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Bruins’ Edgell claims crown at 220

Kim North WINNING ANOTHER TITLE — Brooke senior Alex Edgell battles Cameron Payne of Buckhannon-Upshur in the 220-pound final at the West Virginia Class AAA Region 1 championships Saturday evening at Wheeling Park. Edgell won, 3-1. He is 35-3 on the season.

WHEELING — Half of the 14 individual championships at the W.Va. Region I, Class AAA wrestling tournament came from Ohio Valley Athletic Conference schools Saturday afternoon at Wheeling Park’s “Palace on the Hill.”

John Marshall and Wheeling Park claimed three titles each, while Brooke secured the other.

Bruins rookie head coach Dan Doyle is thrilled to have seven kids heading to the state.

“I’m absolutely happy with all of my kids,” he said. “I wish I could take them all, but the guys that we are taking worked hard to get to this point.”

Edgell (35-3) leads the contingent. The top seed advanced to his second consecutive state tournament by edging Buckhannon-Upshur’s Cameron Payne, 3-1, at 220. Edgell was sixth in last year’s state tournament.

The Monarchs’ champions included Jordan Wood (120), Austin Love (126) and Anthony Carman (138), while Patriots ruling their weight classes were John Nash (160), Kaleb Simpkins (170) and Austin Loew (195). The Bruins’ Alex Edgell (220) was the other victor.

Wheeling Park took second place in the team with in a close race with John Marshall, 194-185. Both were well behind University’s 226.5. The Hawks became the first team besides Parkersburg or Parkersburg South to win the Region I title since 1991 (Oak Glen), with the exception of Wheeling Park in 2006 and 2008.

Locally, the Patriots qualified an area-high 11 individuals for this week’s state tournament inside Big Sandy Arena in Huntington. The event starts Thursday night and continues through Saturday night’s championship finals.

“It was a good day for us,” second-year Wheeling Park head coach Clay Tucker, a former Ohio state champion while at Martins Ferry, said. “This delegation is a lot bigger than the three guys we sent last year. That’s a pretty big upgrade. I’m happy with our performance and I’m happy with the way we wrestled.

“We had three champions today, so I’m proud of those guys.”

Two-time OVAC champion John Nash (42-5) claimed his first regional title after missing the postseason a year ago. The Patriots’ top-seeded junior pinned University’s No. 2 Adam Frisco in 2:20. He was leading 7-3 at the time.

Top-seeded classmate Kaleb Simpkins (38-8) made it back-to-back regional crowns at 170 when he decisioned John Marshall’s second-seeded Chas McCool, 7-2. Simpkins finished sixth in the state at 138 last winter.

Austin Loew, the top seed at 182, continued his solid campaign with a 20-12 major decision of University’s Landon Ellifritz, the No. 2 seed. Loew, a junior, is now 28-13.

John Marshall head coach Ted Zervos was also proud of the way his team competed. The Monarchs have 10 qualifiers.

“It was a good effort today. You always have some rollercoaster rides along the way. There’s those ups and downs You don’t get a couple of guys through that you expected, but then you get a couple advance that you didn’t expect. It all equals out, but, overall, it was a good day.”

The top-seeded Wood (19-6) punched his return trip to Huntington with a 7-0 blanking of University’s No. 2 Jacob Simpson. Wood, who missed most of the season with injuries, placed fourth in the state at 106 last season.

Love, also the No. 1 seed, decisioned third-seeded Brise Bennett of University, 6-2, while improving to 29-13 as a sophomore.

Top-seeded Carman (37-5), a sophomore, advanced to his second straight state tournament with a 3:28 pin of University’s No. 2 Austin Rohrbaugh. Carman finished fourth in the state at 120 a year ago.

Other champions were University’s Matthew Simpson (106); University’s Jake Staud (113); Buckhannon-Upshur’s Jacob Smithson (132); University’s Owen Zeiders (145); Buckhannon-Upshur’s Jack Garcia (152); University’s Nick Valachovic (182); and Buckhannon-Upshur’s Christian Boggs (285).

