PARKERSBURG - Nine matches were decided by three points or less here Thursday night inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center and five of those were wins for No. 2 Huntington, but it wasn't nearly enough against top-ranked Parkersburg South as the Patriot wrestlers dropped the Highlanders 35-19 in head coach Paul Jackson's last dual.
"What better match to prepare them for the regional than wrestling against a good team," said coach Jackson, who watched David Jeffrey, Steven Brogle, Bryce Gainer, Tyler Karcher, Chase Warner and Matt Somerville get honored on senior night.
"We weathered some of their good kids and they weathered some of our good kids, but Huntington is a good team and (head coach) Rob (Archer) does a great job with their program."
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Photo by Jay W. Bennett
Parkersburg South 120-pound senior Tyler Karcher recorded a pin in 93 seconds Thursday night against Huntington’s Johnathan Spence.
Brogle was the only Patriot starter who didn't get a chance to wrestle. His forfeit win at 182 actually sealed the dual victory for Parkersburg South, which took a 32-13 lead at that point. Prior to that, Drake Mills scored a first period mat slapper against Highlander 170-pounder Jason Martin and the hosts held a 20-13 cushion following Jake Alexander's 5-4 decision versus Huntington 160-pounder Paden Christian.
The evening started with No. 1 Lance Hill going against No. 2 Logan Grass at 106. The top-ranked Hill finally broke a scoreless tie with 31 seconds left in the match when he reversed his Highlander opponent. Grass got an escape with six seconds left, but was doubled up 2-1.
Huntington's Jordan Allen, ranked third at 113, scored a 5-3 victory against the second-ranked Gainer to even the team score at three apiece. Allen took control of the match when he bolted to a 5-0 advantage following an escape, a takedown and two near fall points late in the second period.
Fact Box
Dual at Rod Oldham Athletic Center
Parkersburg South 35, Huntington 19
106: Lance Hill d. Logan Grass 2-1
113: Jordan Allen (H) d. Bryce Gainer 5-3
120: Tyler Karcher p. Johnathan Spence 1:33
126: David Jeffrey tf. Chance Donahoe 22-5
132: Billy Waldeck (H) d. Tyler Richards 2-0
138: Justin Arthur (H) md. Briar Shively 9-0
145: Jordan Quiocho d. Chris Brent 8-5
152: Demadre Turner (H) d. Stewart Morris 5-4
160: Jake Alexander d. Paden Christian 5-4
170: Drake Mills p. Jason Martin 1:50
182: Steven Brogle won by forfeit
195: Matt Dixon d. Aerison Parrish 5-4
220: Nigale Cabell (H) d. Evin Sams 5-2
285: Toney Kitts (H) d. Thomas Hall 8-5
Next match: Parkersburg South is the host school for Class AAA regional action next Saturday.
"I wasn't satisfied with my 113-pounder and I didn't think my 106-pounder wrestled well," coach Jackson added.
Parkersburg South, which is off until next Saturday when it acts as the host site for the regional tournament, took the lead for good in the dual when Karcher stuck Johnathan Spence in 93 seconds. However, Spence did score the first takedown of the match 51 ticks into the opening period before allowing a reversal and then the pin.
After Jeffrey worked over 126-pounder Chance Donahoe for a 22-5 technical fall, Parkersburg South had bolted to a 14-3 lead.
The Highlanders, who will have their senior night this evening when University comes to town, won the next two matches to close the gap to four. Billy Waldeck's reversal with 20 seconds left in the middle period stood up to beat Tyler Richards 2-0 at 132 while top-ranked Justin Arthur posted a 9-0 major decision versus Patriot 138-pounder Briar Shively, who is ranked second in the state.
In the 145-pound showdown between No. 7 Jordan Quiocho and fourth-ranked Highlander Chris Brent, the Patriot junior nearly came out of the gate with a pin. Leading 4-1 early, Quiocho never trailed in posting an 8-5 triumph.
Huntington, now losers of four straight duals to the three-time defending Class AAA state champion Patriots, trailed only 17-13 after No. 4 Demadre Turner used an escape with four seconds to go to edge No. 7 Stewart Morris, 5-4, in the 152-pound class.
The unranked Christian did get the first takedown against Alexander, but the fourth-ranked Patriot squared things with a reversal and took control with a second period escape and then a takedown en route to his one-point win, which gave Parkersburg South a seven-point lead.
Parkersburg South's final win of the night came via another 5-4 decision, this time from 195-pounder Matt Dixon, who got a takedown with 26 seconds left in the match to nip Aerison Parrish.
Despite being down 35-13, Huntington finished strong thanks to decisions by 220-pounder Nigale Cabel, who upset Evin Sams 5-2 in an eight versus seven ranked battle, along with heavyweight Toney Kitts' 8-5 defeat of Patriot Thomas Hall.
