Moorefield and East Hardy Wrestling programs reached new heights with total team victories in the season along with the fastest pins plus conference honors at the Vikings Smash which featured 38 state ranked wrestlers in Petersburg last weekend.
Moorefield Wrestling set a new program season record with 24 team victories coming against East Hardy on the second day of the tournament and extended the program best mark to 26 dual wins on the year as the Yellow Jackets won six times out of ten matches in Petersburg.
“We wanted to eclipse our win total from last season and we also set a goal of qualifying more kids for the state tournament than last year. I am very proud of our kids effort, they work very hard,” Moorefield Wrestling coach T.J. Van Meter commented.
East Hardy Wrestling was victorious in four of their ten matches to create the most team wins in program history for a season with a total at ten victories.
“The kids are getting better. Every year the kids are looking better and better. It is working out. It was really good competition here with a lot of state champions. It is a good tournament and it is close to home. We’re happy to be a part of it. We made good progress with decent records here. We’re not where we need to be, but we’re getting there,” East Hardy Wrestling coach Stevie Miller stated.
Handing an opponent a loss in under ten seconds doesn’t happen too often, but at the Viking Smash Hardy County grapplers made it happen twice.
Moorefield senior captain Matthew Wright (152-lb.) pinned East Hardy’s Conner White in just six seconds by locking his arms on the neck and using a pancake maneuver hitting the mat and tightened the half-nelson grip for the victory to earn the overall Viking Smash Fastest Pin award.
“Getting the fastest pin award is something that you don’t necessarily set out to achieve. What I am proud of is attitude and mind-set that a wrestler must have to get a quick pin – fast, aggressive, and looking to take care of business. That’s what we preach to our kids,” Van Meter noted.
Last season, Wright made a pin in six seconds with a duplicate move and was bested by another wrestler with a five second count for the fastest pin.
“It feels pretty good, because I did the same exact thing last year. I pinned a guy in six seconds. I faked a blast double and snapped him into a pancake and a half-nelson. I got six seconds, but another guy had five seconds. I thought I had it in the bag this year, up until the last match when my coach was telling me about a guy getting five seconds yesterday. They called my name and I couldn’t believe it. It was a great feeling,” Moorefield senior Matthew Wright remarked.
East Hardy sophomore Dayton Miller (182-lb.) created a pin in eight seconds during a match against Elkins using a bear hug move and arm lock for the pin.
Moorefield Wrestling had three grapplers selected to the All-Potomac Valley Conference Wrestling Team: Ty Clayton (freshman, 145-lb.), Matthew Wright (senior, 152-lb.), Isaac Van Meter (sophomore, 170-lb.).
This was a new school record having three wrestlers named to the All-PVC Wrestling team as the Yellow Jackets only had one grappler in any given season prior to this year.
Van Meter went undefeated at the Viking Smash as the 170-lb. champion, Clayton was the 145-lb. runner-up and Wright placed third overall in the 152-lb. division.
Van Meter holds the record for the most single season victories in school history, tying his own mark this weekend of 57 wins at the Viking Smash which was set last year during his run to third place at the state tournament.
“Isaac is now a two-time All-PVC wrestler and two-time Viking Smash champion. He also tied his school record for wins in a season this weekend at 57. I’m proud of him as a father and coach. He’s a fierce competitor and works hard everyday to get better. Having three All-PVC wrestlers is a first for MHS. We’ve never had more than one in any given year. It’s a testament to the award work of the kids and coaches from the youth level through high school. We know we’re getting better, but we are far from satisfied. Our region is very competitive and our wrestlers will have to earn their way to Huntington.”
Wright hit the 50-win plateau, Kevin Wetzel is over 40 wins and Ty Clayton joins Matt Delawder in the 30-plus club.
East Hardy sophomore Hunter Ames (220-lb.) finished third overall in his weight class at the Viking Smash with a 7-3 record.
East Hardy sophomore Dayton Miller (182-lb.) was 8-2 overall, but missed out on the ceremony honors since losing to Fairmont Senior as a team, despite winning his match.
