By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
It was a banner weekend in Huntington as Moorefield and East Hardy Wrestling teams combined for 30 wins en route to four medals overall at the WVSSAC Class A-AA state wrestling championships and girls state invitational tournament held at the Marshall Health Network Arena.
East Hardy Wrestling had six boys and six girls competing in the state tournament, while Moorefield Wrestling had five boys and four girls participating.
The Cougars collected three state medals as Garrett Van Meter (215) and Morganne Miller (138) battled for the bronze medals and Sean O’Callaghan (285) finished with a sixth place medal and his 100th career win.
“It’s great. This tournament means a lot to me and my family with Isaac going back and winning all those state championships. It means a lot and I am very grateful. All glory to God. I couldn’t have done any of this without Him. I tried my best and worked hard in the weight room and wrestling room with my sexy coaches up there. [Keys] Hard work, God and probably Isaac bullying me,” East Hardy Wrestling state medalist Garrett Van Meter commented.
“I am very honored and blessed to be here. I am the only girl on my team to place, so that’s a good way to represent the school. It is very special. I had to work really hard, lift weights and put in extra work over the summer. I worked hard to do what I wanted to do and reach my goal. The overall atmosphere and experience is something I will never ever get from any other place. There are so many people supporting each other standing in line, wrestling is like a family. I couldn’t hear them [father and sister coaching]. Sadly, it is William and Sierra’s last year coaching us as they are leaving for medical and dental school. They taught us important things and now I am a black belt,” East Hardy Girls Wrestling state medalist Morganne Miller stated.
“I was very honored to represent East Hardy. The school, the community and my coaches have done a lot for me, so it was really good for me to come down here and show everything they taught me. The experience has been wonderful, just to be able to spend extra time with my teammates and members of my community. It has been fun. It was pretty hard wrestling here. I made it to the semifinals, then lost out to place sixth. I am not going to make any excuses for those losses, I could have done better in any of my matches and won. I might be upset that I lost, but I am not making any excuses for myself. I am happy to get a medal,” East Hardy Wrestling state medalist Sean O’Callaghan noted.
The Yellow Jackets garnered one state medal as Kailynn Penkov (165) garnered the sixth place medal in the girls state invitational tournament in the same bracket as four-time state champion Kaylie Hall of Spring Mills.
“I am really proud of myself. I never thought I would get anywhere close to this. This is my first year wrestling. I am really happy with it [experience]. It is very special representing Moorefield,” Moorefield Girls Wrestling state medalist Kailynn Penkov said.
Spring Mills senior and Presbyterian College commit Kaylie Hall won the girls state championship for a fourth consecutive year with the previous titles with Hampshire and was awarded the most outstanding girls wrestler of the year award.
“It’s really exciting. It’s definitely a great accomplishment and I am very proud of it, especially being a four-time winner. It means a lot, because the numbers in the past four years nearly quadrupled and I get to be apart of this fast growing sport. [Advice] Definitely get started early. I would suggest to wrestle guys, because that is what made me the wrestler I am today. Wresting the guys, you are getting beat up a couple times, but you really learn a lot by wrestling people better and stronger than you,” Spring Mills state champion Kaylie Hall remarked.
The first day for the boys in Huntington was on Thursday with 224 matches, while the girls didn’t begin competition until Saturday.
Five of the 11 boys wrestling from Hardy County notched victories on the opening night: East Hardy’s Sean O’Callaghan (285), Garrett Van Meter (215) and Shawn Bodkin (165), plus Moorefield’s Alex Rodriguez (150) and Earl “EJ” Wyman (190).
The state tournament commenced with the lightweight division as East Hardy’s Aaron Barb battled in the 106 class and lost by pin at 1:27 to Oak Glen’s Jordan Tomsic on Thursday night.
Barb returned on Friday morning in Huntington and was pinned by Ravenswood’s Slade Andrick in the second period at 2:25 for his final bout.
“I am pretty honored to be here, but it took me a long road to get here. It took a lot of work. Last year I wrestled for Moorefield and had a season ending injury after two matches. It was a long ways, but coming out here feels good and it is great to represent a small school like East Hardy. I like the atmosphere here, it is very noisy. I wrestled my best, but could have wrestled harder,” East Hardy’s Aaron Barb remarked.
Moorefield’s Javier Acosta lost 20-5 in a technical fall during the state opener against Independence’s Tyler Varney.
Acosta came back to collect a win on Friday morning over Ravenswood’s Jeremiah Rhoder in the first round of the consolation bracket getting a pin at 4:27.
Weir’s Wyatt Hostuttler beat Acosta with a pin at 4:19.
