Moorefield and East Hardy Wrestling programs have been navigating the map of success one match at a time making progress building young programs into tough challengers yielding seven combined medals at the Region II Wrestling Tournament in Braxton County capped off by the Yellow Jackets claiming one title and sending three grapplers to the state tournament in Huntington.
“Our guys are wrestling well. Starting out today and prepping for this weekend, all we asked of them was to give us their best effort. They’ve all done that. That is what we are shooting for, trying to peak at the right time,” Moorefield Wrestling Coach T.J. Van Meter stated.
“Try to put everything together so that we are healthy and doing our best wrestling here at the end of the year. I think so far the proof is in the pudding right now as they say and we’re doing that right now. That’s exciting for me to see the progress and to know it’s not over for you yet. We’ve got another shot at this. It’s an exciting time for Moorefield Wrestling.”
History was made for the Hardy County wrestling squads as Isaac Van Meter became the first Moorefield freshman to become Region II champion and East Hardy freshman Sierra Marie Miller is the first female to earn a medal in school history as a fifth place winner.
Additionally the Yellow Jackets will be sending the most wrestlers in program history to the state tournament with three wrestlers: Paxton Coby, Isaac Van Meter and Kevin Wetzel.
The wrestlers competing at the Region II Tournament from Moorefield were: Isaac Van Meter (160-lb.), Kevin Wetzel (138-lb.), Paxton Coby (120-lb.), Matthew Wright (145-lb.), Jackson Weese (126-lb.), Owen Hartman (152-lb.), Rodney Wratchford (170-lb.), Allen Hardbarger (182-lb.) and Joseph Palm (285-lb.).
The East Hardy grapplers competing at the Region II Tournament were: Sierra Marie Miller (113-lb.), Sky Spell (138-lb.), Cole Pusl (132-lb.), Hunter Ames (220-lb.), Patrick Helsley (182-lb.), Nathan Phillips (126-lb) and Dayton Miller (170-lb.).
The seven wrestlers earning medals were Moorefield’s Van Meter (champion), Coby (4th), Wetzel (4th), Wright (5th) and Weese (6th), plus East Hardy’s Sierra Marie Miller (5th) and Spell (6th).
All of these grapplers had an opportunity to earn state tournament spots on the second day and three advanced.
Hardy County Schools Superintendent Sheena Van Meter, Isaac’s mother, was there to support both Moorefield and East Hardy wrestlers showing county pride with a sweater featuring both team logos.
“I’m ecstatic that the county’s wrestling programs are growing. I’m a huge proponent of high school athletics and have always felt that wrestling promotes accountability and responsibility. You learn to accept defeat without anyone to blame and in turn, you can take credit for your accomplishments. I’m looking forward to watching both East Hardy and Moorefield’s programs continue to blossom in the coming years,” Hardy County Schools Superintendent Sheena Van Meter commented.
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Isaac Van Meter (50-2) had a bye in the first round of the 160-lb. weight class, defeated Roane’s Gavin Black in a 22-7 tech fall, pinned Lincoln’s Caleb Crabtree in 18 seconds during the semifinals with a cradle to earn a state tournament berth, then won the region championship with an 11-2 decision over Liberty Harrison’s Deacon Stearns and captain Matthew Wright was there to greet the champion at the end along with his coaches, parents and siblings.
“[Region Championship] It’s great, not a lot of freshman do that so it’s great to come out here and be one of the few. [MHS state rep] I wouldn’t rather represent anybody else, it’s a great town. [50 wins] It isn’t so much about the win, but where I do it like in a tournament, in a big setting means a lot,” Region II 160-lb. Champion Isaac Van Meter noted.
Van Meter was glad for the success of his teammates as well, “it’s great, they’ve come a long way. I like to be a part of their success.”
Van Meter hit the 50-win milestone for the season as a freshman which is the most wins by any Yellow Jacket wrestler in a year.
“Excited is a good word. Nervous is the word for me. He doesn’t seem to get nervous about those things. i’m sure I get far too nervous about those things than he does. I’m extremely proud of him and excited for him. Yesterday looking back at it, he was probably too amped up and made some mistakes in that first round match. He was able to recover from those and handle his business and do what he needed to do. Isaac came out focused and determined,” Coach Van Meter said about his son.
