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Cameron Seeking To Repeat As Class A Team Champion

HUNTINGTON -- Cameron will be looking to defend its W.Va. Class A state championship when the annual state tournament gets underway tonight inside Mountain Health Arena.

The Dragons won the championship last winter in runaway fashion as they totalled 116.5 points to second-place Greenbrier West's 62. The 116.5 also tied Fairmont Senior for the top spot in Class AA.

Two years ago, they settled for runner up honors by one-half point.

"Last year was an amazing run to the state championship. With the amount of injuries and wrestlers (state champion Ian Bush) moving on from the team, the odds of a repeat are stacked against us this year," Cameron head coach Tim Jones said.

"However, we have a group of veterans going to the tournament this year with great chances of doing well. If we practice hard and go into the tournament well-prepared, we are definitely going to make it a tight battle for the title.

"We will be ready."

Cameron has five state qualifiers in sophomore Slaton Pettit (14-4) at 126; senior Payton Neely (22-7) at 138; junior Ashton Hoge (27-8) at 144; classmate 150 Delbert VanTassel (30-14) at 150 and senior Adam Angel (21-3) at 175.

Angel was a state runner up at 170 last winter, while Neely was fourth at 138. Pettitt and Hoge each finished sixth at 106 and 126, respectively.

Angel is ranked third; Hoge and Neely both fourth; Pettit sixth; and Van Tassell 10th, according to WV Mat..

Wheeling Central

The Maroon Knights are back at the state tournament after missing a few years. They have two quality freshmen who could make some noise Wyatt Brady (33-9) at 165 and Isaac Martin (37-4) at 215.

Head coach Rick Welker is excited about what could transpire this weekend.

"Wyatt has really put together a solid freshman season. He continues to mature with each match and we expect to see him go deep into the tournament.

"Isaac continues to improve and correct deficiencies each time out. He wrestled a very smart regional tournament," Welker noted. "We are hoping that he can continue that same growth in Huntington this weekend."

Martin is ranked third and Brady sixth.

Oak Glen

The Golden Bears of first-year head coach Josh Cornell have eight qualifiers and a trio of regional champions in junior Logan Davis (46-1) at 113, sophomore Hayden Lamb (30-9) at 132 and senior Braxton Dlugopolski (40-5) at 165.

"We are sending eight wrestlers to the state tournament. Some of the other top teams are sending more. Fairmont senior is sending 12 and Point Pleasant is sending 11," Cornell said. "However, we have eight wrestlers that I believe can place and can place high. We have multiple wrestlers capable of winning a state title.

"If that happens, we will have a great shot at the team title."

Davis was a state runner up last winter at 106 when he finished 41-1. He also finished third as a freshman. He is currently ranked No. 1.

"Logan is on a mission," Cornell noted.

Lamb was fifth at 126 a year ago and Dlugopolski was fifth at 152.

Lamb is currently ranked second, as is Dlugopolski, who has placed fifth as a sophomore and junior.

Other Golden Bear qualifiers are sophomore Aiden Anderson (31-13) at 106; freshman Wyatt Wolanski (20-11) at 120; junior Michael Heath (38-11) at 157; sophomore Greg Sauers (37-12) at 190 and freshman Noah Schmidt (21-12) at 285. All are ranked in the top 10 of their respective weight classes.

MAGNOLIA

The Blue Eagles have a pair of qualifiers in seniors Lucas Zombotti (41-9) at 132 and Jordan Davis (37-10) at 157. Both are returning state qualifiers. Zombotti is ranked sixth while Davis is unranked.

TYLER CONSOLIDATED

The Silver Knights are looking to improve upon their fourth place finish in Class A last season when they totalled 40 points.

A solid 5-member contingent is led by returning junior all-stater Kaden Huffman (31-7) at 113. He placed sixth at 113 in 2022 and is ranked fifth.

Other qualifiers are sophomore Colsen Spragg (33-14) at 120; juniors Sean Winfrey (34-5) at 175 and Kendall Huffman (12-3) at 190, along with senior Raustyn Wade (23-13) at 285.

WEIR

The Red Riders will be represented by junior Shawn Young (33-9) at 144, and seniors Gage Hawkins (20-9) at 190 and Owen Totten (3-2) at 285.