Herbert Hoover High School Athletics

Hurricane’s Ryan Thomas, shown here during January’s WSAZ Invitational in Huntington, won the Mountain State Athletic Conference championship at 152 pounds last week in Parkersburg. Photo courtesy: Craig Hudson | Gazette-Mail.

By: Tom Bragg | Posted: Feb. 2, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail

With conference tournaments completed, Kanawha Valley prep wrestling teams can now turn their attention toward preparing for the postseason.

For some, that means a weekend away from tournament action. Others will have one last test before next week’s regional tournaments, where spots in the state tournament are determined.

Hurricane has the misfortune of being in Class AAA’s juggernaut Region 4 along with West Virginia Coaches Association/wvmat.com state-ranked Parkersburg South, Parkersburg, Huntington, Cabell Midland and Spring Valley. The Redskins were soundly beaten this week by Midland and Ripley, which also received votes in AAA this week, but held their own against Spring Valley in a quad at Midland.

Two bright spots for Hurricane this season have been Ryan Thomas and Daniel Long. Thomas, the Mountain State Athletic Conference champion at 152 pounds, did not participate at Midland. Long was MSAC runner-up at 145.

The Redskins don’t have anything else scheduled between now and next week’s regional at Huntington. Neither does St. Albans, which produced the Kanawha Valley’s other two MSAC champions in Brandon Holt (113 pounds) and Isaiha Casto (170). As has been the case in recent seasons, the Red Dragons have opted to skip the Kanawha County tournament.

Herbert Hoover is taking the other route. The Huskies go into Saturday’s Kanawha County championship tournament at George Washington off a runner-up finish in last week’s Cardinal Conference tournament and dual wins against Clay County and Roane County this week.

Three Hoover wrestlers — Tyler Teel (118), Justin Stover (126) and Ben Kee (145) — won conference titles last Saturday at the Williamson Field House. Stover finished fifth in his weight class at last month’s WSAZ Invitational in Huntington.

Huskies coach Richard Harper said the idea is to peak at the right time, and several of his wrestlers appear to be on that path.

“That’s what you want,” he said. “You get through January and you might get beat down a little bit. First of February, you want to build your confidence back up. You want to build that confidence up and peak at the right time.”

Nitro also will try to carry momentum from the Cardinal Conference tournament over to the mat at GW on Saturday. The Wildcats produced three conference champions — Luke Hughes (138), Vinny Devaney (170) and Paul Frampton (182) — on their way to a third-place team finish in Williamson.

Sissonville’s Gavin Shamblin, the Cardinal 220-pound champion, could also push for the Kanawha County title.

Winfield, the Cardinal Conference team champion, is scheduled to host the Bill Hughes Snap Fitness Invitational on Saturday.

The Generals’ Alex Hale has put together one of the Valley’s more impressive seasons to date, with a 30-4 record that includes the Cardinal Conference championship at 195 and a fourth-place finish at the WSAZ Invitational.

Like many teams in the state’s classification for smaller schools, Herbert Hoover faces the daunting task of a regional tournament packed with 16 or 17 teams.“[The Kanwaha County tournament] is a steppingstone for them to get a little bit more confidence and get some momentum into the regionals,” Harper said. “AA regionals are tough with 16 teams. It’s tough to get through the regionals.”

Harper, however, does not view this weekend’s action at GW as just another tournament or strictly as a postseason tuneup.

“It’s a pride thing for Kanawha County,” he said. “The biggest thing behind it is it builds wrestling in this area. That’s what’s big about it for me.”

Harper said he understands St. Albans’ reasons for not attending, but is disappointed he won’t get to see the Red Dragons among a strong crop of county teams that includes the Huskies, Nitro, Riverside and Sissonville.

“You put all these guys together in the county tournament, and now you have a pretty good tournament,” he said.

By: Tom Bragg, Gazette-Mail | Posted: Jan. 26, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail Preps

Every year, the Mountain State Athletic Conference has a handful of teams with sights set on a state wrestling championship run. This season is no different.

Those teams will see where they stand Saturday when Parkersburg, No. 5 in this week’s West Virginia Coaches Association/wvmat.com Class AAA team poll, hosts the MSAC tournament.

The Big Reds and No. 2 Huntington long have battled at the top for this title, but Kanawha Valley teams St. Albans, Riverside and George Washington could push for spots on the podium in many weight classes.

The Highlanders are fresh off a AAA team title at last week’s WSAZ Invitational, but the No. 7 Red Dragons took second at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena with junior Brandon Holt winning the championship at 113 pounds.

Holt was the only champion SA produced last week in Huntington, but there were plenty of Red Dragons among the place-winners. The tournament format, as opposed to dual formats, is one that SA coach Daren Gilfilen said suits his team.

