West Virginia High
School Wrestling

West Virginia Wrestling -- August - September 1998 Forum

Questions and comments welcome!

If you have some bit of West Virginia wrestling information to share, or a question or comment, here is the place.
Let's keep the discourse positive!
(Note: Flames, trash talk, and other items deemed inappropriate will not be posted).

To submit an item for the forum, click here to go to the forum submission page.

Current forum and index
Return to the WV-Mat front page


September 30, 1998
From: Kritzer
comments: RE the Q on Daniel Bonasso, he is attending Wash and Jeff on an academic scholarship, has talked about wrestling but has made no firm comitment. Look for little brother Sammy who is a sophomore at Fairmont Sr. and a very capable wrestler to fill his shoes in the coming season.

September 30, 1998
From: The Editor
CONGRATULATIONS, COACH BILL ARCHER
Coach Bill Archer has been selected by the NHSACA as the "1998 Wrestling Coach of the Year." We can not think of anyone more deserving in the state of West Virginia. Coach Archer's contributions to the sport of wrestling over the last three decades are unparalleled.

Coach Archer and his wife Diane have done so much for wrestling over the years--foreign exchange trips, directing clinics involving the best wrestling clinicians in the world, sponsoring & directing numerous invitational tournaments throughout the years, traveling all over the nation with their wrestlers and those from other schools around the state so that they could experience the best in competition, and most importantly, their untiring efforts as tournament directors of our outstanding state wrestling tournament.

Again, Coach Bill Archer, congratulations on your many accomplishments and contributions to our grand sport--and on receiving this latest honor of which we are sure there will be many more to come.

September 30, 1998
From: Michael J. Beck
email: beck3@marshall.edu
comments: Does anybody out there know if Marion County Wrestlers Adam Gorby and Ryan Besedich of North Marion and Daniel Bonasso of Fairmont Senior are wrestling at the college level.

September 25, 1998
from: Shaggy
email: smithnn@valunet.com
comments: I herd that Jerry Crow is back at Oak Glen High School is this true or not? If so this would be a great boost to Oak Glen

September 25, 1998
From: Shaggy
comments: When is a good time to get on the Mat Chat?

Editor's note: The Chat Page is a rather loosely run affair. Once the season starts, Sunday evening around 9:00 PM seems to be a popular time.

September 25, 1998
comments: I recently read on the forum that someone was looking for an Open Tournament to attend in the pre-season. We received some information about a tournament to be held on November 14th, in Columbus. It is the Tournament of Champions Fall Classic. For more information you can reach the tournament director, Bart Freidenberg at (614)856-0792.

September 22, 1998
From: NewToWVWrestling
comments: We are new to WV wrestling and are looking for some pre-season open tournaments (high school) in the Ohio Valley area. Any phone numbers or info would be great.

September 22, 1998
From: Nick Busick email: bu118@ovnet.com
comments: Spider roll...you made a few typo mistakes..Let me help
189 - Busick and Kupfer..sorry Lahman
215 - Busick..
Darn, he is now talking about going down to 189 again. Well, if Robert does decide to go back to 189 what a great class it will be. Hope I get to see the whole year. Seeing my son face Lahman, Kupfer will probally be to much for me by the end of the season. Get the paddles ready for my shock to the chest. Lets not forget the wrestlers who will be gunning for these three also.

The great thing about wrestling is...YOU JUST NEVER KNOW...lets put the football pads away and just start the season...LOL

September 21, 1998
From: talon
email: talon98@hotmail.com
comments: Are there any AA wrestlers out there who DON'T know who spiderpoll is? I have to admit its humorous though. Anyhow, I just wanted to say hi to him and tell him that his predictions aren't too bad.....He may of even underestimated his own team, but overall it was pretty fair. Of course he hasn't done too much research, just took last years placewinners and took out the ones that graduated....

September 21, 1998
From: spiderpoll
comments: I Have Created A Team Poll Prediction for AA in 1998:

1.Oak Glen- But Watch out!! Wirt's closing in!!
2.Wirt County- They return a state champ and 5 placewinners!
3.Cameron-Still a contender!!
4.Ritchie County-Carried on the shoulders of State Champs: Hayhurst and Nat Smith
5.Ravenswood-They return many quality athletes
6.Calhoun- Only return powerhouses E. McCartney and Johnson
7.Berkeley Springs-Seville, Waugh, Widmyer, and Reed!!
8.Weir- Watch out for Valles and Busick
9.Frankfort- They are not gone! They return Kesner, Junkins, Kuykendall and JASON LITTON!!!
10.Williamstown-Wenmoth, Wenmoth, and Westbrook!!Whew!What alliteration!
OTHERS: South Harrison, Bishop-Donahue,and Liberty Raleigh

