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Mar 24, 2022
Photo by Cody Tomer Gabe Carman, left, of Wheeling Park won by 7-6 decision.
WEST LIBERTY — Not even a tornado warning could stop the 25th annual Tri-State Wrestling “Clash of Champions” Wednesday night.
However, the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference All-Stars couldn’t weather a late flurry by the Midwestern Athletic Conference from western Pennsylvania in dropping a razor-thin, 26-25, decision inside the ASRC on the campus of West Liberty University.
The locals held a commanding 25-9 advantage with three matches remaining, but the Keystone Staters received a pair of pins and a technical fall to eke out the victory, their first since 2018. The OVAC leads the all-time series 17-8.
Trailing 25-21, Moon’s Khyvon Grace put on a takedown clinic in the third period against Beaver Local’s Mark Emmerling Jr. Leading 9-2 after two periods, Grace got a reversal, five takedowns and a key penalty point for a 22-6 technical fall and the winning points. His final takedown came just before the final buzzer.
“I really didn’t pay much attention to the team score until it got close there,” Cameron’s Tim Jones, who served as the OVAC’s head coach, said. “We had a pretty good lead there, but give the MAC credit.
“They battled back and got the job done.”
The OVAC enjoyed its 16-point lead after St. Clairsville’s Gannon Kazmirski earned a 14-2 major decision over Montour’s James Walzer at 113 pounds. Kazmirski, the Red Devils’ flyweight who won the OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament and finished eighth in the Division II OHSAA State Tournament, didn’t waste any time in taking control with eight first-period points.
The senior-only dual started at 138 and the MAC took a 3-0 lead on a 4-0 decision by Ambrose Boni (Central Valley) over Emmerling Jr., who wrestled twice for the short-handed OVAC squad.
Beaver Local’s Dorian Jackson gave the OVAC a 6-3 nod with a pin in 5:32 while leading Ambridge’s Tyler Holman at 145.
Chartiers Valley’s Christopher Beatty held off St. Clairsville’s Division II state 150-pound champion Caden Stout, 9-7, at 152. It was Beatty’s 100th career win and tied the score at 6.
Back-to-back decisions by Gabe Carman (Wheeling Park) and Elijah Wellings-Osha (University) gave the hosts a 12-6 margin.
Carman, a West Virginia Class AAA state champion, used a late takedown to edge Montour’s Aaron DeLuca, 7-6, while Wellings-Osha dominated Quaker Valley’s Mason Diemert, 10-3, at 170.
Quaker Valley’s Patrick Cutchember rallied from a 4-3 deficit against Cameron’s two-time OVAC Ron Mauck titlist and two-time WVSSAC Class A state champ, 5-4. Trailing 4-3, Cutchember secured a takedown with 10 seconds left for the win.
A 9-3 decision at 195 by Steubenville’s Brandon Kinney over Freedom’s Landon Millward began a three-match win streak as Big Red teammate Peyton Tuttle pinned Central Valley’s Lance Crawley in 45 seconds before Kazmirski’s victory.
PIN FALLS
–The match was officiated by Chester’s Derrick Stickles and Wheeling’s Jim Copney.
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