Van Meter was one of the 38 state ranked wrestlers on the Viking Smash card as the second best grappler in his weight class in Class AA-A and faced another top-10 wrestler for that class in Petersburg with No. 10 Philip Barbour’s Logan Allen going toe to toe entering the second period before Van Meter created a cross-face cradle for the pin at 2:41.
Van Meter wrestled against Class AAA No. 3 Gage Albrecht of Hedgesville and won by pin at 2:55 in the second period and No. 5 Chris Fagga of Hampshire and won by pin at the 0:25 mark of the first period.
One of the biggest match victories for Wright was against Class AA-A fifth-ranked Tyler Mason of Keyser battling to a 6-3 decision.
There were a dozen teams competing at the Viking Smash as Petersburg hosted: Moorefield, East Hardy, Keyser, Frankfort, Hedgesville, Philip Barbour, Elkins, Grafton, Hampshire, Berkeley Springs and Fairmont Senior.
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Only two of these teams are ranked in the state as Fairmont Senior is sixth place for Class AA and Moorefield is the eighth ranked team for Class A. The Yellow Jackets and Polar Bears didn’t face each other as there were only ten matches allotted for the tournament, but Moorefield did beat them earlier this season.
Petersburg edged East Hardy 48-42 with the help of third-ranked Alec Burgess in the 195-lb. weight class pinning East Hardy’s Erick Flinn in the first period at :59 and Vikings 220-lb. grappler Doug Morral pinned Cougars’ Hunter Ames at the :48 mark of the first period.
East Hardy garnered points on forfeits from Conner White, Emma Lutz, Dayton Miller and Patrick Helsley in addition to a pin by Damien Iman in these second [period at 3:38 to keep the match close.
The Vikings managed to edge Moorefield 42-36 behind six forfeits as the Yellow Jackets took five forfeit match points.
Moorefield’s Wright, Van Meter, Kevin Wetzel, Jake Frederick and Maddy Clayton recorded forfeit points.
Burgess was the only ranked Petersburg wrestler to see mat time against the Yellow Jackets with a first period pin at 1:02 against Matthew Delawder.
Moorefield’s Ty Clayton made the series interesting with a second period battle and pin at 3:56 for the win over Petersburg’s Jacob Perez as a reversal and back points turned into the winning combination.
Moorefield Wrestling defeated Frankfort 43-42, Grafton 42-22, Hampshire 39-36, East Hardy 46-30, Berkeley Springs 39-24 and Elkins 54-6.
The Yellow Jackets defeated Berkeley Springs for the first time in program history.
East Hardy Wrestling was victorious against Elkins 54-11, Grafton 42-30, Berkeley Springs 42-24 and Frankfort 42-36.
During the win against Elkins, East Hardy’s Conner White left the mat with his arms held high shouting about winning.
That emotion is everything as wrestlers leave everything on the mat competing to win and have their hands raised by the referee.
Moorefield’s Isaac Van Meter showed a very determined look after enduring a match with his thumb being yanked backwards before his arm raised in victory.
Teammates along the side of the mat were cheering in support throughout the tournament as each wrestler fought for victories.
The East Hardy Wrestling quintet of girls combined for 18 victories in the Viking Smash led by sophomore SierraMarie Miller with six wins, followed by seniors Emma Lutz with five, Marina Stotlemyer with four, Jasmine Abrell with two and Emili Flynn with one win.
The Hardy County showdown belonged to the Yellow Jackets with a 46-30 victory over East Hardy.
Moorefield’s Matthew Delawder (195-lb.) pinned East Hardy’s Erik Flynn at the 1:45 mark of the first period.
East Hardy’s Hunter Ames (220-lb.) earned points on a forfeit, then defeated Moorefield’s Kooper Riggleman in a 15-8 decision during an exhibition.
Moorefield’s Joseph Palm (285-lb.) took points on a forfeit, then won by pin in the second period against a substituted wrestler in exhibition.