“We’re not a strong dual team,” he said. “We’re giving up a lot of weight classes. We win a lot of the weight classes we have, but we’ll go in and win nine matches but forfeit five weight classes and we lose by six points. It is kind of heart-wrenching.

“We have a lot of kids that get seeded pretty high and hopefully get to finals, semis or place high in the consolations. That really helps our team out.”

In addition to Holt, five SA wrestlers — freshman Thomas Hartley (fourth, 106), senior Elijah Bailey (sixth, 132), junior Noah Bailey (third, 138) and junior Isaiah Casto (seventh, 170) — placed at WSAZs.

Like St. Albans, Huntington had just one champion last week — junior Zane Lanham at 182 — but the Highlanders cemented their spot at the top of the leader board with a bevy of place winners, including some from the junior varsity team.

Cardinal hits coalfields

Herbert Hoover was scheduled to host this weekend’s Cardinal Conference tournament, but Herbert Hoover’s situation is not like many other schools.

Hoover’s school building was destroyed by flooding in 2016, forcing the Huskies to share the gym at Elkview Middle School for home wrestling events. There was a scheduling conflict this weekend, and Hoover coach Richard Harper said the tournament would take place at the Williamson Field House with Mingo Central as host.

Winfield enters the weekend as the only ranked team in the league. The Generals are No. 9 in Class AA this week after a strong showing at WSAZs, with junior Jamie Ward (third, 152) and senior Alex Hale (fourth, 195) both making the podium in Huntington. Hoover, which was the only team in the “also receiving votes” line of this week’s AA poll, also had two wrestlers place last week with senior Justin Stover taking fifth at 126 and junior Zach Spencer placing seventh at 182.

Not to be outdone, Nitro seniors Vinny Devaney (fourth, 170) and Paul Frampton (second, 182) also put two on the podium in Huntington who should push for conference titles this weekend. Sissonville sophomore 220-pounder Gavin Shamblin, an eighth-place finisher at WSAZs, was the only other Cardinal Conference wrestler to place in Huntington.

Humphreys doubles up

Class AAA No. 1 Parkersburg South, fresh off a team title at the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference tournament in Wheeling, cruised past rival Parkersburg 57-12 in a Wednesday dual. The Patriots picked up points against the Big Reds in all but three weight classes, including a forfeit win at 220 for South’s Braxton Amos, the state championship favorite in the weight class.

South senior Josh Humphreys captured the OVAC title at 152 pounds, giving him the rare distinction of being an OVAC and MSAC individual champion. The former St. Albans and Huntington wrestler won MSAC titles as a sophomore and junior with the Red Dragons.

Humphreys, who has signed to wrestle in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association at Lehigh, also has a shot at history this season at the state tournament. Not only would a win there put him in the exclusive club of four-time state champions, it would also make him the only wrestler in West Virginia high school history to claim championships for three schools. He won the AAA 106 title as a freshman at Huntington before titles at 120 and 145 with St. Albans the last two seasons.

Around the state

Class AA No. 2 East Fairmont came out on top over two other highly ranked teams in a Wednesday tri-meet, beating AA No. 3 Point Pleasant and AAA No. 3 University, according to a report in the (Fairmont) Times West Virginian.

Point slipped past the Hawks 29-27 the same night.

Class AAA No. 6 Greenbrier East clipped county rival Greenbrier West, ranked No. 2 in Class A this week, 32-24 on Wednesday.

Contact Tom Bragg at 304-348-4871 or tom.bragg@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomBraggSports.

By: Kyle Lovern | Posted: Jan. 7, 2018 | Source: Williamson Daily News

ELKVIEW – The Mingo Central Miners, ranked No. 4 in Class AA, improved to 6-1 on the season with a decisive 66-44 lead over Herbert Hoover Friday night at the Elkview Middle School gym.

The trio of Jeremy Dillon, Drew Hatfield and Garrett Brown combined for 56 point. Dillon, a senior who is head to Marshall University next season, scored 20 points. Hatfield, a sophomore, swished in 21 including three 3-pointers. Brown, also a senior, scored 15 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Brown also nailed a trio of 3s in the game.

Mingo Central jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led 19-7 after the first quarter. Dillon and Hatfield both had six points in the opening period. (more…)

By: Bryan Walters | Posted: Dec. 15, 2017 | Source: Gallipolis Daily Tribune

CLENDENIN, W.Va. — More highs than lows … even though they ended up in the middle.

The Point Pleasant wrestling team went 1-1 overall and posted 15 wins in 28 total contests on Thursday night during a tri-match against Independence and host Herbert Hoover in Kanawha County.

The Big Blacks went 11-3 while earning a 57-15 victory over the Huskies, but the defending Class AA state champion Patriots won 10 of their 14 matches against PPHS en route to a 53-19 decision. No final tally was available for the IHS head-to-head match with Herbert Hoover. (more…)