West Virginia High
School Wrestling

West Virginia Wrestling -- March 1998 Forum (Part One)

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March 3, 1998
From: Nick Busick
email: bu118@ovnet.com
comments: Glad to see all the hits on this site. It has become a daily resource tool for me. Thank you and keep up the great job.

March 3, 1998
comments: In the second round of the AA/A State Tournament, (in my opinion), Stewart from Braxton should have beat Purpura from Bishop Donahue putting Stewart in the finals. If Stewart had been in the finals with Basford he may have won since he has beat Basford three times already this year. Although I would like to congratulate Basford for being runner-up in the 152 pound weight class, even though I thought it should have gone into overtime.

March 3, 1998
From: back points
comments: To : Jenny Sullivan, great job with you column...You were right on the mark with your predictions? your column the best? I nominate you for sportswriter of the year...hands down...Do you have a chat site or site page. hard to e-mail you. Would like to get your always keen insights about the sports? do you attend the pee wee tourneys in w. va???? great job and hope to hear back soon on the forum about your own chat site? excellent job...jenny...

March 3, 1998
From: ravenswood fan
email: none comments: Congrats to the Ravenswood wrestlers for their accomplishments in the state tourney Luke you are the best 275 in the state and eveybody else did really well. Congrats to all of the Ravenswood wrestlers

March 2, 1998
name: Big Dog
email: BgDgSports@aol.com
comments: Speaking of tough conferences.... The NCAC produced 6 champions in class AAA.

March 2, 1998
From: Buckeye
comments: First of all the state tournament was an excellent one, far better than any I have atteneded in the past. Most of the matches in AAA were won by 1-2 points, with 2-3 going into OT. Thorpe and Gorby were very impressive. I wish that they could've wrestled each other, that would be a great match. Gorby is a great technician, excellent on top and his feet. Thorpe is also great on his feet, very quick, and tough to hold down on bottom. To me they really dominated in there matches. But I think the biggest surprise came when Zombro was pinned. He never really was in the match, he was getting beat from the get go. Well great job to everyone and I hope to be able to come in once again to see states.

March 2, 1998
Editor's note: I just thought our readers may be interested in the number of hits to this website last week, the week before the States. Hits to the front page reached an all-time high of of 5,191 in one week. This "forum" had 1,540 hits, the AAA State tournament page (with the brackets, etc) had 1,094 hits while the AA/A page had 1,047 hits. The state tournament update page had 606 hits in only 2 days (it was not unveiled until Thursday night and the counting stopped at Midnight Saturday. 606 hits to the update page is really pretty good when you consider that all the "die-hards" were in Huntington and were not among those looking for state tournament results on the net. There are over 1073 different documents on this website which were accessed last week, and the total number of hits to all documents was 36,632. And so, to all the people who submitted match results throughout the season, the regional tournament directors who faxed their results in Saturday night after the regionals, and to everyone else who has contributed to this website -- rest assured that your efforts are appreciated and read by many many people.

March 2, 1998
From: Luke Glass
email: lglass@hcc01.babson.edu
comments: Congratulations Oak Glen! I flew in from Boston this weekend to see the wrestling in Huntington, and it was well worth the trip. Having six wrestlers in the finals was a great accomplishment, and to have three champions was just as impressive. Way to go Logan!!! Great job to the rest of the championship team also.

March 2, 1998
From: Matt Kritzer
email: muddog@aol.com
comments: I just would like to thank Coach Delligatti for a being a great coach and a great leader for our team. I would also like to thank my team captains for their help throughout the year; Dan Bonasso, thanks for always being a great friend and a such a good idol for our program; Ryan Ford, job man, job! thanx a bunch; Mike Cinalli, thanx for letting me wrestle that kid from South, it was a blast; Bobby McDonough, thanx for showing me how to act after a match; Eric Cadogan, thanx for showing me how to trick'em; Aaron Majic, it was a short year for you and I missed your jokes before a match, Thanx again all you seniors, I'll never forget you.

March 2, 1998
From: Observer
comments: In response to the question about the final takedown in the 152 match. As soon as a wrestler controls his opponent, which Ward clearly had control of Steele's legs, that is considered a takedown......

