Photo by Kim North Wheeling Park’s Noah White, left, takes part in Day 1 of the West Virginia State Wrestling Tournament on Thursday.

HUNTINGTON — Not bad for openers.

Wheeling Park took advantage of bonus points Thursday night in grabbing the lead after the first round of the 75th annual West Virginia Class AAA state wrestling tournament.

The Patriots, who were ranked No. 1 in the final West Virginia Coaches Association poll released earlier in the day, recorded 10 pins – seven in less than a minute – and a major decision in piling up 43 points inside Mountain Health Arena. Fellow OVAC schools University (38) and Parkersburg South (32) are third and fourth, while Spring Mills (30) and John Marshall (26) round out the top 5.

Action resumes today at 11:30 a.m. with quarterfinal championship bouts and first-round consolation matches. The championship semifinals begin at 7:30 p.m.

“We’ve just got to keep this momentum going.,” Wheeling Park head coach Brian Leggett said. “Getting bonus points has been our theme all season, so we hope to continue that the rest of the weekend.”

Gabe Carman (160) had the quickest fall at 0:09.

“That’s mean Gabe,” Leggett said of his senior. “When mean Gabe comes out and wrestles, he usually wrestles well.”

Also collecting under-a-minute pins were Hunter Nixon (182, 0:12); Erick Brothers Jr. (220, 0:17); Adam Carman (113, 0:21); Cody Taggart (145, 0:27); Nate Shelek (132, 0:32); and Jack Lowe (126, 0:49).

Other Patriots advancing were Noah White (106), Bradyn Lucas (138), Quinton Velas (152) and Jameson Maynard (170). All but Maynard, who won by major decision (11-0), won by falls.

The Monarchs had seven winners out of 11 matches. They started off strong and finished strong.

“Our lightweights did a good job of lighting a fire there at the start,” John Marshall head coach Ryan Asbury said of Zander Ward (106), Kaden Harding (113) and Ethan Cook (120) who all posted pins. Harding’s came in 36 seconds, which was 21 faster than Cook.

Carl Cochran (132), Klypsan Wallace (182) and Mathieu Wright (220) all won by pins, with Ben McCardle (170) earning a decision.

“Our middleweights struggled but I like the way we battled in the heavier weights,” Asbury said.

Brooke had a winner in Tyler Wise (195). He posted a pin in 1:38 to move on.

“Tyler looked good. We’ve been kind of prepping him for this all year,” Brooke head coach Doug Sizemore said. “We’ve challenged him, so we’ll set what happens the rest of the weekend.

“Gavin (Moore) and Joey (Clem) had tough draws, but I like their chances at getting on the podium.”