Now for AA individuals:
103-Prather, Winfield. Maybe, Ash Gandee of Ravenswood
112-Hughes,Cameron. Tough competition from Ash Wenmoth of Williamstown.
119-Schindler,Ravenswood.Watch out for Johnson of Calhoun and Junkins of Frankfort.
125-Hayhurst,Ritchie.
130-Wince, Ritchie. Watch for Valles of Weir
135-Lowe, Wirt. Rematch vs Glass, Oak Glen
140-McCartney,Calhoun. Kesner,Frankfort is a worthy competitor
145-Litton,Frankfort. Sorry, Jason Seville of Berkeley Springs
152- Jason Jones, Oak Glen. Maybe Jason Seville
160-Purpura, Bis-Don.
171-Thompson, Shady Spring. Any Competition????
189- Lahman, Petersburg. Sorry, Busick and Kupfer
215-Wildman, Oak Glen. Others could step up!!
275-Salmons,Ravenswood. McClung will be Second Again!!

Let's Make the 98/99 season the best in West Virginia History. I am wrestler in AA competion, however I wish to remain anonymous. I'll update my SPIDERPOLL throughout the season. Stay tuned!! You may be on it.

September 21, 1998
From: Robert Hickman
email: SHickman@aol.com
comments: USA Today newspaper reported it was Zeke Jones. I know newspapers are frequently wrong. I had not heard anything about Scott Collins. I knew he was an NCAA (WVU's first) champ and I think he has been coaching in highschool. I had not heard he was under consideration for the WVU job.

September 19, 1998
From: Observer
comments: To the best of my knowledge, Zeke Jones is not the new assistant at WVU. They hired a man named Scott Collins, who was an NCAA Champion for WVU in 1991.

September 14, 1998
From: Robert Hickman
email: SHickman@aol.com
comments: Once again let the JV kids have a shot. Here are several reasons.
1) Virtually none of these kids will wrestle after high school and remember this. The prime reason for scholastic sports should be character development. Let them have a chance.
2) The JV kid is a good wrestler but the varsity kid on his own squad has his number. Once agian give the kid a shot. He/she has worked very hard. Remember these are kids, future leaders, give them a shot, even though it is a long one. Life is about opportunity. Let us be the adults and figure out a way to give them that opportunity.

Has anyone heard that Zeke Jones is the new asst. wrestling coach at WVU? He has some big shoes to fill. I hope he is as nice of an individual as Nate Carr was. I know he is a good wrestler, I hope he can relate to the kids. His contribution will be vital to the continued upswing in WVU wrestling.

September 14, 1998
From: Philip Stamper
email: pstamper1@hotmail.com
comments: I'm new to the area of Frostburg, MD and have been looking for either an open mat club or wrestling club somewhere in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia or the Western Panhandle of Maryland. Can anybody help out? Thanks.

September 10, 1998
From: Robert Hickman
email: SHickman@aol.com
comments: If several "B" wrestlers from the same team qualified for the state tournament it would lead to some interesting results. Maybe it would be a nice change. Very interesting.

September 10, 1998
CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHEN THE TEAM PAGES WILL BE UPDATED AND THE 98-99 SCHEDULES WILL BE POSTED?
Editor's note: We will be sending postal mail to all the HS coaches at the end of football season to solicit this information. As we have done the past two years, all coaches will be asked for an update and may reply via SASE. The updates will be posted as received.

September 10, 1998
From: Jim LeMaster
comments: I have mixed feelings about JV wrestlers at the State Event. Sadly, some regions 4th place finishers are far below other regions 5th and 6th place finishers. There have even been cases where some wrestlers have made it to the state with a break even or losing record. Perhaps either a certain number of at large bids to be voted on or a "Best of the Rest" division would be possible but I feel that we don't want to water down the quality of the state tournament in the same way that expansion teams weaken a pro sports such as football or basketball. As a coach, I realize that some teams second strings could place a number of wrestlers in the regionals. This could lead to two of the same teams wrestlers meeting with only one able to score points for the varsity. What would the second stringer do? Go all out, beat the first stringer and perhaps cost his team a state championship or take a "dive" to help the team. I sure wouldn't want to be in that situation. In our county middle school tournament last year, I had 2 of my wrestlers meet in the finals in 2 differnt weight classes. I just wished them luck and said nothing during the matches. It was tough to know how to handle this situation. I do think that there should be NO empty slots at the state as was the case this past year. Any empty spaces should be filled with 5th place finishers based on head to head competion, won loss records, common opponents or some such criteria.

