Kim North NEW COACHES — The OVAC held its annual preseason wrestling workshop and press conference Monday night inside WesBanco Arena in downtown Wheeling. The OVAC Family welcomed three new head coaches for the upcoming season. They are, from left, Matt McFarland (St. Clairsville); Garrett Railing (Weir) and Tino Kusic (Bridgeport). - Kim North

WHEELING — If it’s the first week of October, the high school wrestling season can’t be too far away.

Monday night inside WesBanco Arena in downtown Wheeling, the OVAC held its annual preseason workshop and press conference as coaches from most of the 42 schools that have wrestling attended.

Among those were three new head coaches. Tino Kusic takes over at his alma mater, Bridgeport, while Matt McFarland goes from Bridgeport to St. Clairsville, replacing Bobby Richmond, and Garrett Railing is the new mat boss at Weir, taking over for long-time head coach Tom Taylor.

Kusic, a 2019 Bridgeport alum, is the Bulldogs all-time winningest wrestler. He was an OVAC runnerup and an Ohio state qualifier. His assistant is another former Bulldog great in Mason Kuneff.

McFarland was an OVAC finalist and an Ohio state qualifier during his days at Union Local, graduating in 2016. He spent the last four years at Bridgeport.

Railing is a 2004 graduate of Oak Glen where he wrestled for the legendary Larry Shaw.

“This will be the 72nd OVAC Ron Mauck Championships,” OVAC Executive Director Dirk Decoy told those in attendance. “This is one of the crown jewels of the conference and is the longest running event to be held at WesBanco Arena. It started in 1977, two months ahead of the monster trucks.”

The three-day event will be held from Jan. 15-17 inside WesBanco Arena. University is the defending overall champion.

Decoy said student tickets will once again be just $1.

The wrestling world is in dire need of officials.

“We lost 13 officials from last year,” said director of officials Jack Regis. “We need officials. If there is any school that would like me to come and put on a class, let me know. Edison is doing one right now.”

According to OVAC Bill Hinegardner Dual Meet Champion director Jimmie Rocchi, this season’s events will be held Jan. 28-29 at Brooke and John Marshall high schools, respectively. On the 28th, the Class 1A/2A and Class 4A Tournaments will be held. The qualifying Class 1A/2A teams are Cameron, Caldwell, Shadyside and Toronto. The Class 4A schools include Union Local, Indian Creek, Oak Glen and East Liverpool. A day later, the 3A field includes Barnesville, Martins Ferry, Wheeling Central and Fort Frye, while the 5A field consists of Steubenville, Wheeling Park, John Marshall and Morgantown.

Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said the preseason All-Star Preview match will once again be held at Dublin Jerome High School in suburban Columbus against the Central District on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. This is the third year for the event.

Wheeling Park head coach Danny Doyle informed those in attendance that the annual MAC/OVAC “Class of the Champions” will be held on Tuesday, March 17 at an undisclosed OVAC school.

Head coaches of the three Ohio Valley college wrestling programs told the crowd about the upcoming seasons and what they expect from their teams. Speaking were West Liberty men’s coach Danny Irwin; West Liberty women’s coach Troy Bell; Wheeling University men’s head coach Shane Brown; and Bethany College men’s assistant coach Willie Saxton and women’s coach Colin Herb.