Mar 9, 2025
Williamstown assistant coach Dalton George catches 120-pound Class AA/A state champion Dutch Sandy following his 18-3 tech fall against Herbert Hoover’s Hunter Hughart. George had been the Yellowjackets’ only freshman mat champion in school history. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
HUNTINGTON – Here Saturday night inside Marshall Health Network Arena the only area Mid-Ohio Valley Class AA/A wrestler to have his arm raised at the 78th annual state tournament was Williamstown High School freshman Dutch Sandy.
In and out of the lineup all season due to injury, Sandy was able to cap what turned out to be an historic 34-1 campaign with the 120-pound title after he rolled to an 18-3 tech fall against Herbert Hoover junior Hunter Hughart.
Williamstown, which bumped up to double-A for head coach Tyler George, managed to crack the top five in fourth with 122 points. The ‘Jackets finished just ahead of fifth-place Ripley (115) as Point Pleasant (164.5), Herbert Hoover (142) and Oak Glen (125) led the way in the team standings.
Sandy registered a trio of takedowns in the opening period and never looked back.
“Dutch is an extremely talented individual who is backed by tons of hard work,” admitted WHS assistant coach Dalton George, who had been the only freshman in school history to win a state crown, which came back in 2011 at 103.
Williamstown 120-pounder Dutch Sandy reacts after beating Herbert Hoover’s Hunter Hughart for the state championship Saturday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“We are all very proud of him and trust me when I say this, this is just the beginning of Dutch Sandy’s accomplishments.”
Sandy’s title represented the 48th all-time in ‘Jacket history. In fact, Williamstown hadn’t reached the top of the podium in more than a decade. The last Yellowjacket to have his hand raised during the final match in Huntington was 195-pounder David Hastings back in 2014, which also happened to be the same year Dalton George won his third career crown and was honored with the Robert Dutton Award.
Sandy’s only defeat this season came to Ripley’s Kendrick Durst, who placed fourth in triple-A.
“I should’ve won the match, but it happens, you know. Mistakes get made,” Sandy admitted of his only hiccup this winter.
The freshman wasn’t able to compete at the Bob Zide Rumble among other tournaments.
Williamstown 120-pounder Dutch Sandy wrestles Herbert Hoover’s Hunter Hughart for the state championship Saturday in Huntington. Sandy won via an 18-3 technical fall. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“I missed quite a few. I dislocated my shoulder twice within three weeks,” Sandy explained. “You just got to recover and take care of your body. It was a tough season, but came out on top.”
When asked if he was nervous making his first state final he stressed “no. I was calm, cool, collected. I knew I was going to win that match. I just went out there and did what I needed to do.
“I’ve always been injury prone, but I started taking a lot better care of my body so I was healthy and ready to compete. It means a lot man. I mean just doing it for all my family and all my friends and coaches, you know, representing the school of Williamstown and putting us back on the map like we deserve to be. It’s awesome. It’s awesome.”
Williamstown was aided to its top-five finish by a trio of consolation finals triumphs thanks to Aiden Meeks (113), Cole Smith (126) and Kipp Freed (157). ‘Jacket 215-pounder Thad Trent finished fourth.
Ripley head man Matt Smith’s squad had finalists with 157-pounder Ethan Kay and 190-pounder Cooper Durst, who won the triple-A crown at 190 last winter. Durst, though, was facing top-ranked Independence junior Jesse Adams, who captured his third career crown via a 9-1 major decision. Kay, also a senior, allowed an edge of the mat takedown in the first and suffered a 10-4 setback in his only finals appearance to Cameron sophomore Eli Tedrow, who was the 157-pound state runner-up in 2024 for Wheeling Central.
Tyler Consolidated’s Eliana Winfrey, pictured here getting a takedown in the first against Buckhannon-Upshur’s Lylah Ketterman in their 152-pound girls state invitational title match, won her second career crown after securing a win by fall in 5:29. The Silver Knight junior was the 145-pound champion last winter. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
The Vikings were aided to their fifth-place team finish with the help of Carter Neal (3rd, 285), Durst (4th, 126), Mason Philyaw (5th, 144) and Garrett Brown (5th, 150).
Gilmer County freshman Dallas Goodrich, who was the first Little Kanawha Conference champion in school history for head coach Denny Hardman, reached the 106-pound finals, but ran out of time.
The Titan fell behind 3-0 to Greenbrier West sophomore Matthew Kesterson with 28 ticks left in the first and the scoreboard read 9-1 in favor of the Cav entering the third. Goodrich, though, refused to quit and continued to fight as he closed the deficit all the way to the final score of 12-10.
Thanks to his effort, Goodrich was honored as the Class A Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Also trying for state titles on Saturday night in Class AA/A from the Mid-Ohio Valley were Braxton County 150-pound junior Paxton Smith, the MOW at the LKC, as well as Roane County 215-pound senior Lane Watson, who was the 190-pound state champ a year ago.
Gilmer County’s Dallas Goodrich, who fell behind Greenbrier West’s Matthew Kesterson 9-1 after two periods in their 106-pound Class A state title match Saturday night in Huntington before running out of a time in a 12-10 setback, talks with Titan head coach Denny Hardman. The Titan was named Most Outstanding Wrestler for single-A. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Watson, who faced defending 215-pound victor Isaac Martin of Wheeling Central, was unable to muster any offense as head coach Rick Welker watched his Maroon Knight take the lead for good with a takedown at 0:39 of the first en route to securing a 5-2 victory. It was the same case for Smith, who trailed 6-0 entering the third and recorded the only other point of the match via an escape with 65 seconds remaining.
Braxton County, which saw veteran boss Sterling Beane honored with the Class A Mike Stump Coaching Award, finished runner-up to Cameron (126-72.5) as Greenbrier West (42) placed third with Tyler Consolidated and East Hardy tying for fifth with 38 points apiece.
Also finding their way to the podium for coach Beane were Luke Kelly (4th, 132) and Eliah Moore (3rd, 175).
Watson was joined by sixth-place, 175-pound finisher Wyatt Nichols while the Silver Knights were led by Branson Winfrey (4th, 157) and Colsen Spragg (5th, 138).
Five other area wrestlers found their way to the podium in South Harrison’s Maddox Lewis (3rd, 120), Doddridge County’s Trey McDonough (5th, 113), Ritchie County’s Zayden Cordeiro (5th, 120) along with Ravenswood teammates Linkin Andrick (6th, 132) and Trenton Bush (6th, 165).
In the girls state invitational, Silver Knight junior Eliana Winfrey capped a 32-1 campaign by jumping ahead of Buckhannon-Upshur freshman Lylah Ketterman 6-1 before earning the mat slapper in 5:29.
Tyler Consolidated also had a podium finish from Chloe Dutton (6th, 185).
A half dozen other girls managed a top-six effort – Calhoun County’s Kyleigh Morris (5th, 100), Williamstown’s Annabelle Sandy (5th, 126), Wirt County’s Anaston Carouthers (6th, 145) as well as Ripley teammates Lanie Knopp (6th, 107), Savannah Modrzakowski (5th, 114) and Emily Dunlap (6th, 138).
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