March 2, 1998
From: Homer Southwood
comments: Congrats to North Marion on their double, Football/Wrestling State Titles. Is this the first time this has occurred? It looks like the power up North has shifted from the left coast to the right coast. An afterthought on quick pins and Andy Cross's national record, if I remember correctly, the inner circle on the mat had a larger diameter than today's standard and wrestlers had to travel a little further to reach their opponent than today's wrestlers.
Editor's note: That brought back a memory. Yes, back in the "old days," the starting positions were on the 10 foot circle, and wrestlers started 10 feet apart. You still see some old mats from time to time with red and green starting spots on the 10 foot circle.

March 2, 1998
From: EB
email: Berry@citynet.net
comments: Congratulations to Jeremy Berry, St. Marys, WV native, wrestling as a sophmore for Mercersburg Academy in Pa...he placed third this weekend at Lehigh at the National Prep School Championships...his only loss was to Maret Tomaev, a Russian who wrestles for Blair Academy....If you are a scholar athlete, looking for the best in academics, the best coaching, and ultra modern wrestling and weight training facilities...ask me about Mercersburg. I do miss my son, but he goes to Mercersburg for his sake, not mine!! We're proud of you Jeremy!!

March 2, 1998
From: Melissa Brautigan
email: Melice@hotmail.com
comments: Zach Kerns' only loss was to Hennessey in early December.

March 2, 1998
From: Zach Kerns
email: Melice@hotmail.com
comments: Nationals are March 27, 28,2 9 in Pittsburgh Penn.

March 2, 1998
From: Coach Sparks email: esparks@accessk12.wv.us
comments: Just wanted to say "great job and congratulations " to my coaching colleague and friend Roy Micheals. Some people think just because we coaches root for our own team that we automatically hate each other ...Nothing could be farther from the truth. I think some fans would be surprised at how close of friends some of us coaches really are..I'm glad the "good guys won one" and especially glad for Coach Micheals and the Coach of the year honors. Best of luck and God bless.

March 2, 1998
From: "Nolen Vangilder" <hvangild@access.k12.wv.us>
Subject: State rules meeting
Attention wrestling coaches:
If there is anything you want brought before the rules committee at the SSAC meeting in April, let me know. I will be serving out my last year as a member of the committee and will see that your interest are brought before the committee. It has been a pleasure coaching with you guys and representing you as a member of the state committee. Thank You,
Nolan VanGilder

March 2, 1998
From: Wirt fan
comments: I want to congratulate Wirt on their finish at the state. Wirt has overcome many obstacles this year, and has proven they do best under pressure! I want to give thanks to all that made it possible for the team. (JOE BURTON & TOBY RAY) AND a special thanks to COACH ASHLEY!!! I'd also like to thank those kids on the team that don't receive enough recognition. Kids like Sherrer (135) Lott (171) who also made it to the state. Wirt could not do as well as they do without them. So before you praise the so called "stand outs" don't forget the rest of the kids that work just as hard and do just as good!!!!
THANKS, FAN

March 2, 1998
comments: There needs to be a more clear interpretation of stalling from the refs. Many times this weekend I saw one kid bust their tail to turn a kid while the other kid is doing nothing on bottom and hit the top kid for stalling. Then from their feet some kids would back up off the whistle. That to me is not some one trying to get a takedown. I saw one match in the quarterfinal where a defending state champion was wrestling. He got the first takedown then did nothing the rest of the match. After he got that takedown he did nothing, not a thing to try to turn the other kid. Yet the other kid tried and tried to turn the state champ who just clammed up on bottom and didn't move. Yet after the match the state champ who won by a 2-1 score and was only hit for stalling once in the match when if he was in the Ohio state tournament he would have been stalled out of the match. The other kid who put all of his efforts into the match and the one who was the aggressor the whole match lost. The funny thing is the state champ was not delighted he had won the match. He came of the mat crying because of the beating the other kid put on him because he just lay around on bottom all balled up.

March 2, 1998
comments: Where is the wrestling hotbed in West Virginia? It is in the LKC conference. In AA-A 5 of the top ten teams hail from the LKC. Wirt, Ritchie, Calhoun, Ravenswood and Williamstown. There is a lot of other good teams in good conferences in both AAA and AA-A but in my opinion I feel that the LKC is the toughest in all divisions. Congratulations to all of the LKC State champions.

