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BARNESVILLE -- Every team has a checklist for its upcoming season. Barnesville's wrestling team is one of them.
Already this season the Shamrocks have claimed the Class 3A team title at the 68th annual Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Ron Mauck Championships and then added the OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 3A Dual Meet crown late last month. Monday night they filled another box on that aforementioned list.
For the second consecutive year, Barnesville is headed to the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Dual Meet state tournament. The Shamrocks punched their ticket Monday night with a 51-21 victory over Bidwell River Valley, which had rallied past Martins Ferry, 36-30, in a semifinal. Galion Northmor withdrew from the event.
"We knew we had a couple matches that if we couldn't win them we couldn't give up bonus points and we did that," veteran Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said. "I thought, for the most part, that our kids wrestled hard."
Barnesville bolted to a 42-0 lead thanks to five forfeits and a pair of first-period pins from Stephen's two sons -- Reese (126) and Griffen (138) -- and the Raiders could never recover despite winning six of the final seven bouts.
Johnathan Huntsman (106), Aydan Andrews (113) and Dakota King (120) all had their hands raised in uncontested matches for an 18-0 lead.
Reese Stephen (126) took care of his opponent in a mere 1:36 and a forfeit to Luke Shaffer (132) made it 30-0.
Griffen Stephen (132) hardly broke a sweat with his 37-second pin and 150th career victory.
"It feels pretty good. My freshman and sophomore years we didn't get to go, so this feels really good to be going again my senior year," Griffen Stephen said. "To get my 150th win during this feels even better."
"He's probably right there," Coach Stephen said of Griffen's total being close to the top. "It should be a lot more but he has had things canceled during his career and he was hurt some last year. That is something minor to him. He has some bigger goals ahead of him."
A forfeit to Ayden King (144) clinched the match at 42-0.
However, Coach Stephen was really impressed with the effort of Robby Nixon (175).
"Robby wrestled his best match of the season," the coach allowed. "He came out and was aggressive. That kid was pretty good and he stuck him."
Nixon gave up an early takedown before escaping. A subsequent takedown gave him a 3-2 advantage and eventually led to his pin in 1-minute, 44 seconds to hike the margin to 48-9.
"We played the bumping game and weighed some kids at different weights. It worked out for us," Coach Stephen said of his re-vamped lineup from the start of the season.
When asked if this was the Shamrocks' new look, Stephen hesitated before saying, "If I knew I would tell you, but I don't right now, honestly."
He said his team will be ready for this year's state tournament.
"I think the experience of being there last year will help," he said. "I think the kids remember what happened and how they felt. We were a little shell-shocked and we can't let that happen this year."
Griffen Stephen said the Shamrocks will be ready come Saturday.
"We just need to be prepared. I think last year we were young," he said. "We just need to get after our opponents."
In the semifinal, the Purple Riders grabbed a 24-10 lead after seven weight classes thanks to a quartet of forfeits. Jase Mahoney (106), Dylan Ward (113), Johnathan Rossano (126) and Trey Regis (144) all had their hands raised, but the locals would only win two more matches, those coming by decisions from Alex Finsley (190) and Zak Dobson (215).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wheeling Central 60, Toronto 31
WHEELING -- Lily Vogrin was on fire as she drained five 3-pointers and scored 21 points to lead Wheeling Central over Toronto.
Abbey Jones netted 13 points in the victory, while teammate Keiera Wilkinson bucketed 12 points.
Maryn Donnelly turned in a trio of treys and tallied 13 points to pace Toronto and Abby Liddick added 10 points.
Cameron 66, Tyler Consolidated 29
CAMERON -- Kenzie Clutter and Ashlynn VanTassell each garnered 16 points as Cameron roared past Tyler Consolidated.
Maci Neely produced 11 points in the win, while Emilee Dobbs and Ashlee Dobbs recorded nine and seven points, respectively.
Julianna Lattea paced Tyler with seven points.
Brooke 40, Indian Creek 35
WELLSBURG -- Indian Creek scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to overcome the big lead built by the Bruins.
Brooke was led by Madison Platt's 13 points, six coming on a pair of 3s, while Ava Bolen tallied 11 and Rylee Schwertfeger 10 to give the Bruins three players in double figures.
Indian Creek was led by Tori Robertson's 10 points, while McKenna Scott and Kylie Anderson each netted eight.
Monroe Central 56, River 33
WOODSFIELD - Monroe Central bounced back from its loss in the OVAC Class 2A title game Saturday with a 56-33 rout of visiting county rival River.
Kalista Friday paced the Seminoles (16-6) with 14 points. Trista Morris added a dozen while Kynzi Bishop added nine, Haylyn Hiles eight and Abby Thompson seven. Riley Bettinger chipped in six.
Friday handed out seven assists and charted six steals. Thompson had nine rebounds and Morris seven.
Kelsey Harlan had a game-high 15 points for the Pilots. Reese Hobbs added six.
St. Clairsville 44, Harrison Central 39
CADIZ - St. Clairsville received balanced scoring in a victory at Harrison Central on Monday in an OVAC 4A tournament consolation game.
The Red Devils were led by senior Alexis Thoburn, who pumped in 15. Classmate Shae Brookover added 12 and Megan Malin finished with 10.
The Huskies were led by Emma Fischer's 10 and senior McKayla Dunkle added eight.
Barnesville 66, Bridgeport 27
BRIDGEPORT - Barnesville's Alyssa Carter etched her name into Shamrock history Monday evening when she knocked down nine, 3-point goals to lead the Shamrocks to a repeat win over the Bulldogs.
Carter finished with a game-high 28 points. Senior Anna Yater added 11.
The Bulldogs were led by Hailee Aubrey's 13.