NEWS
JAY BENNETT
News and Sentinel | 12/21/2018
News and Sentinel | 12/21/2018
Photo Credit: Jay Bennett
SOUTH MATMEN DOMINANT IN HOME TRI
PARKERSBURG — Nine different grapplers went undefeated for host Parkersburg South here Wednesday night inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center as the Patriots of head coach Shaun Smith rolled to a triangular victory against St. Clairsville and River Valley.
While River Valley fell 69-12 to the Red Devils, St. Clairsville put up a decent fight against the hosts before falling 50-20. Prior to that match, coach Smith and former PSHS state champions were honored and the Patriots capped the evening with an 80-0 domination against River Valley.
Despite the two victories, which included an Ohio Valley Athletic Conference triumph against St. Clairsville, coach Smith wasn’t completely pleased.
“I don’t know,” Smith responded when asked if Wednesday’s lineup would remain the same the rest of the year if health wasn’t an issue. “Without throwing too many people under the bus, some of them need to figure out how bad they want to be a starter on this team.
“Every day in practice I stress consistency with everyone and I don’t think we were consistent tonight. We were a little flat in some areas and we’ve got a lot of stuff to improve on. I think eventually we’ll get there, but it’s been slower progress that I was hoping for.”
Patriot 113-pounder Devin Easton joined 160-pounder Zane Hinzman, 220-pounder Braxton Amos and heavyweight Louden Haga with 2-0 records and two pins apiece.
Also going 2-0 during the quad for coach Smith’s club were 126-pounder Tucker Windland, Gavin Quiocho at 138, Brayden Roberts at 145, Mikey Shamblin at 152 and 170-pounder Wyatt Linder.
St. Clairsville 195-pounder Derek Witsberger had the quickest takedown — four seconds — and the fastest mat slapper, needing just 20 seconds to flatten Raider Alex Williams. The Red Devils’ only 2-0 effort which featured a pair of falls came from 106-pounder Ganon Kazmirski, who beat RVHS’ Levi Roberts with three seconds left in the opening period and Patriot Samantha Miller in 4:22. Aside from Roberts and Witsberger, the Red Devils also had 2-0 marks from Koen Kish (120), Caden Stout (132) and 182-pounder James Dobbs.
After coming up short against St. Clairsville, five other Patriots earned victories against River Valley, which included forfeits at 120 for Brayden Johnson and at 132 for Jude Childers. PSHS 182-pounder Dalton Fullerton scored a 9-1 major decision against Eric Weber, Noah Buckalew pinned Williams in 49 seconds while Miller led 5-0 after one period en route to a 16-0 technical fall against Roberts.
“I don’t think we wrestled our best,” added Smith, whose team wrestles at 6 p.m. Friday at University along with East Fairmont and Fairmont Senior. “It was a little frustrating and we’ve got some big matches on Friday.”
Jay Bennett
News and Sentinel | 12/21/2018
News and Sentinel | 12/21/2018
