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OVAC Well-Represented at State Wrestling Tournament

74 wrestlers are off to Huntington

HUNTINGTON — Seventy-four Ohio Valley Athletic Conference wrestlers are among the 448 participants entered in the 70th annual W.Va. state tournament, which begins Thursday night inside Big Sandy Arena and continues through Saturday night’s championship finals.

Perennial state powerhouse Parkersburg South, which was re-located from Region I to Region IV this season, leads the 58-member Class AAA contingent with a dozen qualifiers, as does new Region I kingpin, University. The Hawks became the first team other than the Wood County Patriots and rival Parkersburg High to win the most-northern regional since 1991, with the exception of Wheeling Park in 2006 and 2008.

The Ohio County Patriots will take 11 individuals to Huntington, while John Marshall is right behind with 10. Brooke is sending seven and Morgantown six.

In A/AA, Oak Glen has six of the 16 entrants and Madonna five. Magnolia qualified two, while Cameron, Tyler Consolidated and Weir each have one.

The tournament gets underway at 6:30 p.m. with 224 first-round matches in both divisions on 8 mats.

Class AAA

Locally, Wheeling Park and John Marshall each had a trio of regional champions, while Brooke had one.

Leading the Patriots were the junior triad of John Nash (160), Kaleb Simpkins (170) and Austin Loew (195).

Nash, a two-time OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament titlist, has been on a mission all season after missing out on the postseason last winter because of an illness. He is 42-5 and ranked No. 1 in his weight class.

Simpkins, a two-time regional champ, placed sixth last year at 138. He is 38-8 and ranked third.

Loew, who improved to 28-13 with his run through the regional, is ranked fourth.

Other state-bound Patriots are freshman Izaak Murphy (106, 24-15); freshman Canon Welker (113, 21-11); sophomore Maison Richardson (120, 26-16); sophomore Tino Kayafas (126, 11-22); senior Charles Mirandy (132, 16-24); sophomore Jeremiah Timberlake (138, 30-15); junior Mason Miklas (182, 25-12); and sophomore Dylan Wood (220,32-12).

Representing the Monarchs as regional titlists are sophomores Jordan Wood (120), Austin Love (126) and Anthony Carman (138).

Wood, who placed fourth at 106 last year, missed most of the early season with an injury, but has compiled a 19-6 mark and is ranked No. 5. He defeated third-ranked Jacob Simpson of University in the regional finals. Simpson is a returning state placewinner.

Love is 29-13 after winning the regional. He is ranked third in the state.

Carman, who also placed fourth at 120 a season ago, is 37-5 with his regional title in hand. He is ranked fourth.

John Marshall is also sending freshman Ethan Gray (106, 29-13); sophomore Jacob Berisford (152, 33-13); freshman Zack Leach (160, 11-28); sophomore Chas McCool (170, 4-3); junior Brandon Durrah (182, 27-19); freshman Austin Moore (195, 2-10) and senior Nathan Simmons (285, 34-11).

Brooke senior Alex Edgell (220) returns to Huntington looking to improve upon his sixth-place finish last year. He is 35-3 and ranked fourth.

The Bruins other entrants are freshman Cam Lancaster (113, 8-18); freshman Max Camilletti (132, 26-20); sophomore Jesse Law (138, 10-27); sophomore CJ Helms (145, 24-16); junior Gage Barnhart (160, 30-14); and senior Colten Zombeck (170, 23-19).

Class A/AA

The Golden Bears’ Robert Bozek (138) returns as a state champion with a 41-3 mark. He is 38-8 during his senior season, which also includes an OVAC Ron Mauck championship. He is ranked tops in his weight class.

Magnolia’s Caleb Nice (220) is 40-3 and was a 2016 OVAC Tournament champion.

Weir’s Caleb Rea (126) is riding a wave of emotion heading into the state tournament. The Red Riders junior is 39-1 after defeating two-time defending state champion Brock Whorton of East Fairmont, 4-2 in overtime, last weekend in the regional finals in Fairmont.

His lone loss came in the OVAC finals to Parkersburg South’s Luke Martin, which he avenged later in the season in the Brooke Classic finals. Rea was third at 120 a year ago, finishing 39-2.

Other state qualifiers are Oak Glen’s senior Ty Logston (106, 39-9), sophomore Shawn Moore (113, 37-11), freshman Peyton Hall (120, 39-3), junior Wyatt Strum (160, 30-17) and senior Stevie McCool (170, 37-7); Madonna’s freshman Roman Baird (120, 24-17), sophomore Alec Cook (132, 46-6), junior Vince Pulice (138, 36-15), senior Phil Good (152, 32-6) and junior Ryan Ekey (220, 28-17); Magnolia senior Riley Nice (126, 35-10); Cameron senior Michael Starcher (160, 35-9); and Tyler Consolidated junior Cory Chipps (285, 32-6).

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