photo by: Kim North

Wheeling Park’s Isaac Sands works for a takedown at 165 pounds during Saturday’s 4th annual Shamrock Duals in western Belmont County. Sands was one of two Patriots to go 5-0 on the day as the team went 3-2.

BARNESVILLE — A pair of young, but up-and-coming high school wrestling teams were among six that competed at the 4th annual Shamrock Duals Saturday inside the Greenhouse in western Belmont County.

Barnesville, with just one senior — Hines Ford — in its program, finished runner up to Trinity Area, from Washington, Pa., while Wheeling Park, with two seniors on its roster, won three of its five matches, falling to both of the aforementioned.

The youthful Shamrocks rolled past Hurricane (51-25), Dalton (70-9), Waynesburg Central (72-12), Wheeling Park (56-23), before falling to The Hillers (46-21).

“Some of our freshmen got tested a little more today,” Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said. “They’re not buckling. If they lose, it’s not mental. They either got out-wrestled or it just wasn’t meant to be in that match. They kept battling.”

Two Barnesville individuals — promising freshmen Jaxon Aberegg (120) and Bentley Stephen (126) — turned in perfect 5-0 days. Stephen was the more impressive as he recorded four pins and a forfeit, while Aberegg had three forfeits, a technical fall and a decision.

“They are living up to expectations so far, but they are getting tested every week. They are a good group that pushes each other,” Coach Stephen added. “They work hard and they listen to what we are teaching them.”

On the day, Barnesville had seven wrestlers finish 4-1. They included junior Easton Stephen (106), freshman Hoyt Hartshorn (113), freshman Ryder King (138), junior Colt Carpenter (144), junior Brayden Trigg (150), Ford (190) and junior Christien Hannahs (215).

Of that group, King had four pins, with a pair coming in 42- and 54-seconds. All told, eight Shamrocks had pins in less than a minute, with Carpenter and sophomore Hayden Bowman (132) each needing just 30 ticks.

Ford’s only loss came in the Trinity match when he fell 4-1 in overtime. He is ranked No. 1 in the Buckeye State by Borofan and is a three-time state qualifier.

The Patriots fell to Trinity (64-16) in their opener, but reeled off victories over Waynesburg Central (42-36), Hurricane (35-28) and Dalton (45-26) before falling to Barnesville.

“We are very young, but some of our freshmen are going to be really good,” Wheeling Park head coach Danny Doyle said, referring to Hunter Flanegin (106) and Maxx Taylor (132) who both won three matches.

Wheeling Park also had two individuals post perfect 5-0 marks in junior Jake Carman (150) and senior Issac Sands (165). Both recorded a pair of technical falls, two pins and were awarded a forfeit.