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PARKERSBURG - The 2026-27 high school wrestling season in West Virginia is still a couple of months away, but the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission has announced the Regional Tournaments sites and alignments.
Last season, 2025-26 was the first year that the state was divided into two divisions - I and II - instead of the traditional Class A/A and Class AAA.
Now, the Division I schools - 31 of them - have been broken down into North and South regionals, combining Region I and Region II to form the North and Region III and Region IV to comprise the South.
"I prefer it this way because I think it will make for a better bracket in Huntington at the state tournament," Wheeling Park head coach Danny Doyle said.
John Marshall head coach Ryan Asbury echoed those thoughts.
"I actually proposed a similar change to them (the WVSSAC) but they didn't go with it," he said. "However, this is long overdue. If you go back and look at the date from the last 10-15 state tournaments, most of the Class AAA state champions and placers have been from Regions I and IV. There are some good fifth-place kids from those regions that don't get to wrestle in the state, so I think it will make for much better representation at the state tournament."
The North Regional will be held at Brooke High School, which was already in line to host the Region I Tournament. The 15 schools involved include Bridgeport, Brooke, Buckhannon-Upshur, Fairmont Sr., Hedgesville, Jefferson, John Marshall, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Musselman, Preston, Spring Mills, University, Washington and Wheeling Park.
The South Regional will be held at Oak Hill High School and feature 16 schools, including Cabell-Midland, Capital, George Washington, Greenbrier East, Huntington, Hurricane, Nitro, Oak Hill, Parkersburg, Parkersburg South, Princeton, Riverside, St. Albans, South Charleston, Spring Valley and Woodrow Wilson.
The Division II format won't change as the four regional tournaments will be held at St. Marys High School (Region I) and features 15 schools: Cameron, Doddridge, East Fairmont, Madonna, Magnolia, North Marion, Oak Glen, Ritchie County, St. Marys, Tyler Consolidated, Valley, Weir, Wheeling Central, Williamstown, Wirt County.
Lewis County High School will host Region II, with Greenbrier West High School and Ripley High School hosting Region III and Region IV.