TEAM PLACES
1st-Independence
2nd-Sherrard
3rd-Cameron
4th-Charles Town
Top Middle School-Fairmont Miller
Others: East Fairmont, Harpers Ferry, Moundsville, Union, Wirt County, Ripley MS, Ripley 9th
FINAL Top 4 Individual Results:
|
75 1-Stipetich(Union) 2-Dye(Wirt) 3-Mull(Sher) 4-Ross(Cameron) | 83 1-Delligatti(Miller) 2-Reynolds(Harpers Ferry) 3-Taylor(Wirt) 4-Blake(Ind) | 90 1-Muldrew(Sherrard) 2-Yoders(Cameron) 3-Smith(Wirt) 4-Fauseletos(Moundsville) | 95 1-Brown(Cameron) 2-Smith(RipleyMS) 3-Sexton(Ind) 4-Doty(Sherrard) |
| 102 1-Kupfer(Cameron) 2-Casto(RipleyMS) 3-Miller(Wirt) 4-Teets(Sherrard) | 110 1-Abshire(CT) 2-Fullerton(Cameron) 3-Jones(Sherrard) 4-Ben Geary(Miller) | 116 1-Wood(Ind) 2-Beckwith(EF) 3-Kotson(Cameron) 4-Hartleb(Miller) | 123 1-George(Moundsville) 2-Bolen(Ind) 3-Bryan(Sherrard) 4-Br. Geary(Miller) |
| 128 1-McDonald(CT) 2-McClure(Miller) 3-Filby(Sherrard) 4-Hutchinson(Ind) | 135 1-Gonchoff(Moundsville) 2-Miller(Sherrard) 3-Perry(CT) 4-Lucey(Cameron) | 145 1-Taylor(Moundsville) 2-Drennen(RipleyMS) 3-Rhodes(Ind) 4-Burris(CT) | 155 1-Barnette(Ind) 2-Beerbower(Miller) 3-Doty(Cameron) 4-Grady(Ripley 9th) |
| 165 1-Courtney(Miller) 2-Ingram(EFairmont) 3-Williams(Ind) 4-Anderson(Sherrard) | HEAVYWEIGHT 1-Moyer(Ind) 2-Spencer(Ripley 9th) 3-Satterfield(EFairmont) 4-Still tie-breaking at this time... |
Independence went undefeated beating Sherrard 46-33 in their match-up to claim 1st place. Even the Rams' new uniforms weren't enough to neutralize Independence's "big boys". Repeatedly throughout this tournament, their strength in the upper weights helped bring them victory. Coach Barnette not only has an excellent team, they are the epitome of sportsmanship and good behavior: they represent their school well.
Sherrard came from behind to beat Cameron 39-37 to claim 2nd. Miller lost to Independence, Sherrard and Charles Town, but beat Cameron: they claimed the Top Middle School trophy. Miller also has a young team, most are back next year. Cameron and Charles Town both finished with 3 losses, but Cameron won their match-up and so was awarded the 3rd-place trophy. Independence and Moundsville each had 3 champions, Cameron, Miller and Charles Town each had 2 champions, and Sherrard and Union had 1 each. Independence and Sherrard each had 9 place-winners; Cameron had 8 and Miller 7.
A capacity crowd was on hand during Friday evening's action, with nearly the same on Saturday. A lot of the matches were closely-fought and the individual battles for places were in many cases decided by close matches. Sportsmanship was the order of the day: almost to a man, the coaches had their teams "here to wrestle". One outstanding example of sportsmanship was observed by Harpers Ferry. Although their 145-pounder was ahead in the match, he locked his hands 3 times and then applied an illegal hold. There was some doubt as to whether it was a disqualification; HF Coach Jim Lawson, a veteran official, offered that his boy "was done - I'm not going to lie about it." Just one example of the high ground that their team is coached from; I believe one of the reasons that Jefferson HS is doing well is that they have 2 outstanding Jr. Highs in Harpers Ferry and Charles Town. Overall, the high schools of the teams represented have some outstanding talent to look forward to in the future. The teams who did not fare well in the team standings had quality wrestlers who placed in the top 4. Wirt County once again has some excellent wrestlers; their HS can only drool with anticipation until they get there. Cameron was victimized somewhat by having several super wrestlers who are starting for their HS team this year: the HS's gain is the Jr. High's loss. But that's the goal of all of the wrestlers in the tournament: to improve and go on and represent their respective High schools at the State Tournaments.
I would like to thank all of the coaches and their teams for wrestling hard and fair, and for making this a headknocker of a tournament. I would also like to thank all of the parents who followed their wrestlers to Sherrard and cheered them on. THANX also to the Sherrard parents: lots of hours went into every facet of the tournament, from manning tables to working concessions. Also thanks to a great group of dedicated wrestling people who showed up to work: mothers of ex-wrestlers, ex-scorekeepers, and interested parties. It looks like next year, we'll use 5 mats to help cut down on Friday's late finish. The tournament was finished by 6 on Saturday. Final Team Results will be faxed out to the teams by Thurday and this report will be updated.
Submitted by: Randy Bierce, Sherrard
Updated January 14, 1998