Does any one else think that the new stalling rules (or lack of ) will encourage stalling? If I have a big lead and will not be penalized points, only choice of position until warned 4 times, am I not encouraged to stall like crazy? Let's hear some thoughts on this.

September 8, 1998
From: Ryan
comments: I don't like the idea of having the jv wrestlers in the state. I took a lot of pride in winning my spot on the team in wrestle-offs. I would not want to have to wrestle my teammate in a tournament, especially a state or regional. Yes these kids work hard, but that's the nature of the beast -- only one person per weight class. I have seen freshmen beat seniors for a spot on a team. Yea, even though these people deserve a chance to show what they got, there are many tournaments through the year where you see A, B and even C teamers. A lot of the times it is all just if the coach wants to enter any jv wrestlers and sometimes they do and sometimes they don't and sometimes there just aren't enough spaces in the tournament for these kids.

September 8, 1998
From: Robert Hickman
email: SHickman@aol.com
comments: I agree with Mr. Southwood, let us design a way to let the "B" wrestlers get a shot at the big dance. Several local high school tournaments already allow "B" teams to compete and it's not uncommon for one or more kids to place. A lot of good wrestlers, especially in the middle weights, are riding the pine. Let's give them a chance to show there stuff. I agree 100%

September 8, 1998
I would like to know what all teams are participating in the Brooke Classic this year. I would appreciate if someone could post the teams.

September 3, 1998
From: Waldo Ino
comments: I like the idea of the top reserves getting a chance to wrestle in the regions. If there's an opening, let them wrestle. They put in long and hard hours like the others. It's a win, win situtation for everyone.

September 1, 1998
From: Ken Chertow
email: kchertow@vicon.net
comments: With the new school year upon us, it is time to get focused on doing well in the classroom. Take your school work seriously. I encourage you to pay attention in class, take good notes, do homework daily and prepare diligently for exams. You cannot wrestle forever. Apply the work ethic and discipline that wrestling teaches you to the classroom. On that note, I encourage you take a look at my recent Olympian Camp Newsletter recognizing those who have excelled both in the classroom and on the mats. You can view it at http://www.angelfire.com/biz/grappler/ccorner.html I encourage you to bookmark my Olympian Camp Web page at http://www.angelfire.com/biz/grappler/index.html

September 1, 1998
From: "wilbur h schenerlein" wilbur@speed1.net
for the forum:
I agree with Homer about dual meet state tournament and I agree to a certain point about open states. In 1995 Wiegal (spelling?) was an exception, in WV a lot of teams have depth problems and if there was to be an open tourney it would probably not be much different due to the dwindling number of wrestlers in WV. What I mean is not many teams can field a full varsity team let alone extras capable of qualifying for states. NAIA nationals are set up on an open format though. Scott Camp and Weigal were both good wrestlers and probably both deserved a shot at states but Camp was not the favorite at 171. Vince Guice of PHS, the state champ that year was, by far, he did lose in the dual meet to Camp by a few points (while fighting the flu, although Vince won't admit he was sick, he says he wrestled bad and he did). Camp and Vince wrestled many times in high school and Vince won all by pin or a considerable point spread, Camp only beat Guice once in his career so that hardly made him the favorite. I understand that Wiegal and Camp had hard fought and close wrestle offs, and Vince pinned Wiegle in the second while leading 7-0. I know the full story and am a little biased because I'm a Big Red and Guices uncle.

August 28, 1998
From: Homer Southwood
comments: An OPEN State Tournament?
Some food for thought on the State Tournament being limited to one wrestler per weight class per team. Just because a wrestler is second best on his team, why is he denied the opportunity to wrestle in the State Tournament? Case in point is in 1995, when Scott Camp, the favorite to win the 171 pound class went down a week before regionals with a season ending injury. His replacement, with minimal varsity experiance, went on to a top six finish and being an all-state wrestler, yet without the injury, this wrestler would never have been granted the chance to wrestle in the States. In track, each team is allowed up to three contestants per event, so why can't we do something similiar in wrestling?

Two suggestions to open up the State Tournament to all wrestlers. The first and most absurd is if the State went to a State Duals Tournament, the Regional qualifying tournament could be done away with and the State Tounament could then be an open tournament for all wrestlers. Team points could be kept only on "A" team wrestlers. If no State Duals tournament is held, then open up the regional tournaments for all wrestlers.