“I am very honored. It is my second time here and I was just happy to get my first win. Shooting was the key, because sometimes I doubt myself and trusting myself helped. Having experience helped with my nerves this time. The atmosphere is amazing,” Moorefield’s Javier Acosta commented.
Keyser’s Jackson Swingle won the state championship in the 126 division and fellow Golden Tornado Lane Metcalf garnered the state runner-up in the 138 class.
Moorefield’s Riley Pillus (144) started the state tournament with a 10-nil major decision defeat against Ripley’s Mason Philyaw.
Pillus bounced back in the consolation bracket earning a 16-1 technical fall win over Herbert Hoover’s Sam Snyder prior to being ousted by Point Pleasant’s Mars Coste by a 15-6 major decision.
“It was a great experience and opportunity for me to finish at the state tournament; being able to go all four years of my high school career was amazing and I was very happy to finish out at states,” Moorefield senior Riley Pillus stated.
Moorefield’s Alex Rodriguez (150) opened the state tournament with a second period pin at 2:44 against Liberty Raleigh’s Isaac Williams.
Eventual state champion Cameron’s SlatonPettit pinned Rodriguez at 1:53 in the quarterfinals.
Rodriguez lost in the consolation round by major decision against Ravenswood’s Mat Phelps.
Moorefield’s Dylan Colasessano l(157)ost by first period pin at 1:46 to Ripley’s Ethan Kay.
Colasessano responded in the consolation bracket with a 5-1 decision victory over Greenbrier West’s Dominic Mandeville.
Williamstown’s Kipp Freed defeated Colasessano by first period pin at 0:16.
In the same bracket, PVC foes Keyser’s All Detrick took fifth place over Petersburg’s Lukas Wolford.
East Hardy’s Shawn Bodkin (165) gathered an 11-1 major decision in the state opener over Sissonville’s Hunter Wagner, then lost by 7-1 decision in the quarterfinals to Independence’s Brayden Hart on Friday afternoon.
Bodkin lost to Weir’s Joshua DeFelice in another 7-1 decision in the second round of the consolation bracket.
East Fairmont’s Louis Diaz (175) was the eventual state runner-up and started with a 17-nil technical fall win over East Hardy’s Ryan Harmon.
Harmon was eliminated on Friday afternoon with a 16-0 technical fall loss to Man’s John Osborne.
Moorefield’s EJ Wyman (190) began the state tournament with a 9-1 major decision win over Herbert Hoover’s Tristin Shaffer.
Wyman lost in the state quartertinals to Oak Glen’s Greg Sauers by 4-2 decision.
Wyman lost by 8-1 decision in the consolation second round to Berkeley Springs Krystian Norris.
“It’s truly a blessing to finish my career at the state tournament and just be able to compete at the top level that I have worked towards the past four years. As well I would just like to thank my coaches Rob Pillus, Larry Schoonover and my Aunt Pauline and Uncle Tyrone for always pushing me and just giving me this opportunity. I would also like to thank the good Lord watching over me and just giving me strength and guidance through the wrestling season,” Moorefield senior EJ Wyman noted.
Wyman wanted to get a steak dinner before the championship matches started, so he gathered the team together to go out to a restaurant.
East Hardy’s Eli Mathias (190) commenced the state tournament with a 14-2 major decision loss to Shady Spring’s Gabe Knoblet.
Mathias was spun around a couple times in the match, but kept battling.
Mathias met his goal of getting a win during the first round of the consolation bracket on Friday afternoon with a first period pin at 0:51 over Magnolia’s Eden Harlan.
The state medal bid for Mathias was nixed by an 11-6 decision loss to Point Pleasant’s Cooper Craig.
East Hardy’s Garrett Van Meter (215) had a state wrestling journey reach the championship bracket semifinals commencing with a first period pin in the opening round over Wirt County’s Chaz Burns at 1:02, then defeated Midland Trail’s Jayden Roop with an 18-8 decision.
Roop was ejected for poor sportsmanship at the end of the match refusing to shake hands.
Eventual state champion Wheeling Central Catholic’s Issac Martin collected a first period pin with three seconds remaining over Van Meter in the semifinals.
Van Meter earned the bronze medal with pins over Shady Spring’s Joey Cowger (3:48) and Williamstown’s Thad Trent (4:25).
Van Meter showed good awareness of mat location and keeping the grappling within bounds.
O’Callaghan began his journey at the state tournament with a pin at 0:33 against Weir’s Ashton Hans for his 100th career victory, then advanced to the state semifinals with a pin at 0:43 over Liberty Raleigh’s Connor Acord on Friday afternoon.