March 2, 1998
comments: I think that the 152 AAA state final .... I have no idea how the ref came to that conclusion that a take-down was scored at the end of the match.

March 2, 1998
From: Coach Hays
email: mahays@access.k12.wv.us
comments: Congratulations to Coach Bill Archer and Co-host Cabell Midland for hosting another great Wrestling Tournament. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NORTH MARION HUSKIES ON WINNING THEIR 1ST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IN WRESTLING and to COACH ROY MICHAEL AAA COACH OF THE YEAR! ALSO CONGRATULATIONS TO ADAM GORBY, RYAN BESEDICH, AND JASON CONAWAY ON BEING THE NEXT THREE STATE CHAMPS FORMERLY OF MANNINGTON MIDDLE SCHOOL. ALSO AS I TOLD SCOTT MOORE SAT. NIGHT, " You sure squeezed a whole lot of wrestling into 3 years!" Congrats to you also. RAT, I missed seeing you Sat. but the same thing goes for you.

March 2, 1998
From: EB
comments: The decision to only use one referee, even for the finals, was made for this reason: Since ref's from all over the state will be used, and many times they will be working with other ref's they have not worked with before, state officials thought it would be less confusing to let the officials work on their own. The mechanics of working together during a match is not easy, and something many referees would prefer not to "polish up" during a state tourney.

March 2, 1998
There can not be much added to the comments about the tournament. What a great weekend! I had a chance to put faces to names and meet a lot of parents and folks from the site. Congratulations to 189 lb AA Champ "Buck" Kupfner and all the wrestlers who competed. Also, a special thanks to my son who I love, respect and am very proud of. Boy the nerve of those people who said I was at stroke level for three days. HA HA! Great job to all involved including this site!

March 2, 1998
From: Curious George
comments: Can anyone tell me who Zach Kerns only lose to this season was?

March 1, 1998
From: Radclerk60 @AOL.com
comments: Can anyone tell me when the Senior's High School National Tournament is? Where is it going to be?

March 1, 1998
comments: I would like to contratulate Morgan Sisk of Petersburg for an outstanding effort at the state tournament. I was informed that he had knee surgery just a week before regionals, causing him to miss over a week of practice. This showed a lot of heart and should not go unnoticed.

March 1, 1998
comments: I wasn't able to go to the tournament this weekend. what happened to Jason Miller of Wirt County? I thought he was a favorite to win.

March 1, 1998
comments: Congratulations to all the Champions in the 1998 State Tournament. A job well done to all who participated. Never hang your heads down in shame if you went 0-2. You are the top 16 in the State of West Virginia! It's really an honor to make it to the States. I would, however, like to see two officials on the mat during the finals. Even the semi-finals. One official cannot see everything, escpecially if they are standing up. Like take for instance, the 152 pound class AA-A, the match went down 5-4 to the final seconds. Did the boy really get a escape? It looked to me as if neither boy let go until the official tapped them. The reaction of the crowd really shows that the point looked close. The boy on the bottom still had control of the arm and leg in this situation. We do understand that the official's word is final, but there should be two officials in the semi's and finals because State Titles are won and lost in seconds. One official's word is good, but two minds are better than one. And if there is a question, the two of them should be allowed to converse if there was a discrepency. Do they not have at least two in basketball? Four in football? In baseball? In hockey?
Editor's note: As I expected, we are getting a few "ref made a bum call" posts to the fourm. Perhaps this is only indicative of the intense interest shown in the matches. As a rule, we probably won't post many (any) typical "ref made a bad call and so-and-so got cheated ...." posts. Not so much in defense of the refs, but rather in the interest of the wrestlers -- why cast a shadow on a young man's hard earned victory by raising a question that it was undeserved? The above skillfully written post passes the editorial test because ...
a) "One official cannot see everything" -- most would agree with this.
b) "Did the boy really get an esacpe?" -- Worded as a question; the answer is, "yes," if the ref said he did.
c) "Looked to me as if ..." -- O.K., you can state how it looked to you. Apparantly the ref saw it differently.
d) "Reaction of the crowd ..." Well, the crowd did react.
e) "Boy on bottom still had control of the arm and leg ..." O.K. That may or may not have anything to do with awarding an escape point.
f) "..should be two officials.." The poster is entitled to his opinion on this point.

