The OVAC showed its wrestling prowess this past weekend at the 64th Annual WVSSAC State Wrestling Championships in Huntington, WV with 35 individual placers across the board and Parkersburg South continued to show its dominance by winning another team title topping second place Huntington High School with 184.5 points to 163. John Marshall finished sixth 82.5 points, Wheeling Park finished eighth with 68.5, University was tenth with 67.5, Brooke finished eleventh with 66.0, and Morgantown finished twenty-fifth with 16.0
In AA/A Oak Glen finished fifth with 93.0, Cameron was sixth with 78.0, Weir High was twenty-first with 23.5, Madonna finished right behind with 23.0, and Bishop Donahue finished twenty-sixth with 16.0
Sophomore Lance Hill from Parkersburg South pinned Michael Beaman from Brooke to place fifth and sixth, respectively, at the 103lb weight class.
At 112 AAA, Bryce Gainer (PS) lost the championship bout to Ripley’s Jared Simpkins by a 10-3 decision. Alex Cheslock of University placed sixth in OT to Austin Patterson from Fairmont Senior. In AA/A, Oak Glen junior Zach Brown placed second with a 12-2 loss to sensational Berkley Springs sophomore Ryan Diehl.
The OVAC’s first champion came in the AAA 119 match. David Jeffery (PS) defeated Huntington’s Josh Canterbury 6-1 and finished the year with an incredible 56-3 record.
The AAA 125 championship was the first of two All-OVAC finals matches featuring University’s Jesse Schiffbauer and Justin Goode of John Marshall. Schiffbauer defeated Goode with a 10-0 major decision. AA/A Region 1 champion Hunter McLaughlin (Weir High) finished sixth in close, 4-0 match with Shady Spring’s John Forren.
Wheeling Park Senior Kyle Bauer capped off an impressive career and senior year by capturing the AAA 130 title by pinning Louden Goodpaster from Cabell Midland in 1:12! Bauer finished the year 25-0 and was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler in the AAA Division. Jordan Quiocho (PS) placed fifth by topping Ripley’s Preston Martin 4-2. Oak Glen’s Kole Koper finished sixth in AA/A with a loss to Matt Griffin from Grafton by fall in 1:27.
South’s Tyler Richards placed fifth at 135 AAA by defeating Ausin Hileman (Ripley) 5-1. Luke Goodlin (OG) was pinned by Tommy Dodd (Liberty Harrison) in 4:02 to finish fourth in AA/A.
The OVAC had two placers in AAA at 140. Marvin Kirk (George Washington) defeated Caleb Norman (PS) 5-4 with Norman placing fourth. Hans Rogerson (WP) placed fifth by defeating Zac Lusher (Cabell Midland) 6-0.
The AA/A 145 championship was the latter All-OVAC match up and a Region 1 final rematch between undefeated David Schleiper (Cameron) and John McGill (OG). Schleiper came out on top at the regional final and the outcome would be the same, only this time with a state title on the line. Schleiper defeated McGill 12-3 in dominating fashion.
The OVAC had three placers at AAA 152. John Marshall’s Marshall Mason was tech falled by Elijah Hull of Lewis county in the championship match with Phil King (Univ) placing third and Joel St. Clair (PS) sixth.
At 160, Wheeling Park’s Cody Amos lost the title match in a close 5-2 decision to Adam Bicak (Ripley). In AA/A, the OVAC had three place winners. Tanner Whyte of Cameron failed to capture another state title. Whyte lost to undefeated Jared Haught of Calhoun County. Bishop Donahue’s senior standout Bobby Richmond was denied a victory in his third place match by Josh Hereford (Point Pleasant). Richmond lost a heartbreaker 7-6. Also representing the OVAC placing fifth was Oak Glen’s Cody Churchill.
In AAA 171, Parkersburg South senior Chris Smith (who captured the OVAC title earlier this year) defended his title by dominating not only his finals match, but the whole tournament. Smith’s closest match was his quarterfinal match which he won by eight points. Smith defeated Seth Jack (Buckhannon-Upshur) 14-1 capping off a phenomenal career.
The OVAC was represented well at 189 in both divisions with a wrestler in each championship match and several other placers. Brooke’s Nathan Dawson lost a close championship match 7-5 to Huntington’s Chris Miles. Steven Brogle (PS) defeated Zach Ayers (North Marion) 6-2 to finish third overall. In AA/A, there was another Region 1 final rematch featuring Madonna’s sensational junior Christian Roe and St. Marys C.D. Cox. Roe defeated Cox 5-3 in the regional final to come in to the tournament as the top rated wrestler, but lost in heartbreaking fashion 3-1 in OT by giving up a reversal during the first ride-out period. Cox has finished third the past two years at 189. Third ranked Taylor Neely (Cameron) placed fifth by pinning Keyer’s Cody Lambka in 1:41. The scary thing is that Roe, Dawson, and Neely will all be back next year and hungrier than ever.
AAA 215 consisted of three OVAC placers. Nicholas Pederson (Brooke) defeated Cullen Ebbert (John Marshall) 3-2 in overtime to place third and fourth, respectively. OVAC newcomer Morgantown’s only placer was Evan Hamilton. Hamilton pinned Devonte Cook (Fairmont Sr) in to place fifth 4:31.
Last, but certainly not least, are the heavyweights. The OVAC had two placers in AAA. Nick Pederson (Brooke) lost a close match 1-0 to Hedgesville’s Travis Wheat. John Marshall’s Michael Beradi also lost by one point (3-2) to Tyler Phillips (North Marion.)
The OVAC had a great showing the state tournament, and will only get better with the coming years. The OVAC has a lot of young talent and only more is to come. There will be a lot of placers and quite a few champions next year from the OVAC.
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