Wetzel had a bye in the first round of the 138-lb. division, beat East Hardy’s Sky Spell in a 13-5 major decision, lost to Bridgeport’s Addison Courtney in the semifinals in a 13-1 major decision, edged Philip Barbour’s Dakota Elmore 7-6 after trailing 4-2 and creating a takedown plus cradle formed in the last ten seconds earning the points to win at the buzzer to qualify for the state tournament as his parents jumped for joy and gave him hugs after the match knowing a state berth was obtained, then earned a fourth place medal with a fall to Liberty Harrison’ Russel Murphy in the consolation championship.
“It means a lot to me. For a freshman coming in and going to state is amazing for me and it’s only my second year wrestling too,” Moorefield 4th place winner Kevin Wetzel explained.
“[Tie match, made cradle] Time is coming, click I’ve got to go. I’ve got to get this guy. I had his head and I started pushing his knee to it and I looked at the clock and thought oh boy, I’ve got to go. I squeezed as hard as I could and rolled him over. My opinion, the biggest move I did was in the third period when it was still tied and I was down two actually, then I took my shot and got him down and it was 4-4 and I got my cradle in and won it.”
“I told him he was going to be the cardiac kid from now on, he gave us coaches heart attacks. Kevin is never out of a match. He probably has more come from the behind victories than anyone else on the team,” Coach Van Meter added.
Spell pinned South Harrison’s Jonathan Smith in the opening round, then lost by major decision to Wetzel, moved to the consolation round and advanced with a bye, pinned Lincoln’s Corey Prunty to reach the consolation semifinals, then lost by pin to Murphy and lost by pin to Elmore for a sixth place medal.
Coby had a first round bye in the 120-lb. weight class, pinned Lincoln’s Jared Nelson to reach the championship semifinals, then lost by pin to eventual region champion Grafton’s Keith Skaggs, made a double leg takedown and arm bar to pin Doddridge County’s Natasha Cox to reach the consolation championship for a state berth and was greeted by teammates Wright, Wetzel and Van Meter and coaches with hugs of excitement.
“When it comes down to regional play, records don’t matter, seeding don’t matter, you’ve got to win the matches and move on and he’s been doing great. The match he wrestled today, he had to be the aggressor. She was waiting on him to shoot and spread, sprawl out since that was her style of wrestling. The match that he won yesterday, he was behind 8-10 and he came from behind and pinned that guy. There’s another example of his heart and determination, not wanting to give up or give in, coming back and getting a big pin,” Coach Van Meter explained.
Coby lost to Clay’s Blake Sontos in a pin to take a fourth place medal.
“I’m just really grateful. Coach Larry [Schoonover] and coach T.J. [Van Meter] have really been pushing us to be our best. I’m really thankful that I have this opportunity to go and experience it,’ Moorefield 4th place winner Paxton Coby stated.
“Hopefully I will place there and really represent Moorefield. I’ve been really working on my shots and trying to be more aggressive. Bring my fight to them and try to scare them a little bit, so that I think has really helped me out a lot. I did the butcher takedown and held it to the end.”
Sierra Marie Miller had a first round bye, then lost by pin to Roane’s Zaiah Blackwell, advanced in the consolation bracket with a bye, pinned Philip Barbour’s Hunter Melvin to reach the consolation semifinals with throwing legs which was similar to how an octopus wraps around something, lost by 5-4 decision to Doddridge County’s Joseph Powers despite having throwing legs forcing Powers on his back and picked up a fifth place medal by default.
“We’ve come a long ways in three months. We’ve really worked hard and it showed here today and it showed all weekend,” East Hardy Wrestling Coach Stevie Miller remarked.
“Most of these kids haven’t seen wrestling before this year. Several of them had never wrestled before and most are freshman and sophomores and we’re competing with juniors and seniors. I’m very happy with performance and for how hard they’ve worked this year. I’m ecstatic. Some of it just worked out for us as far as a numbers game, but other ones they earned their way in here. I’m real happy for them to experience this. We’ll come back next year and be a lot stronger and hopefully send a couple to state. It’s a big deal for us to medal. This is a big deal having them on the podium from where we started the beginning of the year with no uniforms and an old mat that you can’t wrestle on. We are building ourselves up for being a strong program. I’m ecstatic for her, but she wants more. For both of them to step in as freshmen and do this is incredible. It is more than I could have expected at the beginning of the year. I’m happy for them. Their hard work has paid off.”