We are not trying to stifle discussion here, but there is a way to discuss issues like this without making statements such as "ref blew the call and the kid got cheated." Maybe I'm splitting hairs here......

March 1, 1998
From: Jim LeMaster
comments: I would like to echo all the sentiments of the Cabell Midland Fan who posted and add a few more thoughts. Kudos to North Marion. The Huskies wrestled very well and even though I would have welcomed a slightly different outcome, you deserved the championship. Coach Michael did a great job getting his team mentally ready and it's apparent that the Huskies are, well Husky. It's easy to see that dues have been paid in the weight room. Adam Gorby was indeed, the most outstanding wrestler. I have had the pleasure of watching Eric Frazier wrestle for a good many years and never have I seen anyone dominate him as you did this time . Hat's Off to you Adam on wrestling a fantastic match against a tough opponent.

To the guys of Cabell Midland, even though you fell a little short, Coach Sparks stated in the newspaper when Midland opened that the teams goal was to reach a level where you could compete with South, P'Burg, and the numerous other tough northern schools. I think that goal has been reached. With Stanley, Stanley, Arbes, LeMaster, Walters, Tatum, Ward, & Coffey returning as starters and a fine crop of JV and freshman moving up, you will be right back in the hunt next season.

To Point Pleasant! Wow! What a great job at states! To Alex Reed! Way to go Peanut! and to Chris Johnson of Nitro, congratulations on a fine season and a great job, I'm sure you'll hear Rocky again next year and stand one step higher on the awards stand!

To Jenny Sullivan and all who frequent this board. Go back and read Jenny's last mat lines before the tournament. Your predictions were right on the money!

To HHS. Coach Archer, you did a super job of organinzing the tournament. P.S. What a great idea of having the two schools co-host. Everything ran smoothly and on time. Congratulations to Joe Thorpe. You overcame your diifficulties last year to come back as a state champ.

Finally, to all the wrestlers that participated. You are all champions. No one except a wrestler knows how much hard work and self sacrifice goes into reaching the state tournament. To all the coaches and officials, you all did a marvelous job. I can't wait for next March!

March 1, 1998
From: The Buck Stops Here email: bucksb@wirefire.com
comments: First of all I would like to commend the WVSSAC and Huntington H.S. and everyone else that was involved with the tournament. I do have one comment that needs to go to the directors attention. I am a football and baseball official and safety is first and foremost when officiating a contest. I felt that the individual scoreboards with the wooden triangles protecting them need to have some sort of padding put around them especially where the four inner mats are. In these days of everybody sueing everybody else this should be of great concern. These wooden barriers have a sharp point and it looked like they were no more than four feet from the wrestling circle. I wouldn't want to think about what would happen if a boy or girl would hit their head on this. Hopefully somebody will read this and come up with a solution for next year.
By the way I would like to congratulate ASH WENMOTH for his victory in the 103 lb class.

March 1, 1998
comments: I would like to congratulate David Drennen on his THIRD STATE TITLE and A/AA MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER AWARD. This is a big accomplishment and he deserves every bit of it. He will be greatly missed and it will be sad not to see him in high school wrestling next year. GOOD JOB DAVID!

March 1, 1998
From: Big Dog
email: BgDgSports@aol.com
comments: HOW BOUT THEM DOGS!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to the North Marion Huskies. Check it out...... AAA Region II had 7 champions!, Region I and Region III both had 3 and Region IV had 1. Looks like Region II has taken over the driver's seat in AAA. Great Job everyone. Great Job to Coach Michael and the North World Order........ One more for the good guys.

March 1, 1998
From: Chris Basford
email: UffiziCat2@aol.com
comments: I have to say,"there is nothing like being in the statefinals."
When I was walking down the mats, there was nothing like it. To hear the fans going wild, I couldn't help but scream. It was great! I have never felt that way before. At least now I can go out my senior season knowing how it felt to get there, even though I didn't get the priviledge to know how it could have felt to win it. I'll never forget this. I will also never forget the ride it has been during these high school days. To have only wrestled three and a half years total, and reach the finals, that is good enough. The friends I have made, I never would have guessed it. Thank you all who suppored me throughout this time. I will never forget it.

