With day one of the 69th annual Ron Mauck OVAC wrestling tournament in the books, we saw some things we expected and some things that, quite frankly, surprised us.
To be honest, day one of the Ron Mauck wrestling tournament can end up looking like the first night of the tough man contest in Wheeling, with early knockouts and more. Not saying any of the wrestlers do not deserve to be there but seeding can be difficult considering there are a totally of 441 wrestlers taking place in this year’s tournament. It’s just hard to match people up.
What day one of the Ron Mauck resembles more are the Olympics games. The parade of schools is something to behold. All the schools march out and line up with the school colors contrasting against each other. Signs held high to represent the school they are with, much like the flags in the parade of nations for the Olympic games. This alone is worth the price of admission.
Not to mention how good the wrestling itself is. This tournament enters its 69th year. You do anything for 69 years it has to be amazing. The wrestling is nothing short of top notch. Little known fact to those outside of the OVAC wrestling crowd is that wrestlers from the area lead the way when it comes performing at the next level. With some going D1 and winning national titles. Not to mention D2 schools and even staying local to wrestle at West Liberty, who happens to have an amazing wrestling program.
We knew the standout programs would do well, namely University, Wheeling Park, Parkersburg South, and Oak Glen. We have followed Barnesville throughout this season and knew they would represent their school very well on this night too.
Starting with South, we must mention one of Ohio Valley Athletics favorites, Robert Shockey. The standout QB on the football team took to the mat tonight and ended up with a 28 second pin. Shockey can very well be in the running for OVA’s Athlete of the Year at this point. South’s squad is far more than the number 1 seed, Shockey, however. South was tied with the most total seeds in this tournament with a total of 12. Their 2 seed Ryan Martin (138) also had a win on the night.
Tied with South was University with 12 total seeds. University just defeated Wheeling Park in the Park Duals recently. University had 2 number 1 seeds and 3 number 2 seeds this evening. Number 1 seed Luca Felix (175) and 2 seeds Pepper Martin (106), Dom Parker (157), and Brock Kehler (215) all were successful tonight.
Oak Glen and Wheeling Park both had 9 total seeds each, followed by Barnesville, Steubenville, and Indian Creek with 8 total seeds each. Add in John Marshall, Beaver Local, and Martins Ferry with 7 total seeds each, you start to see a trend. These programs typically have a history of having strong wrestling programs.
Of course, Wheeling Park represented themselves well with returning OVAC champ Bradyn Lucas (144) getting an easy victory on the night just 10 seconds in. Number 1 seeds Noah White (120), Jameson Maynard (165), number 2 seed Quinton Velas (150), Three-time state champ and 3 seed Eric Brothers also getting wins.
Oak Glen’s lone number 1 seed Logan Davis (113) gets a pin in a quick 20 seconds, their 2 seed Braxton Dlugopolski (165), and 3 seed Hayden Lamb (132) added to the win column.
Barnesville’s number 1 seeds Dakota King (126), Skyler King (138), Reese Stephen (150), 3 seeds Logan Tague (144) and Ayden King (157) also seen victories on the night.
Steubenville’s 2 seed Brody Saccoccia (132), 3 seed Cal Beadling (138) enjoyed wins as well.
John Marshall’s number 1 seed Ethan Cook (126), their two 3 seeds Zander Ward (113) and Klypsan Wallace (165) cruised as well.
Martine Ferry’s 2 seed Dylan Ward (120) and 3 seed George Hulsey (175) helped the purple riders.
Other notable names with wins on the night are:
Wellsville’s Mason Simms (106)
Indian Creek’s Dominic Paterra (157)
Cameron’s Adam Angel (175)
Harrison Central’s Lucas Thomas (215)
River’s Marshal Bier (285)
All of whom were ranked very highly heading into the tournament tonight.
Now, for the surprise. Something that really isn’t a surprise to some who follow wrestling in the Valley, is Wheeling Central’s performance on the night. We kind of knew Coach Welker was building a powerhouse, but some might not have expected them to show up so soon. They had three standout freshmen do very well on the evening. Isaac Sands (138), Wyatt Brady (165), and Isaac Martin (190) all claiming victories tonight. Showing us that the Maroon Knights are already here and ready to rock.
There are so many more things we can say about day one of the tournament and the wrestlers in it that we could right a novel. We do not have the time for that. Know this though, Ohio Valley Athletics will be there the rest of the tournament and covering it as best we can, because these athletes deserve every ounce of coverage they get. Wrestlers are by far some of the most conditioned athletes we have in the valley and they represent us well.
Great job on the night to the wrestlers, coaches, and most definitely to the organizers of this event. This is truly a first-class event all the way around.
The tournament picks up again today, Friday January 20th at noon for about four hours. If you work in downtown Wheeling, take your lunch break over at Wesbanco Arena, grab a hot dog, and catch some of this action. It lasts until about 4:00 pm then resumes tonight at 6:00 pm.
Saturday’s times are 11:00 am for the semifinals and 3:30/4:00 pm start times for the Championships.
You can follow the tournament and get live updates on results at trackwrestling.com and tune into WTRF for broadcast of the finals we believe.
Better than all those things, is to just stay informed right here at Ohio Valley Athletes or on our social media platforms.
Discussion about this post