The second suggestion is to max out the Regional Tournaments to 12 wrestlers per weight class. First or Varsity Team Wrestlers would have an automatic spot in the Regional Tournament. The remaining spots could then be filled by a qualifying tournament the weekend preceding the Regional. For instance, say their are 9 teams in a region, then there are 9 automatic spots plus 3 open spots for a total of 12 participants. The 3 open spots would be determined the Saturday before the Regionals. If one of the teams do not have a wrestler, say at 105, then there are 8 automatic spots and 4 open spots. Team points could be separated between "A" team wrestlers and "B" team wrestlers. If there are more than 11 teams in a region, then they can go to a 16 man bracket.

By opening up the State Tournament to "B" team wrestlers, you are encouraging more students to stay involved in the sport which only increases the product and quality of wrestling. We have to admit, that West Virginia is not and never will be as big in size or numbers to Pennsylvania or Ohio, but if we can do something to elevate the sport within our borders, let's do it to help promote our own. Remember, think of what's in the best interest of the wrestlers. If we can give two or three more wrestlers per weight class an opportunity to participate, let's do it.

August 27, 1998
comments: Does Anyone Have any idea how many Four time state finalists we have had in our state?

August 24, 1998
From: Don H. Stiles
email: dhs0334@wvinter.net
comments: For your Top Wrestlers section.
Stephen Stiles in addition to being the runner up in the 215# class (after missing almost half the season with a broken foot) also finished sixth in the 275# class as a sophomore.

We have a lot of good wrestlers in WV, and I am looking forward to an exciting season this year. I'd like to wish all the wrestlers at Winfield good luck in the upcomeing season. One thing that would really help our High school program would be a middle school program. Is there anyone out there with ideas and/or suggestions on how to get a program started? Anyone willing to coach? This is a great site, in fact I have set it up as my home page. Keep up the good work, and good luck to all the wrestlers in the upcoming season.
PS -- The green dye has all washed out of my hair.
Editor's note: Thanks for calling this to my attention.

August 24, 1998
From: fan
comments: Well, I did not know that Reed wrestled 105.5 in North Dakota. Since he weighs that now he could be a 103 pounder. I would think that he has another great shot at the 103 state title!! I was wondering if anyone knew what Reglabuto from Hegdesville was weighing and what he will be wrestling. He will be up for the state title also!! There are two really good wrestlers to watch for!!! Can't wait till the season!!!

August 15, 1998
From: EP
comments: Alex Reed just competed at 105.5 in North Dakota; don't be surprised if he's not back at 103. There will also be a few newcomers to the W.Va. High School ranks from the Eastern Panhandle. Balam at 103, Hedgesville and Abshire at 112, Jefferson, both should be wrestlers to watch.

August 5, 1998
From: The Editor
Hats off to the WVSSAC for their continuing work on their website. They have added a page of Standardized Calendars which contains lots of hard to find information concerning the start/end of the various sports seasons. Their website looks to be a valuable source of info on the Internet.

August 4, 1998
From: Chris Basford
comments: I think that a state duals meet would be great for this sport. The fact of having individual state champions with the sixteen man brackets, four regions, fourteen weight classes, is well organized. I honestly don't think that organizing a state duals meet would be very hard. The way the state tournament finishes out, is from how well each individual from each time finishes. For example, Garrett O'Neil could have finished in the top seventeen all by himself. Honestly, Cameron is not a one man team, and if you ever wrestle duals matches against them, you'd know. I do think that Grafton, in its past four seasons, has had one of the best duals teams in the state, AA OR AAA. Basically having it where other teams don't, and wrestlers who can go all six minutes with some other teams best. My freshman year was a good example. Our duals record ended up at 26-3. Looking back at that team, I don't think anyone could have touched any of us a year later. Berkley Springs that season also. But, however, Grafton finished second at regions to team state champions Berkley Springs. Then finished seventh in the state. But that is another story. With the presence of Buddy McKeen in our 13 weight classes, we could have made a run at a top five, maybe three finish. For the past four seasons, the Grafton Bearcats have had one of the best duals teams in this state, and it would be nice for teams to show that. In conclusion, a state duals tournament would be great for teams. At least they could show that they are a complete team; instead of just a few good kids here and there.

August 4, 1998
From: ST.MARYS
email: TRIP17@HOTMAIL.COM
comments: TO ANSWER MR.BUSICKS QUESTION; ARNOLD HOUSER HAS GAINED WEIGHT BUT NOT TOO MUCH TOO KEEP HIM OUT OF THE 189 BRACKET, JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE HIM MORE COMPETITIVE. HAVE YOU SEEN OR HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT KUPFER?


Current forum and index
Return to the WV-Mat front page

Updated October 1, 1998