2021-2022 OVAC

By KIM NORTH
Times Leader Sports Writer

ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Despite having four individual champions and 10 overall placers, St. Clairsville finished runnerup in its own Americaás Best Value Inn wrestling tournament Wednesday on John Jenkins Court inside St. Clairsville High School.
The Red Devils amassed 118 points, which left them a dozen behind champion Newark. Martins Ferry was third with 79 and Shenandoah fourth with 74.
âThe way we ran the tournament this year we didnát keep points until the placement round, so the wins kids got that didnát place at least sixth in their weight classes didnát count towards team points,ã St. Clairsville head coach Joel Sansone explained. âThat kind of hurt us because we had 13 (out of 14) weight classes filled. The bottom line is though, if you want to win a tournament you need some runnersup and we didnát have enough there to finish it out.
âHowever, second place isnát bad with a young team. We had three freshmen place (in the top six of their weight classes).ã
St. Clairsville titlists included Gannon Kazmirski (113), Caden Stout (157), Gavin Schoolcraft (165) and Jacob Walker (190).
Other local champions were Harrison Centralás Gabe Marbais (138) and Martins Ferryás Zak Dobson (215).
âGannon pinned his way through the tournament. He took care of business,ã Sansone said of his returning Division II state qualifier. âHe trains like a made man and never quits looking to score. He might not be as big or strong as some of his opponents, but he is fundamentally sound when it comes to his technique.ã
Kazmirski collected his 100th career win with his 1-minute, 24-second pin in the finals.
âCaden has really been pushing himself in practice to never stop and continue to look for points. He put up 19 points against a pretty good opponent in the finals,ã Sansone added. âHeás doing what we want.ã
Stout is a three-time state qualifier.
The senior, who was second team all-Ohio in soccer last fall, was voted the Delande Family Most Outstanding Wrestler by tournament coaches.
âIt feels good. Anytime you win an MVP it feels good,ã Stout said. âIt just shows that all the hard work I put in is paying off.ã
Schoolcraft, just a freshman, pinned his opponent in the finals to earn his title.
âGavin has been a bit of a surprise,ã Sansone admitted. âI knew how good he was, but Iám not sure he knew. Heás gained a lot of confidence in the (wrestling) room now that he is scoring on the upperclassmen. I told him to just go out and take each match one at a time and focus on what you need to do.ã
Walker also recorded a pin to claim his weight class.
âJacob has a chip on his shoulder,ã Sansone advised. âHe had a bad tournament at North Canton and he was a little down and out about it but I told him to keep wrestling hard and working hard and things will come around. He went out and scored points and got pins.ã
Dobson pinned Edisonás Jamison Stiles in the finals to capture his second consecutive ABVI title. He also notched career win No. 100 during the day-long event.
âHe looked good. He dominated,ã Martins Ferry assistant coach Taylor Yoder said of Dobson while filling in for head coach Chad Ware who went to an area hospital with Purple Rider, George Hulsey, who had suffered an ankle injury earlier in the tournament. âHe looked good on his feet. He looked good on top. Overall, he looked great.ã
Martins Ferry has eight individuals reach the awards podium. Trey Regis (144) finished second.
Marbais performed well in winning his weight class.
âThis is the best he has in the last two years,ã Harrison Central head coach Bill Bryant said. âHe started to show some good things toward the end of last season, but he got struck with COVID, thus ending his season.
âHe showed some good things today. He puts in the extra work to get better, and thatás what we want our kids to do.ã
The Huskies had a trio of placers in placing in addition to Marbais.
Bridgeport had a second-place finisher in Mason Aberts (132).
Torontoás Jason Fancher (285) finished second to Maysvilleás highly regarded Gauge Sampson.

Here are links to each livestream of the Ashland Holiday Wrestling Tournament

Mat #1 youtu.be/OHGIg6m2ICc
Mat #2 youtu.be/4myxq1TRqls
Mat #3 youtu.be/cuB94j2BZJk
Mat #4 youtu.be/V382ZZ4tUIQ
Mat #5 youtu.be/HztaOF0aeGk

Barnesville Doan Ford Invitational (12/17/21-12/18/21)

Kim North is the man!

