Indian Creeks' Jackson Scharfenberg takes down Utica's Jack Fletcher en route to winning the 120-pound title at Saturday's St. Clairsville Whiteside Invitational wrestling tournament inside the ECO Center. He won by pin in 2:18. - Kim North

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – After finishing second at last weekend’s Coshocton Invitational, Martins Ferry moved to the top of the podium Saturday following the day-long St. Clairsville Whiteside Invitational wrestling tournament inside the ECO Center.

The Purple Riders, who had three champions, piled up 416 points to second-place John Marshall’s 302. Dublin Jerome was third at 275 while Indian Creek took fourth with 267. The host Red Devils took fifth with 253.

“Honestly, I’m not surprised that we won,” Martins Ferry head coach Chad Ware said of his team that features eight freshmen in the starting lineup. “We’ve been wrestling well and getting better every week. We wrestled really well last week at Coshocton. The kids continue to grind.”

Individually, nine OVAC wrestlers turned up for next month’s three-day event at WesBanco Arena by claiming their respective weight classes. Cameron had two titlists, while Indian Creek, Bridgeport, Shenandoah and John Marshall each had one.

The Purple Riders were led by the Nixon brothers – Jayce (113) and Colton (138) – along with Tayson Palmer (215). All three recorded pins in the finals, with Palmer needing a mere 43 seconds to take out Morgan’s James Thomas.

“Tayson came out for wrestling as a freshman, but he grinds every day,” Ware noted. He is our team captain, so we expect things like that from him.”

Jayce Nixon led Utica’s Conner Wygle 12-2 before securing his pin in 4:23.

“Jayce is on a tear. He is still undefeated,” Ware said of his promising frosh. “He’s tough to beat.”

Colton Nixon, who finished second at this event a year ago, scored a reversal to start the second period against Johnstown-Monroe’s Gage Herb before pinning him in 3:26.

“Colton is on the same pace as Jayce,” Ware said. “He lost a close match last week that has given him some motivation.”

The Purple Riders also had a runnerup in freshman Nathaniel Shreve (175); two third-place finishers; four fourth-placers and one fifth.

John Marshall, with just one champion, had nine individuals reach the awards podium for placing in the top 6 of their respective weight classes.

JT Morris, a transfer student from Pennsylvania, pinned Utica’s Breck Daugherty in 1:07.

“His family moved into the area over the summer and he’s been a really good asset for us,” John Marshall head coach Ryan Asbury said. “We’re a really, really young team, so it’s nice to have an experienced wrestler like JT.

“We only had two seniors with us today so this was a good experience for the younger kids in our lineup,” Asbury added. “We had a lot of kids get a lot of matches which will help them down the road.”

Cameron’s two champions were Maverick Lilley (106) and Eli Tedrow (165).

Lilley nipped Coventry’s Travis Chapman 1-0on a third period escape, while Tedrow defended his title with a 36-second fall of Dublin Jerome’s Bronson Amigo.

Other local titlists included Indian Creek’s Jackson Scharfenberg (120), Bridgeport’s Cole Weekley (126) and Shenandoah’s Devyn Kunkle (157).

Scharfenberg pinned Utica’s Jack Fletcher in 2:18. Weekley scored an 8-0 major decision over Utica’s Grayson Taylor and Kunkle rallied by Indian Creek’s Ian Starkey, 8-7.

Also winning titles were Hubbard’s Markel Hackwelder (132); Jefferson Area’s Jacob Lewis (144); Dublin Jerome’s Daksh Adengaba (150); Morgan’s Tanner Bankes (175) and Jefferson Area’s Matt Webster (285).

Lewis and Webster tied for the Most Outstanding Wrestler award in voting by tournament coaches.