This is the first article in a series focusing on athletes, coaches, and others who have had legendary careers or influence on sports in local communities.
When told he was the subject of the first Local Legends article, Ed West replied, “It’s quite an honor. I guess if you stick around long enough you get a lot of accolades.”
West has been able to “stick around” for a coaching career in Marshall County that has spanned six decades, beginning in the late 1970s and still going strong. Yes, longevity has been a part of West’s success. But there’s much more to it. So much more.
Competitiveness. Commitment. Dedication. Determination. Excellence. The list of descriptive requirements for a successful, long-term athletic and coaching career can go on forever. And West can check off so many of the boxes. Whether coaching football, softball, or his self-described “main sport” wrestling, West has achieved lofty accomplishments. Perhaps his biggest accomplishment was finding what he loved to do and doing it.
“I’ve worked hard in coaching football, wrestling, and softball. I’ve done them all for a lot of years, and I’ve enjoyed it. I guess it’s my passion,” West said.
“I guess it has to do with my drive to compete. As an athlete you get to compete at a level. Once you get too old to compete anymore you go into coaching, I guess. It’s a way for me to compete, and I enjoy the competition. I enjoy working with the kids. Many of them appreciate it, and I guess that’s the reward.”
This year he is still competing, and new achievements are still possible. His 2023 John Marshall girls’ softball team has qualified for the WV Class AAA state tournament next week (May 24-25) at Little Creek Park in South Charleston. They qualified by shutting out University 2-0 and 8-0 earlier this week in the Class AAA Region 1 championship series. The 8-0 victory Tuesday in Glen Dale pushed West’s career softball record to 350-95.
Although the other three teams in the four-team double-elimination tournament have yet to be decided, West and his Monarchs will be there for the third straight year trying to add to the trophy case. It includes a 2012 WV State Championship, four state runner-up finishes, 12 sectional titles and eight regional titles during his tenure as head coach which began in 2009 (14 seasons because no games were played in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).
For West’s athletic, teaching and coaching careers, the roads began in Marshall County. John Marshall welcomed its first class in 1968, recognizing its initial graduating class that following spring. For the 1970-71 school year West, a Moundsville resident, began his sophomore year; during his three years there he competed in football, baseball and wrestling.
West earned runner-up honors in the OVAC Wrestling Tournament his junior year at 112 pounds and senior year at 126 pounds. However, as a senior West earned one of his many major accomplishments, winning a WV state wrestling championship at 126 pounds. While at John Marshall he wrestled for legendary head coach Bill Hinegardner, and the assistant coach was Ed Dugas. West would later be an assistant coach on Dugas’ wrestling staff before becoming head coach himself for seven years.
After graduation from John Marshall, he attended West Liberty State College, competing for the wrestling team for two years. His first season was also the first season for long-time Hilltoppers wrestling coach and coaching legend Vince Monseau. West graduated in 1977 with a degree in health/physical education/safety.
West was hired after graduation to return to Marshall County as a teacher and coach, initially working in the middle school system coaching football and wrestling. As if he wasn’t busy enough, West began graduate work as well, completing his masters in secondary education through West Virginia University in 1982.
All told, his teaching history reads like this: health and physical education teacher at Moundsville Junior High/Middle School for 28 years and driver’s education at John Marshall High School for eight years. His coaching history reads like this: football coach at Moundsville for 20 years and at John Marshall for eight years; wrestling coach for 25 years at John Marshall, including seven as a head coach; and 23 years as a softball coach, joining the staff of legendary head coach Pancho Flores in 2000 before becoming the head coach in 2009.
West was recognized at the highest level of wrestling when he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008.
With all the football and wrestling coaching experience, what turned West toward girls’ softball? Family dynamics channeled him in that direction. West and his wife of 47 years, Colleen, have three daughters but no sons. “I never had sons. I had three daughters. Even though I coached them in various sports, I never coached them in wrestling,” he joked. But their involvement in softball exposed him to the game, and as expected he got involved, took the opportunity and excelled in it.
Flores won more than 400 games as softball coach, presenting a tough act to follow. But West has proven worthy over the seasons with a 79 percent winning percentage. He has been named the National Federation of State High School Association West Virginia Coach of the Year for girls’ softball twice in 2012 and 2018. Additionally, he was nominated twice for the OVAC Coach of the Year because of his results in softball. Success remained the constant; did his coaching style and approach when transitioning from boys to girls coaching?
“Strangely enough you might think the boys are more competitive and more dedicated, and that’s not the case. That’s not the case that I’ve found. I think that our girls in our softball program have been just as dedicated, just as aggressive, just as intense as any of the boys I’ve had. And I’ve had some really good wrestlers. I’ve had state champions and really good, tough kids. But the girls compete just as hard,” West said.
“I think there are some minor differences you have to be careful of. But for the most part I treat them the same. I treat them with respect, and I think they know there are certain expectations that I have and they try to achieve them.”
Wrestling skipped a generation in the West family, but it didn’t disappear. Grandsons Brock, Blake and Breyden Whorton have all made their marks in the sport, albeit in other areas of the country. Oldest grandson Brock won three WV state titles at Fairmont East, then Blake won a state championship for the same school as a sophomore. After that, he elected to stop wrestling. Breyden won a Kentucky state wrestling championship as a sophomore but was unable to defend his title in 2023 because of a concussion suffered prior to regionals.
Now 68, West encountered a unique opportunity when he became an assistant wrestling coach at JMHS for the 2022-23 season. He became a coach of one of his other grandsons. Ethan Cook, a 2023 JMHS graduate, competed at West’s old 126-pound weight class, winning the OVACs, and then placed for the third time in the WV state tournament. It was an experience he cherished.
“Actually, now I’ve had five grandsons who have been involved in wrestling,” West said. “Three of them have lived in other (areas), and I didn’t get a chance to help them that much. But they were successful, all three of them.
“The two who live here, Ethan, who just graduated this year, was very successful in high school. I had the privilege of coaching him up through the ranks when he first started. Not in middle school because I was actually coaching at the other school. He went to Sherrard, I was coaching at Moundsville. But I certainly tried to give him input along the way. And then in high school the same thing. It was fun.”
His youngest grandson Landon Cook is a student and has begun wrestling at Sherrard Middle School, so there’s a chance this happens again. It doesn’t seem like West is slowing down now or anytime soon.
Through all the years, and all the experiences, West has been teacher and coach. But he has been student as well. He’s learned from his student-athletes, and when asked about it, he was genuinely choked up emotionally.
“I’ve learned they come from all different directions. They’re all different. You have to treat them with respect, and treat them fairly. You don’t have to treat them all the same because they’re not the same, but I think you have to understand that they are different,” West said.
To flip the question, what has he tried to teach them?
“I would hope that they would say they had fun. I know that they know I’m compassionate about it. I put my whole energy into it, and I know they know that. I just hope that they had some fun somewhere along the way and learned something when they were here.
“I hope they learn something from me about the sport. I hope they’ve learned something about life. And I hope they know how much I care about them.”
Article compliments of Howard Karnell.
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