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Last season the Dutton Award got more discussion and debate than any of the most recent seasons.

Here is who I see as the only contenders:

Class of 2016:
Simpkins/Ripley
Moore/Roane

Class of 2017:
Adams/Independence
Hart/Independence
Allman/South

Class of 2018:
Humphreys/St. Albans
Henson/University

History shows that a senior is selected.
These guys are not in any order.
Each wrestler mentioned has accomplished more than any other wrestlers in their graduating classes.
There are many other wrestlers who are very good and could set the world on fire in college, etc but they haven't achieved what the wrestlers mentioned above have.

Out of pure curiosity?
1) has a junior ever won this award?
2) has anybody ever won the award twice?

I believe we need to give a close look at what some of these kids do on a national level and not just in the state. For example hunter jones has not won a st title but has been runnerup twice in AAA and he has achieved all American status twice at nhsca. I have watched some of our wv kids compete the past 2 yrs at va beach and as a whole the competition is flat out better. So if jones wins a st title this yr and achieves another AA at va beach which makes him at least a 3 time AA (not sure if he achieved AA status as a fr) then consideration needs to be given to hunter jones for the dutton.
Also if will cox wins sts this yr it will be his second st title and his 4th time placing. Will cox also achieved AA status as a sophomore at nhsca.

Once again the debate of what the dutton really is. Career or season ?

I am sure that the wrestler's accomplishments out of state and out of regular season are taken into consideration.

Simpkins of Ripley is currently a three time finalist (one time champ). He was All American last year (6th).

This is slightly better than Hunter Jones.

Very interesting thread to start the season. But, a good one at that.......
I believe that the Dutton is only awarded to a senior......
I also agree that other tourneys should be considered as well such as the Winners choice, WSAZs, NHSCA etc.....

Lucas Simpkins 3 time state finalist w/title
Dalton Michael 2 time state finalist w/title
Hunter Jones 2 time state finalist
Brandon Tenney 2 time state finalist w/title

Just to mention a few and keep the thread interesting

We may want to double check Tenney's resume. He was 4th last season and champ the season before that. I think he was just a qualifier the season before.

Alex Daniels of Indy if he wins sts again this yr will finish a 4 time st placer and 2 time champ. I think he has a wsaz title as well. Don't think he had any all Americans under his belt.
Logan Robertson of wg doesn't have a st title but has placed 3 yrs twice in AA and once in AAA. Also has a runnerup under his belt.
Not saying these guys should win but just really good wrestlers that deserve a mention.

I may be biased, since he's the only kid from WV to beat my son in his weight class the last two years, but I don't think Cam gets as much credit as he should. Not saying he should or shouldn't win this award, there are several good choices, just that his name doesn't get mentioned as much as some others, and IMHO he's pretty impressive. Logan went 4-1 in the states last year, giving up 5 points....all to Cam. The other four were a shutout pin and 3 shutout tech falls, point being that Cam is pretty solid....

Obviously, I'm kinda curious to see what weight he's wrestling this year

There has never been a wrestler selected for 2 Dutton awards.

The link below is a list of wrestlers selected for this prestigious award.

http://www.wvmat.com/outstand/dutton.htm

Have all of these recipients been underclassmen or all seniors when awarded the Dutton?

I am almost positive that the Dutton award is awarded only to a senior.

This is a very prestigious award that is based on a wrestlers high school career.

I don't personally know all of these young men on the list in the previous reply. But, the ones that I do have the honor on knowing are all seniors.

Bearhugger wrote:Last season the Dutton Award got more discussion and debate than any of the most recent seasons.

Here is who I see as the only contenders:

Class of 2016:
Simpkins/Ripley
Moore/Roane

Class of 2017:
Adams/Independence
Hart/Independence
Allman/South

Class of 2018:
Humphreys/St. Albans
Henson/University

History shows that a senior is selected.
These guys are not in any order.
Each wrestler mentioned has accomplished more than any other wrestlers in their graduating classes.
There are many other wrestlers who are very good and could set the world on fire in college, etc but they haven't achieved what the wrestlers mentioned above have.

The WSAZ should have all of these guys under one roof.

We could see Humphreys and Moore meet up along with Adams and Allman.

Love it when coaches think of placing in the VA beach watered down "Nationals" has merit
Go to Fargo and place in the Junior Nationals..now that is real bragging power.

did any of these kids place in the Jr. Nationals in Fargo?

Real wrestling the answer is yes

This should stir the pot a bit on the Dutton Award.

I recently asked a former Parkersburg News & Sentinel (The presenter of the award and vote collector) sports writer if the Dutton Award was only for Seniors and this was his reply: "While those from freshmen to seniors are eligible for the award, it has become a senior-dominated lifetime achievement award more often than not presented to multiple-time champions."

I'll admit, I did not know for certain that it could be awarded to an underclassman. I always suspected that it could be.

In this old guys opinion (and it is bias), if Justin Allman wins his 3rd state title this year(his Junior year), he would seem to be the front runner to win the Dutton. He would be the only one to have 3 state titles on his resume. He could also become the first underclassman to win it and would be eligible to win it again his Senior year.

