrestling Top 10 in mid-February, watch out, says Abigantus.

"There are four teams in Southwest Florida that you can bunch into one group," he said. "They're all consistently in the poll for the same reasons. They do very well against top 3A and 4A competition when they travel outside the area, they have excellent dual meet teams and they also have good state tournament material." In wrestling, the state tournament is the final word. Regardless of record. And while the last three state champions have come from South Florida (Deerfield Beach, St.

Thomas Aquinas and McArthur), three teams from Southwest Florida (Lemon Bay, Riverdale and North Fort Myers) finished among the top 1 2 teams in last year's Class 3A state tourney. "I don't know how I feel about the state tournament right now," said Naples Coach Jon Myers, whose Golden Eagles are 7-0 and beat previously seventh-ranked Fort Myers 32-31 last Wednesday. "We're probably the third best dual meet team in the state and I'm very happy with what we've done so far. "But just about anything can happen at state." In the meantime, though, Abigantus whose local, south Broward County coverage area includes McArthur and St. Thomas Aquinas has become a believer.

"Two years ago when we started the poll, I heard about the Lelys and the Lemon Bays and all that," he said. "People from over there (the West Coast) were telling me that Lemon Bay was the second-best team in the state, but, quite frankly, I didn't believe them. But they were." Riverdale, Naples and the rest are continuing the tradition. Now, some assorted notes: The News-Press Christmas tournament boasts a 20-team field, the largest of any boys basketball tournament in the state, and begins Friday at Fort Myers High School with a 1 :30 p.m. game matching Cypress Lake and Lemon Bay.

Three teams North Fort Myers (4-0), Our Lady of Providence, R.I. (2-0), and lOth-ranked 4A Brandon (5-0) are undefeated. AMONG THE BEST of the rest: sixth-ranked 2A Naples (6-1), Cape Coral (4-1), Fort Pierce Central (6-1), Charlotte (4-1), Riverdale (2-2) and Fort Myers (4-3) Cape Coral defensive tackle Pete Rausch has been named to the Class 5A All-State first team Fort Myers quarterback Bernard Edwards and linebacker Kelvin Harris, both of whom are being heavily recruited, will visit Ohio State, Miami and Florida together and have already visited Minnesota. IK Bears fans blitz the ticket window for playoff ducats Cooney-Spinks fight blocked by NY judge By The Associated Press By The Associated Press NEW YORK A Manhattan judge Mon day blocked the scheduled Michael Spinks- Gerry Cooney heavyweight championship fight until the promoters have Cooney sign a contract to participate in a title unification series. State Supreme Court Justice Elliott Wilk A Hammond, group plugged an electric heater into a portable generator.

"We've never done this before," said Dan Boyer, 18. "We just figured it would be cold out here. Rosalind McLellan, 40, was not quite as prepared. "We're not ready for this," she said as she shivered under some blankets. "But these tickets will be kind of a Christmas gift for the family." Thomas McLellan, 14, said he wasn't warned about the cold.

"They asked me if I wanted to see the Bears for Christmas, but they never told me about this," he said. Allen White, 29, and Ben Wisnasky, 18, drove 300 miles from St. Louis to get tickets. "Last year, when we did this, we figured it was our last chance to see a playoff game in Soldier Field," said White. stopped the fight, set for March 9 In Madison Square Garden, at the request of Home Box Office.

CHICAGO It took Bears fans just 58 minutes Monday to buy up all 4,600 tickets to the team's playoff game Jan. 3, a Bears spokesman said. Despite' temperatures that dipped overnight to the low 20s, more than two dozen fans waited for more than a day outside Soldier Field for Monday's 8 a.m. opening of ticket sales. By 8:58 a.m., the game was sold-out, said Bears spokesman Ken Valdiserri.

Some came as early as Sunday morning and watched Sunday's Bears-Dallas game on portable televison sets. "I got here at 2:30 a.m. and realized I didn't have a TV," said Ed Szudarski, 27. "I had to watch the game, so I told everyone I'd be right back and went out and bought one." Spinks, the IBF champion, was contractu-rally obligated to fight in the series until he lost. However, if he were to fight Cooney and lose the IBF title, the unification series would be ruined unless Cooney agreed to participate in the tournament.

In contemplation of this possibility, the Duo-HBO contract provides that Dynamic Duo "will insure that Cooney will contractually commit" to the series if he wins the fight with Spinks. Lewis argued the provision would become operative only if Cooney defeated Spinks. In the meantime, he contended, he was required only to use his best negotiating efforts to sign Cooney up. HBO replied that after the fight Lewis would have no leverage over Cooney. In granting HBO's petition, Wilk said the contract could not be read to mean only that Lewis and his production company must use their "best efforts" to bring Cooney into the series.

The cable television network paid $16 million to promoters Don King and Butch Lewis, who incorporated as Dynamic Duo Inc. for this venture, for exclusive rights to the heavyweight title tournament. The contract, signed last Jan. 15, calls for an eight-fight series wnicn includes the champions of the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council and the Interna tional Boxing Federation. Five fights have taken place..