By KIM NORTH
Times Leader Sports Writer

BARNESVILLE -- For the second consecutive week, Barnesville let a lead entering the final round slip away and ended up settling for second place.
Saturday at the Barnesville Doan Ford Invitational wrestling tournament, the Shamrocks held a slim, 163-160.5, advantage over Teays Valley, but the Vikings recorded victories in two of the final three weight classes to claim a 189.5-187 nod. Barnesville was runnerup at the Union Local Rick Link Invitational last Saturday after a disappointing final round.
Teays Valley 285-pounder Joey Thurston provided the winning points with a pin in the final match of the event.
Barnesville fared better in the championship finals this time around, going 4-for-6, but it still wasnát enough even though all four Shamrock titlists recorded pins.
âWe had a better weekend than we did last week,ã Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen allowed. âI think the competition was a lot stiffer here. There were a lot of good matches.ã
Winning championships were Reese Stephen (120), Dakota King (126), Griffen Stephen (132) and Skyler King (138), while Ayden King (144) and Logan Tague (150) both finished second.
Reese Stephen won his first Barnesville championship with a pin in 1:50. Dakota King needed just 1:08. Griffen Stephen recorded a lightning-quick fall in 11 seconds for his third title; and Skyler King took 5:39.
âWe had two more champs today than last week, but there were a couple of weight classes where I thought we could get in the top 6 and didnát,ã the coach said. âReese and Dakota did what they had to do and Griffen is wrestling like a cinder block right now. Skyler wrestled a great match. That was a rematch of the (Div. III) District finals last season.ã
Karson Milhoan (157) was the other Shamrock to earn a top-6 finish.
Other Ohio Valley wrestlers earning titles were the Indian Creek trio of CJ Spencer (144), Dom Paterra (150) and Reese Spencer (157); and Cameronás Adam Angel (175).
C.J. Spencer won by pin while Paterra and Reese Spencer earned decisions.
âC.J., Dom and Reese have all been wrestling well. We got off to a slow start and donát have very many matches, but weáve spent a lot of time in the practice room,ã Indian Creek head coach Brandon Pendleton said. âAll three of those guys had great tournaments.ã
The Redskins, who finished in a tie for fourth with River Valley, had three other wrestlers reach the podium.
Angel, a transfer and Class AAA state placer from Wheeling Park, outlasted Cambridgeás Caden Kenworthy, 7-5, in sudden-victory.
âWeáre glad to have him,ã Cameron head coach Tim Brown said of Angel. âHe put together a good tournament, especially today when he was really focused.ã
The Dragons also had a runnerup in WVU recruit Ian Bush (190). The defending OVAC and W.Va. Class A-AA state champion, dropped a 6-4 tiebreaker to Teays Valleyás Camden McDaniel, who was voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler by tournament coaches and is a Fargo National champion.
Cameron had one other placer.
John Marshallás Ethan Cook (113) also finished runnerup, dropping a 1-0 nod to Brady Fisher of London.
The Monarchs also had eight other individuals earn places as they finished third with 148 points.
Bellaire also had a placer.
Other champions were Teays Valleyás Gunner Havens (106) and River Valleyás Aiden Greene (215). Havens earned the Peck Award for Most Pins in the championship bracket in the least amount of time. All four of his wins came by first-period pins, including a pair under 20 seconds.

Live feed

FRESHMAN LaDarian Lockett of Stillwater, Okla. is the first unseeded wrestler to ever win the Ironman in the tournament’s 27 years!

1st Place Match
Angelo Ferrari (Stillwater) 6-0, So. over Logan Ours (Beaver Local) 5-1, Sr. (TB-1 6-5)

5th Place Match
Gage Wright (Parkersburg South) 5-2, So. over Gabe Arnold (Wyoming Seminary (PA)) 3-3, Jr. (For.)

I will start typing the rankings on and off, special thanks to the OVAC Coaches for sending in lineups.

After not having the OVAC tournament last year the rankings will be changing often!

97 kg: Mileshin scores two guts from par terre. Shortly after, he adds another takedown. Amos falls, 9-0, and will wrestle for bronze tomorrow #WrestleUfa

Braxton is on his way to becoming the most decorated OVAC wrestler/athlete in OVAC history!!!