East Hardy’s SierraMarie Miller (113-lb.), Moorefield’s Maddy Clayton (120-lb.) and East Hardy’s Marina Stotlemyer (126-lb.) were given forfeit wins as the match remained tied at 18-all.
The Cougars took a 24-18 lead on a forfeit to East Hardy’s Damien Iman (132-lb.).
Moorefield cut the deficit to 24-22 as Dominick Davis (138-lb.) earned a 9-0 decision over East Hardy’s Erik Flynn.
The Yellow Jackets took a 28-24 advantage as Ty Clayton (145-lb.) pinned East Hardy’s Sky Spell early in the third period at the 4:11 mark.
Clayton made a takedown and notched near fall points in the first and second periods.
Moorefield’s Matthew Wright (152-lb.) went to work at the sound of the whistle grabbing hold of East Hardy’s Conner White and making the takedown and pin in just six seconds for the fastest time at the Viking Smash.
At this point, Moorefield was ahead of the Cougars by a score of 34-24.
Moorefield’s Kevin Wetzel (160-lb.) had five takedowns and one set of near fall points against East Hardy’s Emma Lutz in the first period and Lutz countered with four escape points before Wetzel notched the pin with 16 seconds remaining in the first period at 1:44.
Moorefield’s Isaac Van Meter (170-lb.) made three takedowns and a pair of triple near fall points against East Hardy’s Patrick Helsley before wrapping up the match with a cross-face cradle pin at the 56-second mark of the first period.
Moorefield’s Jake Frederick (182-lb.) made a takedown against East Hardy’s Dayton Miller in the first period, but Miller created a reversal and recorded the pin at the 34-second mark of the first period.
The Yellow Jackets took 46-30 record setting team victory and kept buzzing in the Viking Smash.
During the win over Grafton, East Hardy’s SierraMarie Miller recorded a pin just before the first period buzzer, while Dayton Miller (1:32) and Conner White (:22) also picked up pins in the first period in a addition to forfeits for Emili Flynn, Sky Spell, Emma Lutz, Patrick Helsley and Erik Flynn.
Despite the loss to Fairmont Senior, East Hardy’s Dayton Miller and Damien Iman earned first period pins, while Emma Lutz and Erik Flynn took forfeits.
Iman added a pin against Philip Barbour and Dayton Miller had a pin against Hampshire, while Spell and Ames collected decision points, respectively.
Moorefield’s close 39-36 win against Hampshire featured four pins by Van Meter (0:25), Wright (3:40), Ty Clayton (2:38) and Davis (2:57), while Wetzel notched a huge 6-3 decision over ninth-ranked Buckler and Maddy Clayton added a forfeit.
The Yellow Jackets had seven individual wins including five pins and two forfeits in the tiebreaker victory 43-42 over Frankfort.
Pins were made by Palm (0:22), Delawder (2:20), Frederick (1:58), Van Meter (3:52) and Ty Clayton (0:48) with forfeits to Maddy Clayton and Wright.
Wright took eighth-ranked Grafton wrestler Dillon Williams into three rounds losing in an 8-0 decision, but the Yellow Jackets won the overall match 42-22 with six forfeits plus a pin by Frederick.
Fairmont Senior was the Viking Smash team champion, Keyser was the runner-up and Petersburg was third place.
Joining Moorefield’s Isaac Van Meter, Matthew Wright and Ty Clayton on the All-PVC Wrestling squad are: Petersburg’s Alec Burgess, Doug Morral, Nick Crews, Ethan Van Meter, Thomas Ours and Eli Nazelrodt; Keyser’s Brendan Pattison and Tristin Fox, Frankfort’s Chris Sherman, Berkeley Springs’ Peyton Thompson and Wade Johnson (team not listed).
The Viking Smash Outstanding Wrestler award was presented to Fairmont Senior’s Zach Frazier.
The Viking Smash Fastest Pin award was presented to Moorefield’s Matthew Wright.
Detailed Viking Smash results will be posted online soon on the wvmat.com website.
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