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WHEELING -- Steve Shaffer had a vision in 1990. It's safe to say it was 20/20.
Shaffer, a high school wrestling aficionado, wanted to see youth wrestlers in the Ohio Valley get more matches than they would at most tournaments. So, he came up with an idea -- the Wheeling Park Duals -- that completed its 28th year late Saturday inside downtown Wheeling's WesBanco Arena.
While the event has been a mat spectacle for all those years and is still going as strong as ever, Shaffer decided it is time to just sit back and take in all the action. Thus, he will be handing the reins of his brainchild to his son, Shane.
"There are so many people that are involved and make this tournament what it is," Steve Shaffer said. "We started it at Wheeling Park High School, and different schools have stepped up to help out over the years. The officiating has been tremendous."
The younger Shaffer is confident that he will be up to the task.
"He (my dad) has the blueprint already laid out, so it should be an easy transition," said Shane, who wrestled at Park and coached at Bellaire. "He (my dad) never was really too big on math, so 28 years ago I was helping him. Back then we only had 10 teams or so, and he thought it could get bigger and bigger and bigger."
It has. The Wheeling Park Duals ranks as one of the largest and continuously running dual-meet tournaments in the country. It has grown from eight teams and four mats in 1990 to 35 teams this year and 10 mats.
"This is a very good time of the year to have this tournament. Coaches always like to get the wrestlers a lot of matches, and a dual-meet tournament is the way to do it," Steve said. "Kids can get eight or nine matches in a tournament like this instead of going to a bracketed tournament where they might go two-and-out. Then they're sitting in the stands watching, and they're not going to get any better there.
"Over the years we've had more than 100 different schools participate and it's been a very good ride for us. I've been at Wheeling Park since 1982 coaching, and I've went through eight head coaches. In 1999 and 2000, I did both because we didn't have a coach in the building.
Steve Shaffer was offered the head coaching position at Park on two occasions but declined both times.
"I just didn't think I was a head coach," he said. "I can organize and I can do this, that and the other, but they needed somebody that was a technician and whatever."
"He just wanted to get kids as many matches as possible … teams as many matches as possible," Shane said of the event's start. "I've been helping him for years running it. I feel pretty comfortable that I will be able to step in and keep it going for a long time. My dad has definitely did an outstanding job of running things for all these years.
"Next year we're hoping to go to 40 teams. We've done that in the past. This tournament is also great for bringing business into downtown Wheeling and Ohio County with the number of hotel rooms we need and the restaurants people will eat at. That's a big bonus to the Ohio Valley, especially the Wheeling area."
Steve is confident his son will carry on the tradition.
"Shane is very organized," he said. "I will still be in the background, but from what people tell me, this is their favorite tournament to come to. Of the 35 teams here today, we handed out forms to see if they were interested in coming back next year, and all 35 said yes."
The tournament, of course, would not run smoothly if not for a lot of volunteer work.
"People like Rick Welker and Dwaine Rodgers help out a lot. They are both here the entire tournament and help in whatever ways they are needed. I've made many, many friends over the years, and a couple of enemies, but then again that's going to happen," Steve said. "I really, really enjoy being around these kids. I really do.
"It's tough for me now that I have a grandson (Charlie Tamburin) wrestling for Park. I'm getting old and my heart can't take much more of this. I just want to be able to sit back and watch him wrestle and not be running around like a chicken with my head cut off."
When asked if he ever thought his idea would get to this point, he said he did not know.
"I thought it might," he said. "We started it at Wheeling Park High School before moving here to WesBanco Arena about 10 years ago. Personally, I liked it at Park. We could actually run nine mats up there, but it was chaos getting to some of the locations at the high school.
"WesBanco is a beautiful facility and Denny Magruder needs to be applauded. He and his staff do whatever we need them to do. The OVAC needs to be thanked for allowing us to use their clocks."
Steve Shaffer was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum West Virginia Chapter in 2015. He was presented with a 'Lifetime Service to Wrestling' award.