Eagles Finish Third In Class-3A In OVAC Wrestling

The Blue Eagles freshman grappler 182 pounder Caleb Nice won his first three matches in the 62nd Annual Ron Mauck OVAC Wrestling Championships inside WesBanco, before falling 4-2. However, the MHS freshman picked himself up and won his next two matches, including a thrilling 3-1 overtime match to Logan Wotring of Morgantown in the third place match in the 182 pound division to lead Magnolia to third place in the OVAC Class-3A with 57.5 points.
Steubenville Central Catholic finished first with 102 points, while Linsly placed second with 69 points, and Monroe Central 50 for fourth place.
Parkersburg South won the Class-5A title, while Steubenville beat out Oak Glen in Class-4A and Caldwell nipped Shadyside for first in the Class-2A and 1A divisions.
There were 36 schools participating with over 700 wrestlers from all over the conference.
The young Eagle team was coached by Vince Monseau and Alex McKeever and filled each class with outstanding young wrestlers.

Magnolia’s Trinton Jett was first up in the 106 weight class and was quickly sent home with two early pinfalls, while Riley Nice at 113-pounds started out with a forfeit, before winning 11-0 to Collin Hunter of St. Clairsville. Riley picked up another win by a fall, before being dealt first loss by a 6-5 decision. Riley went into the seventh place consolation match and lost a heart-breaker 3-2 for eighth place.
Doug Riter was a scratch and his teammate Clay Adams started off his 126 pound weight class with a bye and then lost to second seed Jason Keys. Riley would then win his next match, before falling to Josh Rine of John Marshall by a fall.
Skylar Yoho lost to a pair of Class-5A power in the 132 pound weight class, while teammate Chase Street lost by a fall and a 8-7 decision. Joe Layman lost his first bout, before turning the tables with a fall over Nick Huff of Wellsville. He would lose by a fall to Clay Davis of Beaver Local.
Joey Kelly lost a tight match with Wheeling Parks Jonny Davis and then won 15-0 decision. He then pinned Kyle Dodds of Harrison Central, before losing to Alex Shuman of Oak Glen.
Paden McConaughey started his 160 pound weight class with a victory over Jake Duvall, before losing his first match. He would then win two straight matches before exiting the tournament with a hard-fought 6-3 match to Josh Barber of Beaver Local.

Joel Hatfield lost his first two matches in the tough 170 pound weight class to a pair of top seeds. Teammate Brian Wilson lost 10-4, before picking up a bye. He would then fall to Shon Livada of Meadowbrook. Jacob Rabel lost his first bout, but came back to win his second match with a pinfall. He would fall in his final bout, 4-3 in an exciting match.
In the heavyweight bout, Phillip Harlan took care of his St Clairsville opponent with a pinfall, but lost his next match. Harlan then pinned a boy from Wheeling Park, but lost his final match of the night.
*****
The River Pilots came in fifth in the combined 1A and 2A division with 40 points, had 195 pound Brett Rosen and Kole Smith each place sixth to lead the way. Rosen won his opening bout by a fall and won an exciting 10-8 match with Dylan Anderson of Morgantown. He then took care of his next opponent, with a 6-0 decision, then fell to Tim Albertson of Steubenville. He lost to Wheeling Park’s Isaiah Myers for sixth place, while Smith won his first two matches by pins, then lost 11-5, but returned to the mat to defeat his Morgantown opponent, 3-1. However, he would fall in his next two bouts to claim third place.
Jordan Sapp at 160-pounds, Loren Thomas at 132-pounds each won two matches, while Chase Schultheis at 120 pounds, Josh Stewart at 126-pounds, Bailey Reusser at 138-pounds, and Dakota Dunn each won one of their three matches.

Both Magnolia and the River Pilots will be wrestling this weekend in the River Pilots tournament. The Pilots won their duel with the Eagles earlier in the season for their only loss of the season.
The meet starts at 10 a.m. Jan. 25.
