CHESAPEAKE – The Chesapeake Panthers had almost a dozen good reasons why they won their own tournament.

Tuesday, January 16, 2001

CHESAPEAKE – The Chesapeake Panthers had almost a dozen good reasons why they won their own tournament.

Chesapeake had six champions and five runners-up in winning its own invitational wrestling tournament Saturday.

"Our guys are stepping up and wrestling better. We aren’t outstanding, but we’re pretty solid at every weight class," Panthers coach Phil Davis said.

"We’re improving. We had some good individual efforts, but our depth helped us a lot."

Chesapeake won with a 4-0 record while East Carter (Ky.) was second at 3-1. It marked the first time Chesapeake has won its own invitational in four years.

The Panthers beat Ashland (Ky.) 72-12, East Carter 60-22, Spring Valley (W.Va.) 60-15, and Wahama (W.Va.) 60-24.

Taking first place for the Panthers were Bill Jenkins at 103 pounds, Caleb Robbins at 112, Buddy Hardy in the 119-pound division, Chester Collins at 130, Eddie Neel in the 140 class, and Brian Marshall at 215.

Runners-up were Chad Pennington at 125, David Stepp at 145, Jimmy Kinder in the 152 class, Josh Scarberry at 160, and Danny McDonald at 171.

Next up for the Panthers is the WSAZ-TV 3 Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday at the Huntington Civic Center.

"There will some good competition. This will be a good test for us," said Davis.

Individual results of the Chesapeake tournament are:

103 – 1. Bill Jenkins (Ch) 2. None.

112 – 1. Caleb Robbins (Ch), 2. Dusty Young (EC)

119 – 1. Buddy Hardy (Ch); 2. Milton Blevins (EC)

125 – 1. Eric Jenkins (SV); 2. Chad Pennington (Ch)

130 – 1. Chester Collins (Ch); 2. Ross Martin (Ash)

135 – 1. Richard Lockhart (Wa); 2. Tim Sparks (EC)

140 – 1. Eddie Neel (Ch); 2. Ryan Damron (SV)

145 – 1. Rodney Perkins (EC); 2. David Stepp (Ch)

152 – 1. Jason Hutchinson (SV); 2. Jimmy Kinder (Ch)

160 – 1. Robert Brinker (Wa); 2. Josh Scarberry (Ch)

171 – 1. Adam Richard (Wa); 2. Danny McDonald (Ch)

189 – 1. Chris Pavez (Ash); 2. Chris Collins (EC)

215 – 1. Brian Marshall (Ch); 2. Carl Richard (Wa)

275 – 1. Josh Hayes (Ash); 2. Chad Hall (EC)