March 1, 1998
From: Cabell Midland Fan
comments: Congratulations to all the wrestlers who qualified to go to the State Wrestling Tournament. Also a congratulations to North Marion for your first place win. Cabell Midland you should be proud of yourselves for placing 2nd in the State!! We all know that you wanted first and you were very very close. Congratulations goes to Jason Ward our two time State Champion!! Eric Frazier and Jared Walters we are proud of you! All place winners remember you are champions too!! Keep up the good work and we the fans can't wait until next year!! Seniors we will miss you! Again, Congratulations!!!

March 1, 1998
From: Sarge
comments: I would like to congratulate Mike Miller and David Drennen. They have just made school history. They are the first 3X state champions at Wirt County. That was great to see Drennen to receive M.O.W. Good job to all wrestlers!! It is a shame that Jason Miller didn't win his second title, .........

March 1, 1998
From: near fall
comments: To W. Virginia mat fans, I recently attended the state wrestling tournament in Huntington...It was a great event and I'm sure everybody enjoyed. ONE OF THE PREMIER EVENTS HAS TO BE THE PARADE OF CHAMPIONS. WOW...I'VE BEEN TO SOME BIG EVENTS LIKE THE FINAL FOURS AND MAJOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL STADIUMS BUT THE IMPACT OF THE PARADE WITH THE MUSIC GETS YOUR HEART PUMPING. IF THAT DOESNT GET YOU PUMPED I DON'T WHAT WILL? W. VA. HAS SOMETHING HERE AND I HOPE THEY CONTINUE THE TRADITON. I'M SURE BOTH THE WRESTLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES OF THE FINALIST MUST HAVE FELT AN UNBELIEVABLE FEELING. ITS SOMETING THATS HARD TO DESCRIBE AND YOU HAVE TO BE THERE TO CAPITVATE THE MOMENT...ITS SOMETHING I WON'T FORGET....

March 1, 1998
I know that page is about old WV wrestlers now wrestling in college, but I thought I would submit this anyway....
Jonathan Gensler (HEHS 1996) ( 4 x state qualifier, 2 X regional champ, and 3rd at 160 in 1996) starts for the varsity lightweight football team for ARMY... (where he is is his second year) He has lettered both years, (made HS all state football) and this year was named to the all conference team as a linebacker.....

Though he chose not to wrestle in college, because of the weight loss part, he ended up still having to lose weight to play for the lightweight football team!! In his 2 years there so far, the team has only lost (I think) 2 games... they play other lightweight conference teams, and also other regular college teams!!

Just thought someone might be interested......
Anna Gensler (former HEHS statistician and Matmaid for the WSAZ, state, etc...)

March 1, 1998
From: Jay White
email: fullers@citynet.net
comments: My comments are directed to Homer Southwood. Who are you?
For you to have comments about something that was said in a coach's meeting surely narrows your identity! There are two sides to every story. Surely your quotations were taken out of context. Regardless of what was said, it should have stayed within the boundaries of the walls. If you don't agree with a response from a peer, perhaps you should confront that person man to man so one can defend one's position. Who are you to hide behind a pen name to voice your opinions without opposition face to face? Are these the values we are teaching today?
Editor's note: As editor of this page, I try to take some responsibility to limit the amount of criticism which is posted, particularly from annonymous people. For all I know, Homer Southwood could be several people using that alias. While the post to which you refer is critical, no names are mentioned, and in fact no Region is mentioned. Taken at face value, the situation to which he refers could have occured in any of the eight regions, and to the casual reader comes across as a general opinion about unsportsmanlike conduct .....

March 1, 1998
From: BL
comments: Congratulations to all wrestlers on the state tounrament. especially to Josh Reed and Chris Basford you guys worked real hard and it finally paid off.

March 1, 1998
comments: We do need to cut 2 weight classes. There are two bye the first round of the 103lb class in AA-A. This is the STATE TOURNAMENT not a pee-wee tournament. I looks real bad for the state of wrestling in West Virginia.


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Updated March 2, 1998