I will stir Gator,
I think you could be right about a Jr. earning the Dutton this year.
But Allman would not be the front runner if we count on IFs.
Jacob Hart holds two state titles and IF he wins his third he would be the front runner. He is also a Jr. So he to would be eligible to win it again his senior year.plus Hart has placed in the WSAZs as a freshman and sophomore. And he holds AA honors. But like you Gator I am also bias, but I lean strongly to the coalfields.

Cam Moore should win his third this year, unless there is a big upset.

Plus, I'm pretty confident that he's the best pound for pound golfer in the field, that should count for soemthing

I agree

Do you give the Dutton Award to a wrestler if he gets thrashed 1 to 2 times by another WV wrestler earlier in the season?

For example: Wrestler A wins his state title. He has credentials to be considered a Dutton Award winner. However, Wrestler A loses 1 to 2 times earlier in the season to Wrestler X.

Wrestler A never beats Wrestler X not only in that given season, but in his career. Do you still give Wrestler A the Dutton Award or go with another qualified candidate who doesn't have another WV wrestler holding his number?

How can you say Wrestler A is WV's best wrestler when he couldn't beat Wrestler X?

If Moore takes the 120 pound title this year he will be a 3X state champ and a two time Virginia Beach AA.

True coach
And he has won the wsazs, but he s a senior. Gator and I, right or wrong, ,mainly based on bias, are trying to justify awarding the Dutton to a junior.

Bear, I assume you have a specific instance in mind. I have an idea, but I'm not positive.

Part of that, imho, would depend on a few factors. For example, was it at each wrestler's normal weight, or was one still working on getting to weight. You could also look at what each wrestler had been doing during the fall, that is, was one playing football while one was wrestling. I think any kid that participates in both will tell you that football shape and wrestling shape are two different things. This is probably more of an issue at the smaller schools than the bigger ones, since usually your good athletes play a sport every season in the smaller schools, at least at our school they do.

We have a kid that spent all fall bass and trout fishing. Probably not the best way to prepare for wrestling, but it's what he loves. Obviously, he wasn't in very good wrestling shape in December, but I'm confident that he will be in the mix at the end of the season.

And also, sometimes there's just that one kid that, for whatever reason, probably the "style" matchup, is the one that you can't beat, and he just happens to be in your weight class. Trust me, it happens

Thanks Frank for the update
Would you be kind to the me which of these boys placed in the Junior division at Fargo?

I do not follow WV wrestling too closely.. Thanks

Nope, I didn't like the tone of your first post. Too arrogant for my taste.

Realwrestling,
Noah Adams finished 4th in Cadet Greco in 2015 at USAW in Fargo in his first ever Greco tournament and then a few days later finished 4th in Cadet Freestyle in 2015 at USAW in Fargo as well as being the Champion of 2015 VA Beach Nationals.
Ryan Mills from Huntington also placed in each at Fargo at 5th and 6th respectively.
Neither was entered in the Junior Division though.

Surely didn't mean to overlook Mr Hart and Mr Moore in my statement. I tend to follow AAA more closely than A-AA. Both are just as deserving. I will concede that neither could beat Cam at golf! Bearhugger, I know where you are going with your comment and those matches haven't taken place yet. We'll have to wait and see what happens during the course of the year. You are merely speculating. It may come down to one of the closest votes for the Dutton Award since Mason and Moore tied several years ago and were co-winners.

I agree Lucas Simpkins-Ripley or Cam Moore-Roane should take it with another title this year. But if they we're not to win who would be in the talk?
Alex Daniels of Indy, I believe as a freshmen placed 5th at 160. Sophomore runner up (8-7 Frazier Gr. West). As a junior state Champ at 195. With another win and dominant season he has to be considered another front runner. Also wrestling a very tough schedule in and out of state.

Another one is Cole Ritchie of Calhoun. 4th at 138 as freshmen. NHSCA All-American. 3rd as a sophomore at 145. State Champ as Junior at 152. (Went 50-1 with only loss to a wrestler from St. Xavier) and so far into senior season hasn't allowed one point to be scored on him)

The WSAZ will proves as the measuring stick for the state tournament.

AA/A 120lbs has a few top wrestlers. You got two returning champs in Moore/Roane and Whorton/EF. Harris/Indy was last year's runner up. If the same teams return to the WSAZ, then these three will meet up.

When a Dutton candidate moves up in weight one time to challenge another state champion and loses, that is one thing.

However, it is different if this same "Dutton candidate" loses to his AA/A or AAA counterpart in the same weight class.

For example, if I am a AA/A state champion at 220lbs and I lost during the regular season to AAA state champion Gator at 285lbs, nobody is going to hold that against me for Dutton award purposes. I moved up in weight for a challenge.

On the other hand, if I lose to AAA state champion Jofus at 220lbs (and he is not a Dutton candidate), then it puts a dark cloud over me being awarded the Dutton Award. This is how I see things.

Now, we have a specific example brewing that will be a hot topic of discussion in two more years.

Josh Humphreys and Jackson Henson are all alone for the Dutton Award in two years. So far, they have been in different weight classes.

Two years in a row, Humphreys has moved up in weight to challenge Henson. He has lost both times. Although I do not know either wrestler personally, I predict this annual challenge will continue unless they grow apart too much weight wise.

Humphreys pinned his way to a state title and did it all in the first round. He just won the Powerade. Henson is 2-0 in head to head competition.

Next season these two will be behind: Allman, Adams and Hart for the Dutton.