Jan 5, 2025
Parkersburg 138-pounder Dominic Way rallied from a 6-2 deficit entering the third period against George Washington’s Ben McComas to secure a win by fall in 4:41 during Saturday’s Mountain State Athletic Conference championships held inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
PARKERSBURG – The Parkersburg High School wrestling team crowned five individual champions here Saturday during the Mountain State Athletic Conference tournament held inside Memorial Fieldhouse en route to earning a repeat crown after topping runner-up Cabell Midland, 249-216.5.
Cabell Midland 165-pounder Percie Hatfield trailed 2-0 early in the second after allowing a reversal to Big Red Jesse Showalter, but the Knight had a six-point move in the third to secure his first MSAC crown via a 7-2 decision and in the process was named the Outstanding Wrestler.
Although Showalter was unable to secure his second career conference title, PHS teammates Seth Drennen and Stephen Myers each stood atop the podium for a second time.
Drennen, the Big Reds’ 106-pounder, took the lead for good with an escape at 1:17 of the second and registered an 8-3 decision versus Knight Bryson Simmons. Myers took control early after getting a takedown nine ticks in against Huntington’s Shad Henry, who lost by fall in 98 seconds.
The host Big Reds also received titles from 120-pounder CJ Carrodus, 138-pounder Dominic Way and 150-pounder Lars Cooper, who had a 16-0 technical fall against Hurricane’s Sebastian Lemon.
Parkersburg 106-pounder Seth Drennen registered an 8-3 decision versus Cabell Midland’s Bryson Simmons to win his second career Mountain State Athletic Conference wrestling title on Saturday inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Carrodus led for good just 56 seconds in after getting the first takedown of the match. He got the mat slapper on Huntington’s Trevor Morgan in 3:11. Despite things not going Way’s way early on, the Big Red rallied from a 6-2 deficit entering the third to deny George Washington’s Ben McComas a third career MSAC title after he pinned the Patriot in 4:41.
“Some of the things in that match didn’t really go the way we saw them go, but you know Dominic just stuck to the game plan,” admitted PHS boss Matt Littleton, who was named MSAC Coach of the Year for a second straight season. “He was on his feet there and got a takedown at the end and was able to kind of stack him up.
“Those guys have wrestled a lot growing up so they kind of knew each other a little bit. That match we knew was going to be an exciting match and it didn’t disappoint.”
Johnson was joined as a MSAC champion by teammates Carson Kohl at 175 and Braxton Johnson at 190. Following a scoreless opening period against Huntington’s Rowan Dunham, Kohl took control after getting a reversal at 1:35 of the second and secured his win by fall in 2:38. Johnson’s match against Hurricane’s Cohen Lusher also was scoreless after one, but the Knight got an escape in the second and also won via the mat slapper in 3:28.
Huntington crowned a pair of champions thanks to 126-pounder Ben Barrett and 144-pounder Jeff Hood. Barrett trailed 7-6 after Big Red Colston Skeen got an escape early in the third, but the Highlander won 9-7 after getting a takedown with 1:16 to go. Hood made his initial takedown of Parkersburg’s Kayden McDonald, who was seeking a second career MSAC crown, stand just 19 seconds into their match as he doubled up the Big Red, 4-2.
Parkersburg 150-pounder Lars Cooper prepares to wrestle Hurricane’s Sebastian Lemon during Saturday’s Mountain State Athletic Conference championships inside Memorial Fieldhouse. The Big Red secured a 16-0 technical fall. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
George Washington, which finished fifth as a team with 111 points and was behind Huntington (159) and Hurricane (154), crowned two champs. The first came at 113 where Zach Shawver built a 15-8 lead versus Redskin Jacob Lowerdermilk, who rallied but ran out of time and was saddled with a 15-12 loss. Patriot 215-pounder Kyle Beverly needed just 11 seconds to pin Hurricane’s Jaxon Rappold.
Although Beverly had the fastest finals pin, the quickest takedown went to Hurricane 157-pounder Kaden Polen. The Redskin led 3-0 just three ticks in and took care of Cabell Midland’s Stephen Jones in 47 seconds.
The Patriots also had a chance to win a title at heavyweight with James Payne, but he allowed a takedown in the first and third periods to Riverside’s JR Cochran, who won via a 6-4 decision.
Parkesburg returns to action on Wednesday at Parkersburg South for the regional state dual qualifier.
“If wrestling was easy we’d just win them all. There are other competitors out there, too, so that’s how it works. I felt our team competed well,” added coach Littleton, who received consolation finals wins from Aiden Linko at 106, Parker Woods at 157, Cyler Marks at 175, Akeem Bivens at 190 as well as heavyweight Gabe Davies.
Parkersburg 132-pounder Stephen Myers pinned Huntington’s Shad Henry in 1:38 to secure his second career Mountain State Athletic Conference crown on Saturday inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“I did think there were some matches we let get away from us and there’s some things we’re going to go back into practice on Monday here and address because there were some matches we lost I don’t think we should be losing. The good news is we can lose those now and win them later when it counts. I thought the team responded well, varsity and JV, and I thought the Big Reds had a great showing today.”
Parkersburg 120-pounder CJ Carrodus closes in on a second period fall against Huntington’s Trevor Morgan during Saturday’s Mountain State Athletic Conference championships held inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
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