University used 10 victories in the semifinals to pull ahead and never look back in capturing their first regional wrestling championship.

“This is exciting for our school to win the region, but ultimately it’s not our top goal. We’re focused on next week and trying to win a state title,” head coach Ken Maisel said. “We knew we had a chance for that to happen in the semifinals, but we didn’t wrestle well in the finals.”

The top four finishers in each weight class advanced.

W.Va. Region I, Class AAA

Wrestling Tournament

(at Wheeling Park High School)

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

106–Matthew Simpson (U) d. Ethan Gray (JM), 9-2

113–Jake Staud (U) p. Bailey Radabaugh (P), 3:59

120–Jordan Wood (JM) d. Jacob Simpson (U), 7-0

126–Austin Love (JM) d. Brise Bennett (U), 6-2

132–Jacob Smithson (BU) d. Braeden Pauley (U), 1-0

138–Anthony Carman (JM) p. Austin Rohrbaugh (U), 3:20

145–Owen Zeiders (U) tf. Sean Foster (BU), 17-0

152–Jack Garcia (BU) d. Jordan Hamlin (U), 9-2

160–John Nash (WP) p. Adam Frisco (U), 2:20

170–Kaleb Simpkins (WP) d. Chas McCool (JM), 7-2

182–Nick Valachovic (U) md. Mason Miklas (WP), 21-7

195–Austin Loew (WP) md. Landon Ellifritz (U), 20-12

220–Alex Edgell (Brk) d. Cameron Payne (BU), 3-1

285–Christian Boggs (BU) p. Nathan Simmons (JM), 3:49

CONSOLATION FINALS

106–Izaak Murphy (WP) p. Cameron Lawrence (Morg), 3:53; 113–Canon Welker (WP) p. Cam Lancaster (Brk), 0:35; 120–Austin McCartney (BU) d. Maison Richardson (WP), 3-1 OT; 126–Tyler Cutright (BU) tf Tino Kayafas (WP), 16-0; 132–Max Camilletti (Brk) d. Charles Mirandy (WP), 10-5 OT; 138–Jeremiah Timberlake (WP) p. Jesse Law (Brk), 4:25; 145–CJ Helms (Brk) d. Cory Hupp-Lasure (M), 2-1; 152–Jacob Berisford (JM) d. Ben Hagood (M), 12-4; 160–Gage Barnhart (Brk) p. Zack Leach (JM), 1:52; 170–Colten Zombeck (brk) d. Hayden Starcher (U), 6-4; 182–Alex Shriver (M) p. Brandon Durrah (JM), 1:34; 195–Jaron Summers (P) d. Austin Moore (JM), 5-4; 220–Dylan Wood (WP) p. Josh Hite (M), 2:11; 285–Brycen Valentine (P) p. Neil McKnight (M), 3:22

FIFTH-SIXTH PLACE

106–Bryson Wilkins (P) p. Dylan Reiordan (Brk), 3:26; 113–Izac Babiczuk (JM) won by forfeit; 120–Eric Shriver (M) p. Ryan Lancaster (Brk), 2:26; 126–David Music (Brk) won by forfeit; 132–Brandon Harrison (JM) p. Nathaniel Fuller (M), 2:04; 138–Dallas Summers (BU) p. Griffin Leombruno (M), 1:52; 145–Hunter Bishop (P) d. Bobby Pettingill (W), 11-4; 152–Dalton Yost (Brk) won by default over Daniel Skelton (W); 160–Riley Lantz (BU) p. Jacob Gregg (P), 2:16; 170–Jeremy Clawges (M) won by forfeit; 182–Garrett Finsley (Brk) won by forfeit; 195–Tyler Yost (M) won by forfeit; 220–Brady Williams (JM) d. Josh Sanders (U), 5-3; 285–Calvin McGaha (WP) d. Liam Fowler (U), 2OT

TEAM SCORING: 1. University 226.5; 2. Wheeling Park 194; 3. John Marshall 185; 4. Buckhannon-Upshur 142; 5. Brooke 131; 6. Morgantown 101; 7. Preston 59

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