Huntington dominant at WSAZ tournament
Monday January 22, 2001
By Rick Ryan
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
HUNTINGTON � Huntington established itself as perhaps the favorite for the upcoming conference and regional tournaments by capturing the overall title at the 22nd WSAZ Invitational Saturday evening at the Veterans Memorial Field House.
The Highlanders piled up 230 points and produced four individual champions during the two-day event. They finished with a 321/2-point edge on Riverside, Ohio, en route to the Class AAA and overall titles.
�This is nice,�� said Huntington coach Bill Archer, �but in our program, we pride ourselves on more than just winning.��
The Highlanders� four champs were Billy Barrett at 125 pounds, Jason Mays at 145, Joey Thomas at 171 and Mitch Hastings at 215. Hastings and Herbert Hoover�s Jonathan Moales battled to a 1-1 tie in the finals, but Hastings earned the decision.
Hoover ended in third place with 1671/2 points, 30 behind Riverside. The Huskies produced one champ in 135-pounder Wesley Lane.
�I thought we had a legitimate chance to win,�� said Hoover coach David Hall, �but we didn�t get the job done in a couple places. Still, I�m satisfied that we hung on for third and made a run at second. Our kids have done a nice job all year � and I don�t think we�ve peaked yet.��
Nitro brought three wrestlers with glistening records to town and all three won titles � freshman Jacob Frerichs (26-0) at 103 pounds, sophomore Matt Easter (27-1) at 112 and junior Robbie Ripley (29-0) at 140. Senior Chris Johnson, a past state champ who�s 22-0 this season, missed the tournament to attend the school�s senior formal.
Both Frerichs and Easter pinned their way to their respective finals, racking up three falls each. Frerichs then won by technical fall in the title match and Easter by major decision. Ripley chalked up two pins and a major decision as he also went 4-0 on the weekend.
Independence, which placed second to Williamstown in the Class AA-A division, produced a pair of champions in Jamie Bolen (152) and Josh Moyer (189). Riverside, which hails from the Cleveland area, also had two titlists in brothers Eric Lakia (119) and Neal Lakia (130).
Eric Lakia decisioned Cabell Midland �s Justin Stanley in the finals, the first loss of the season for Stanley, who won a Class AAA state championship last year at 112 pounds.
The other individual weight class winners were Point Pleasant�s John Bonecutter at 160 and Cabell Midland�s Byron Wellman at heavyweight.
Cabell Midland coach Ernie Sparks expects his team to receive a boost this week with the influx of some freshman athletes who competed as a team at the WSAZ meet.
�Every year, we like to let them go for the ninth-grade title and then move some of them up to the varsity after the WSAZ,�� Sparks said. �It will help us at the regionals by filling in some of the open slots where we don�t have anybody. We should be stronger at 103 and 135.��
The move should also firm up the Knights for the upcoming Mountain State Athletic Conference tournament.
Takedowns
Nitro�s foursome and Huntington will receive tough challenges this weekend in a quadrangular at Fairmont. Frerichs, ranked No. 2 at 103, meets up with top-rated Sam Bonasso of Fairmont Senior. Ripley takes on highly regarded Blaine Mayle of B-U and Easter reprises his state tourney finals match with Jonathan Delligatti of the Polar Bears.
The WSAZ event, held over two days for high school and junior high wrestlers, featured 1,875 matches. The state tournament, by comparison, spreads 600 matches over three days.