Coach Miller was excited for his daughter winning the fifth place medal, but understood her desire to have reached higher even as a freshman.
“I’m excited as can be. I wish I could have won the last one, but nothing I can do about that now,” East Hardy 5th place winner Sierra Marie Miller said.
Wright’s fifth place medal was an improvement from last season’s sixth place spot, but short of the goal of Huntington.
Wright opened the regional with a 4-2 decision over Philip Barbour’s Tanner George, lost by tech fall to Roane’s Jake Whiting 15-0, executed a tech fall 19-4 over Lincoln’s Wyatt Howes, won by forfeit to reach the consolation semifinals, lost to Braxton County’s Gavin Triplett in a 16-2 major decision and won the fifth place medal by default.
Weese pinned Braxton County’s Jordan graham in the opening round, lost by pin to South Harrison’s Preston Peck, took a bye in the consolation round, pinned Philip Barbour’s Brady Phillips to reach the consolation semifinals, lost by pin to Liberty Harrison’s Devin Barnes and took sixth place medal in a fall to Lincoln’s Dustin Reynolds.
Phillips lost in a 9-7 decision to Roan’s Cadin Raines in the first round and was pinned by Clay-Battelle’s James Sheets.
Pusl had a first round bye, lost by pin to Liberty Harrison’s Gunner Childers, advanced with a bye in the consolation bracket, lost by pin to Lincoln’s Jacob Parsons.
Hartman took first round bye, was pinned by Roane’s Adam Reichard, advanced in the consolation with a pair of byes before losing by pin to Philip Barbour’s Ammon Davies.
Dayton Miller lost by pin to Clay’s Riley Perkins, took a bye in the consolation bracket before being pinned by Doddridge County’s Sean Johnston.
Wratchford lost by major decision 10-2 to Johnston, then had a bye and lost by pin to Perkins.
Hardbarger was pinned by Roane’s Kyle Parsons, had a bye in the consolation before being pinned by Braxton County’s Seth Meador.
Helsley lost to Doddridge County’s Andrew Haddock by pin, took a bye in the consolation round and was pinned by Philip Barbour’s Chase Collier.
Ames had a first round bye, was pinned by Doddridge County’s Quinn Meador, advanced with two bye in the consolation bracket before losing to Lewis County’s Charles Simms in a fall.
Palm lost by pin to Roane’s Jace Rhodes, took a bye in the consolation round and was pinned by Philip Barbour’s Shane Waybright.
Braxton County won the overall Class AA/A Region II team championship with 237 points, while Moorefield placed 10th with 79 points as the second best single A school and East Hardy placed 15th with 21 points.
The takedown turnpike is open for travel as the Yellow Jackets send three wrestlers to Huntington next weekend.
“It is big for us. We’ve only had two at the same time before in school history when Sam Kesner and Wil Schoonover went in the same year. That’s big. Larry [Schoonover] has been through it with Wil and when it is the same kid having success, people get used to it. When you have other kids there buying into what you’re doing, one of our saying with the kids is ‘trust the process’ and we have adopted won of the sayings coach [Sammie] Henson has at WVU ‘Consistency wins, consistency in your diet, consistency in your sleeping habit, consistency in the weight room, consistency in coming to practice and doing things the right way’ doing all of that and the results will take care of themselves eventually. We have a group of kids at Moorefield, who have bought into that and have their trust in us and starting to see it pay off with the success they are having. It is exciting to see. [Takedown Turnpike] Takedown is worth two points and an escape is only worth one, I wasn’t a math major, but I think takedowns are important. Larry came up with that. We were trying to get Matt to be more aggressive on his feet. He has a nice shot, but he isn’t always confident to do it. In a match, you might have to take five or six shots before you get one do work, If you’re constantly being the more aggressive guy and taking those shots and doing it the right way, eventually one of those shots will work out for you. Coach Larry started that saying, the road to Huntington is on Takedown Turnpike,” Coach Van Meter concluded.
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