“It was absolutely amazing. This was something I dreamed of since starting wrestling. Only a few people accomplish this feat and I did it in two years. It made it pretty meaningful to me. I’m pretty excited and just trying to stay focused on match to match and hopefully keep it going to the championship,” East Hardy senior Sean O’Callaghan explained.
Oak Glen’s Noah Schmidt was the eventual state runner-up and knocked O’Callaghan out of the championship semifinal bracket with a third period pin with only 11 seconds remaining.
O’Callaghan was edged out in a 4-3 decision to Potomac Valley Conference rival Jake Anderson from Keyser in the consolation semifinals, who would later take fourth place as O’Callaghan ended up in sixth place with a 6-nil decision against Philip Barbour’s Malachi Cross.
East Hardy represented Hardy County with two state medals in the Class A-AA state championships and added another medal in the girls state invitational tournament.
East Hardy’s Morganne Miller’s path to the bronze medal in the girls state invitational medal in the 132 class started with a first period pin at 0:29 over Lincoln’s Hannah Westfall.
South’s Olivia Junkins grabbed Miller’s head gear and shifted it down to secure a pin at 4:44.
Miller fought back in the consolation bracket with four straight pins to claim the third place medal starting at 1:56 over University’s Tower, then beat Parkersburg’s Medina at 0:57, followed by a pin at 0:33 against George Washington’s Buckley and took third place with a rematch win over Junkins in a pin at 3:11.
Moorefield’s Kailynn Penkov (165) had a first round bye, then lost to Greenbrier East’s Makaylee Bennett in a pin t 0:20.
Penkov pinned Parkersburg’s Thrasher at 1:31 in the second round of the consolation bracket after a bye.
Penkov notched another pin at 0:16 over Ravenswood’s Pease and kept the momentum going with a pin over South’s Riggs at 0:58 before falling to Princeton’s Reed at 2:02.
Frankfort’s Anna Mendosa finished as the state runner-up in the 100 division.
East Hardy’s Jaedyn Funk (107) was edged out 6-5 against Princeton’s Faith Morris in the opening round of the girls state invitational tournament, then had a bye before losing to Ripley’s Lanie Knopp by pin at 4:08.
Moorefield’s Leeann Coon (107) started the girls state invitational tournament with a loss by pin at 1:39 to Buckhannon-Upshur’s Nicole Blandino, then took a bye in the consolation bracket before bowing out in a 7-4 decision against Morris.
Moorefield’s LaTanya Redman (114) commenced the girls state invitational tournament with a first period pin at 1:14 over Riverside’s Kennidee Baiser.
Ripley’s Savannah Modzakowsi pinned Redman at 1:06 in the second round of the tournament.
Tyler Consolidated’s Mariah King won 18-11 over Redman.
Redman was sick during the match, but managed to finish it out.
East Hardy’s Madilyn Funk (120) began the first round with a win by pin at 1:58 over Riverside’s Lillian Cornette, then fell to South’s Anniya Powell by own at 1:34.
University’s Shane Friend took a 5-nil decision over Funk in the second round of the consolation bracket.East Hardy’s Chloe D’Amico and Gracie Heishman were both in the 126 division.
Both stared with a bye in the opening round.
Liberty Harrison’s Aubri Adames edged D’Amico with a 3-1 decision, while University’s Allenna Bion took a 13-1 major decision against Heishman.
Both grapplers had byes for East Hardy, then picked up wins.
D’Amico pinned Lincoln’s Moore at 3:33, then lost to Williamstown’s Sandy at 3:43.
Heishman earned a win for the Cougars with a pin at 2:02 over Shady Spring’s Cook, then beat Ripley’s Bailey with a pin at 4:23.
Sandy pinned Heishman at 0:58 to end the state medal bid.
Moorefield’s Annie Barr (132) commenced the girls state invitational tournament with a win by pin over Berkeley Springs’ Nora McDonald at 3:04.
Barr didn’t let a chin strap malfunction stop the completion and kept fighting for the win.
Barr lost to St. Albans’ Brown by pin at 1:54.
Barr opened the consolation round with a pin at 0:23 over Cabell Midland’s Kaylee Adkins.
The momentum continued for Barr with a 6-2 decision victory over Parkersburg’s Warman, but the good fortune ended with a loss to South’s Ford at 2:10.
East Hardy’s Madison Strosnider (235) started with a bye, then lost to PikeView’s Cameron Seeley with a pin at 2:38.
Lincoln’s Olivia Morales took a medical forfeit win over Strosnider in the consolation bracket.
