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South Leads After Day 1

Wheeling Park’s Maison Richardson, top, grapples with Buckeye Local’s Travis Light during their 120-pound match at the Ron Mauck OVAC Wrestling Tournament. Photo by Scott McCloskey

WHEELING — The movie “Fast and Furious” had nothing on the Ron Mauck OVAC Wrestling Tournament on Thursday night as the 64th annual event took just one hour and 34 minutes to complete 199 first-round matches inside WesBanco Arena.

Of those bouts, 124 ended in pins and 45 of those occurred in less than a minute. There were also 17 decisions, seven technical falls and six major decisions.

Parkersburg South, which has won six overall team titles in seven appearances, leads the team race with 51.5 points. The Patriots advanced all 14 individuals, including senior Hunter DeLong (182) who is seeking his fourth championship.

Also moving on for Parkersburg South was defending champion Luke Martin (126).

Steubenville is second with 46.5 while Beaver Local is third at 37.5. Shadyside, which moved all but one of its nine competitors to the second round, is fourth with 31.5. Oak Glen (29) and Wheeling Park (28).

“It was definitely a good start. We got some bonus points along the way,” Shadyside head coach Sean Grinch said. “I think we had seven pins and a technical fall, so it was definitely a good start to the tournament.

“Our seeded guys came through with falls and Will got a pin, so it was a good night all around. We just need to continue taking one match at a time. (Today’s) a big day.”

Winning by falls were defending champion Greg Quinn (120), Jacson Muldrew (126), Josh Kahl (132), Collin Hunter (138), Cody Hawthorne (145), Will Brown (152) and Josh Robinson (285). Billy Johnson (170) scored a technical fall. Quinn (0:20), Muldrew (0:55), Kahl (0:24) and Hunter (0:14) all recorded lightning-quick pins.

Falling into the consolation bracket was Taylor Prickett as he was pinned by DeLong.

“He had a tough draw right out of the bat,” Grinch noted. “However, we look for him to bounce back.”

Wheeling Park advanced nine wrestlers to the second round, led by defending champion John Nash (160). The senior flattened his opponent in a mere 10 ticks. Kaleb Simpkins took just four ticks longer to win his match.

“That’s kind of what we expected,” Wheeling Park coach Clay Tucker, one of eight four-time champions, said. “The guys that we put in places to win matches are winning matches, so we just have to take it one match at a time and go from there.

“John and Kaleb both had pins in less than 20 seconds and I think the whole team sees that and feeds off of it. It kind of pumps up the whole team and sets the tone. Those two are our leaders and we expect that from them.”

Also moving on for the Patriots are Isaak Murphy (106), Canon Welker (113), Maison Richardson (120), Jeremiah Timberlake (138), Mason Miklas (182), Austin Loew (195) and Dylan Wood (220). Richardson, Timberlake, Miklas, Loew and Wood all recorded pins. Murphy and Welker advanced via byes.

Martins Ferry’s Dalton Hoover, a defending champion, had the quickest pin when he flattened his opponent in eight seconds.

The seeding committee, which upped the number of seeds in each weight class to 12 instead of the customary eight, knew what it was doing as only a pair of upsets occurred, and they were minor ones.

At 145, Cambridge’s Anthony Porter edged No. 11 Christopher Helms of Brooke, 3-2; and Buckeye Local heavyweight Lucas Dickerson decisioned No. 9 Greg Hawkins of Weir, 5-1.

All nine defending champions advanced easily.

The three-day extravaganza continues today with action beginning at noon with second round championship matches. Action continues throughout the day and concludes with championship quarterfinals tonight, beginning at 6.

In between sessions, Wheeling Jesuit University will host No. 10 Mercyhurst in an NCAA Division II match. It is slated to start at 3:45 p.m.

TOURNAMENT NOTES

∫ Union Local freshman Logan Amos became the first blind wrestler to compete in the OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament. He wrestled at 106.

∫ Coach of the Year awards were handed out prior to the start of the tournament. The recipients were: Class 1A — Ray Pernell (Madonna); Class 2A — Sean Grinch (Shadyside); Class 3A — Jayson Stephen (Barnesville); Class 4A — Brandon Pendleton (Indian Creek); and 5A — Mike Blackburn (Steubenville).

∫ Indian Creek assistant coach and River High grad Doug Knight was presented with the Assistant Coach of the Year award.

∫ Six females took part in the tournament, which is also a record number.

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