Knights' Wellman takes home heavyweight title for Class AAA
By DAVID WALSH
-- The Herald-Dispatch
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HUNTINGTON -- Cabell Midland coach Ernie Sparks made one of the best catches of his life Saturday night.
Just moments after senior Byron Wellman won the Class AAA heavyweight title with a 4-2 overtime decision over Chris Satterfield of East Fairmont, he sought out the coach for the customary hug. He spotted Sparks near the chair beside the mat at the Huntington Civic Arena, made a quick dash to that spot and went airborne.
Sparks latched onto the champion and they enjoyed one last embrace.
"This has a special place in my heart having a heavyweight win," said Sparks, former high school heavyweight wrestler himself. "He did a tremendous job."
Wellman�s match signalled the end to the 54th annual West Virginia High School wrestling tournament. In team standings, Parkersburg South and Oak Glen maintained their hold on No. 1. South, with two champions and 11 placers overall, racked 218.5 points to 103.5 for runner-up Huntington High. It�s the third straight title for the Patriots. For Huntington High, it�s the highest finish ever -- old or new school -- under coach Bill Archer.
Oak Glen had six of its seven finalists win, helping the Golden Bears pile up 228 points to 163.5 for No. 2 Cameron. Oak Glen�s title streak stands at a record five straight, breaking the mark of four straight titles set by Cameron from 1991-94. Oak Glen has six AA-A titles overall, also a record.
Wellman, one of two seniors on the Cabell Midland roster, trailed his opponent 2-1 late in the match. He scored an escape with six seconds left to get even at 2-2. He got the decisive takedown 11 seconds into overtime.
"Ever since my sophomore year, I�ve thought about this moment," said Wellman, who finished 38-3. "It�s absolutely unbelievable."
Sparks said he remembers what he yelled to his senior in the closing stages of the third period.
"I told him to kick his butt in gear and get out," he said with a smile. "We knew going into the overtime, he was in better shape. Byron�s been successful in football and wrestling. He just has to keep working hard."
Wellman missed the first three matches of the season until he could reach the 275-pound limit. As a sophomore and junior, he suffered first-round losses in the state. This year, he came into the event the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the Mountain State.
"I�m sure this made his day," Wellman said of Sparks. "I�ve loved that man every day since I�ve been here. Anything he could do for me he did."
In the finals at 130, Wheeling Park�s Derek Kennedy beat Cabell Midland�s Chris Gibbs, 2-0. The points came on an escape and a violation for locking hands on the same move.
"We let him control the match," Sparks said. "Chris is better on the feet and we didn�t take advantage of that. A sophomore with only five losses. He had a tremendous year. We�ve got two more years to fine tune."
"He controlled the match and got the job done," Gibbs said. "I�ve got to work harder in the offseason and hit the weights if I want to step it up."
Huntington High wrestlers went 1-1 in the finals. Junior Jason Mays beat Bryan Moats of Hedgesville, 11-6, at 145. North Marion�s Andrew Starsick pinned senior Joey Thomas at 5:38 at 189.
"He�s had some rough times this year, but he did it right at the right time," Archer said of Mays.
Mays (35-4) led 7-0 after two periods. In the third, Moats scored a takedown to cut the deficit to 9-6 and appeared headed for backpoints. However, Mays countered and got a reversal to regain the momentum.
"I told him 50 times to watch out," Archer said of the throw move executed by Moats. "That kid�s a tough kid."
Archer said much of the credit goes to his son Robbie, who used to wrestle for him and now serves as one of the assistant coaches.
"He�s a good kid and works so hard," Robbie Archer said.
"I worked hard for this," Mays said. "Coach told me to watch out for that move. It was a scary moment.
The Highlanders fielded a young team this season -- five freshmen started -- yet they won every tournament they entered. Before this year, the highest finish for an Archer-coached team was third (five times). The five wrestlers who placed finished higher than their final state ranking.
"It was a tremendous year," Robbie Archer said. "We had holes everywhere at the start. The seniors responded and the young kids came on strong."
Thomas, who competed at 171 most of the year, was one of the three seniors on the roster. A year ago, he placed second and had expectations of going out on top this time.
"I wrestled a big guy�s match," he said. "I didn�t work my style. I wrestled bad.
"Everybody said this would be a rebuilding year. The guys were awesome and I was glad to be a part of it. We grew up a lot. We had to. I can�t wait to come back next year and see them."
Parkersburg South�s blowout was clouded by a melee during the consolation matches Saturday afternoon which led to the disqualification of Jefferson�s Andre McDonald and Dustin Householder.
The fight broke out in the 152-pound match between McDonald and the Patriots� Nathan Pickens. Police eventually escorted McDonald from the arena.
As Pickens was leaving the floor, he was pushed by Householder, who was getting ready to wrestle on a nearby mat. Householder then was disqualified from his 215-pound match.
"Anytime something
like that happens in a tournament, you want the kids to show class. Something
like that�s a black eye," Parkersburg South coach Tim McCartney said.