Mar 9, 2025
Parkersburg 106-pounder Seth Drennen reacts after a third-period pin of Woodrow Wilson’s Brayden Jones to claim the state championship Saturday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
HUNTINGTON — Although the Parkersburg High School wrestling program didn’t leave the 78th annual West Virginia state tournament here Saturday night with the Class AAA championship, it was still a special season in more ways than one for the Big Reds.
Not only did 106-pound sophomore Seth Drennen and 128-pound freshman Colston Skeen stand atop the podium for the first time, but 10th-grader Stephen Myers followed up his 126-pound title last winter with the 132-pound crown while 138-pound sophomore Dominic Way pinned George Washington’s Ben McComas in 3:21 to establish a red and white first.
Parkersburg, which finished state runner-up behind two-time champ University (225.5-195), not only had the four finals triumphs, but received five other key placers to help out in the team race thanks to Kayden McDonald (3rd, 144), Lars Cooper (5th, 150), Parker Woods (5th, 157), Cyler Marks (5th, 165) and Jesse Showalter (3rd, 175).
Way’s father Chris, the PHS athletic director and former head mat coach, won a title for the Big Reds under then head coach Joe Handlan back in 1994 at 145. With his title the current grappler Way made school history as the first father-son duo to have their hands raised.
“I go back to earlier in the day during the placing rounds. We went 5 for 5 in all of our placing matches,” admitted PHS head man Matt Littleton, who was honored with the triple-A Rod Oldham Coaching Award. “Those guys kind of set the tone. Jesse losing a hard one in the semis and fighting back to get third place was a bonus.
Parkersburg 132-pounder Stephen Myers wrestles University’s Nico Maisel during Saturday’s state tournament in Huntington. Myers won to claim the state title. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“Cyler Marks coming in here and no one thought he would place and we beat a kid who beat us earlier in the tournament, pinned us earlier in the tournament, and we beat him. It was against the team we were fighting for second and he showed a lot of grit there. Those guys earlier in the day really set the tone and these guys going into the finals said ‘you know what, we’re going to continue that tone.’ It was awesome.”
Drennen opened with a takedown against Woodrow Wilson’s Brayden Jones, but the Flying Eagle freshman cut it to one entering the second following a reversal. The Big Red took complete control in the second following an escape, a takedown and three near fall points. He got his first title after placing fourth at 106 last year when he registered a pin with 1:14 left in the match.
“I was thinking about going 113 all summer, but I went 106 and I just wanted to dominate,” admitted Drennen, who took things one step further after adding red kisses to his bleached hair. “I wanted revenge for not winning last year and I did it.”
Drennen’s father David, who was the first three-time champ in Wirt County school history from 1996-98, is also an assistant coach for the Big Reds.
“He really wanted me to win one,” said the younger Drennen. “He’s been stressed out all year. Holy crap, yeah, he was even stressing me out a little bit, but he’s my dad and he loves me and I love him. I needed to go above and beyond everybody else so I got these (kisses).”
Parkersburg South junior Justice Anthony needed just 11 seconds to pin Cabell Midland’s Amelia Riazi in the 114-pound girls state invitational title match Saturday night in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Skeen faced Flying Eagle senior Garrett Johnson and was able to avenge setbacks to him earlier in the season, but the wrestler from Beckley scored first with a reversal in the second. However, the Big Red opted to go neutral in the third, which led to a 7-2 victory after a takedown and four back points.
“I’m pretty good on my feet and I knew I could take him down,” explained Skeen, who said he used a power half with legs in. “I shot in, scrambled a little bit and I knew where I was at. Mat awareness, you know, just being calm in high situations. We’ve been battling ever since the start of the season. He’s a really good wrestler.
“Challenged me a lot and over the course of the season I’ve gotten better and beat him. Doing my thing. Stay calm in chaos. That’s all you got to do. It means a lot man. It means a lot. I need to get three more of them and then we can celebrate. This one was just the beginning.”
Myers had the initial takedown in his finals match versus University freshman Nico Maisel, but the Hawk got a reversal before giving one up later in the first. Following another takedown by the Big Red in the second he finished off the match in style by collecting a pin in 3:02.
“I wrestled it just like another match,” Myers stressed. “I don’t really think too much of it. If I do think too much I get in my head.
Parkersburg 138-pounder Dominic Way makes history as he registered a win by fall in 3:21 versus George Washington’s Ben McComas Saturday in Huntington, joining his father and assistant coach Chris Way as the first father-son duo to ever win state mat crowns at PHS. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“I don’t want that so I just go out there, have fun and do my own thing. We always got next year. I’d say next year it’s ours – 100% it’s ours. I’ll make sure of it.”
The start of Way’s match against the GW Patriot didn’t go as planned as McComas bolted to a 5-0 lead and was up 7-2 after one. However, the Big Red never wavered and was able to stick McComas to cap his first state tournament in the newly named Marshall Health Network Arena.
“Ben’s a competitor and you know he’s going to come out ready to go,” said coach Littleton. “We’ve wrestled him a ton this year and he’s a great young man, great wrestler. Dominic stuck to the game plan. We knew we got down a little early. Some things kind of didn’t go our way in that match, but stick to the game plan, stick to the grind and stick to the base you set, and you give yourself opportunities to score points.
“That’s exactly what Dominic did, so that was great. It was also great for Chris to be there to watch his son finally win a state title, a deserving thing for him, and it’s also great for Big Red history because they are the first father-son state champions at Parkersburg High School, so that is an awesome thing to kind of be a part of and witness while we’re here.”
The Way family nearly pulled off something else that would’ve been historic as first-year senior wrestler Cali got the first takedown in her 145-pound girls state invitational title match versus Washington’s Charlotte Kershisnik, but the Patriot held on for a 5-4 decision.
Parkersburg 126-pounder Colston Skeen, top, turned a 2-0 deficit early in the second period against Woodrow Wilson’s Garrett Johnson into a 7-2 championship victory Saturday night in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“Only one year wrestling for Cali, but she’s done great and obviously her energy out there on the mat, she’s happy,” said coach Littleton. “She signed to do Acro up at Fairmont State so she’s kind of doing this as something on the side. Super proud of her as well as all of our girls.
“Karma Hedges (4th, 120), Nevaeh Mason (4th, 235) and Diana Isaacs (5th, 152), they all placed today. Very surper proud of those girls for really kind of paving the way for these girls moving forward as we try to build this sport.”
Parkersburg South, which finished in fifth place with 116 points behind Woodrow Wilson (173.5) and Fairmont Senior (135), had one finalist in heavyweight Logan Middleton. The Patriot senior fell behind 3-0 six seconds in when University’s Brock Kehler got a takedown. The senior Hawk, who was named Most Outstanding Wrestler, capped his fourth career state crown with a mat slapper in 83 seconds.
“He’s a phenomenal talent, obviously, and hopefully he’ll have a great career at WVU and make the state proud,” admitted PSHS head coach Shaun Smith, who also received podium efforts from Jordan Dearth (4th, 120), Aaydin King (4th, 132), Reese Kelley (5th, 138) and Asa Yost (3rd, 157). “For our team, it’s disappointing. Individually we had some really awesome moments this weekend. Logan wrestled a great tournament. He beat a kid in the quarterfinals who had beaten him a couple times.
“Just really happy for him to finally get that win. We had some kids at the start of the year I bet people wouldn’t have thought they would be on that podium and they really, really improved as the year went. Just happy for those individuals and happy for the seniors that we had the last four years. Obviously, going to miss them but happy I was able to coach them and very thankful to have had that opportunity.”
After learning that Myers had all but guaranteed a PHS state title in 2026 coach Littleton added “that class sets the tone of what we are going to do.
“It starts Monday, basically, and if our leaders are saying we’re coming down here and winning this next year I’m getting behind them.”
Parkersburg South girls head coach Dustin Anthony was named co-coach of the year alongside Levi Bender of Buckhannon-Upshur.
Patriot 114-pound junior Justice Anthony flattened Cabell Midland freshman Amelia Riazi in 11 seconds. Anthony had previous won invitational state crowns at 120 the last two seasons.
Junior teammate Anniya Powell got the first takedown in her 120-pound finals showdown against Oak Hill’s Kirclyn Coleman, but the junior won by fall in 2:31.
Also placing for the Patriots, who finished runner-up behind B-U (148.5-142), were Allegra Keaton (3rd, 100), Amiya Powell (3rd, 126) and Olivia Junkins (4th, 138).
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com
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