[West Virginia Wrestling]

Milton Middle School

Panthers -- Wrestling

The 2008-2009 season was a great one for Milton but difficult in many ways. There were several kids who were injured at various times which is always a heartbreak for the coach and team. We won every tournament we entered when we had our starting lineup intact. On a personal note, I finished my 25th season coaching. This season I had some wrestlers whose parents had been on my team. I reached the milestone of coaching my 30 thousandth individual match!

Since Milton was ranked first for most of the season, we had a big target on our chests and our wrestlers showed tremendous maturity and responded to the pressure in a positive way. At times, they wrestled injured or sick and continued to get the job done. Many of our guys doubled or even tripled their win totals from last year. This was a direct result of their desire to excel and hard work in the practice room. Many of our first year wrestlers also responded in an outstanding manner. Their hard work and dedication allowed us to be successful this season on a number of levels.

Milton finished the year ranked # 1 among the 98 middle school teams in the state. Two wrestlers, Logan Grass 38-0 and Nick Boone 50-0 had unbeaten seasons.

The highlight of the season was finishing first at the WSAZ Championships. The Panthers led from start to finish and crowned three individual champs, Logan Grass, Jeremy Waugh and Nick Boone who had a combined record of an astounding 138-1 for the entire season. Milton's other place winners were: Jordan Allen, Bobby Mitchell, Tyler Hayes (Small), Josh Miller, Mason White, Kasey Thomas, Mark Armbrester, Tyler Hayes (Tall), and Zach Cooper. Twelve wrestlers placing individually at WSAZ is also a new record. The team had a great showing in Parkersburg as well winning the prestigious Clash of Champions in Parkersburg where we had six wrestlers go 10-0: Logan Grass, Bobby Mitchell, Jordan Allen, Jeremy Waugh Mark Armbrester and Nick Boone.

Locally, Milton won the Cabell Conference Championship for the fifth year in a row. Milton had 8 Individual County Champions and 19 place winners overall. The Panthers crowned Jordan Allen, Logan Grass, Tyler Hayes, Josh Miller 2X, Mason White, Jeremy Waugh 2X, Mark Armbrester and Nick Boone 3X as individual champs.

Four wrestlers reached the 100 Win Mark for their careers, Nick Boone @ 126 wins, Josh Miller @122 wins, Jeremy Waugh @ 115 wins and Mark Armbrester @ 110 wins.

Academically, the team excelled as well. Eight of our wrestlers made the WVMAT Academic All State Team with averages of 3.7 or above and another 11 made the WVMAT Academic Honor Roll. Our overall team grade point average was a fantastic 3.37 Twenty one out of twenty four wrestlers made the school honor roll during wrestling season.

Many outstanding wrestlers are leaving us but Tradition Never Graduates! The Panthers will return:
Starters
Logan Grass 38-00 7th Grader
Jordan Allen 47-04 7th Grader
Bobby Mitchell 35-07 7th Grader
Mason White 42-12 8th Grader
Kasey Thomas 31-13 8th Grader
Tanner Chapman 25-19 8th Grader
Sammy Holton 30-18 7th Grader
Tyler Hayes 40-10 8th Grader

Reserves
Nathan Napier 09-16 7th Grader
Justin Leggett 23-23 8th Grader
Tim Blake 08-17 7th Grader
Zach Sellards 16-12 8th Grader
Isaac Gibson 21-15 7th Grader
Nathan Jefferson 02-02 7th Grader (Inj.)
Newcomers expected to make an immediate impact are Devin Stapleton, Cameron Stapleton and Chris Roberts who have years of experience with the Monster Garage Team as well as several newcomers from the Milton Youth League and some great athletes who will be trying the sport for the first time.

We expect around 60 to try out for the 30-35 spots and will try to field 2 full teams as usual. We are always looking for JV matches as well as Varsity. Whether or not we reach our goals will be determined by how hard we work and how much we learn. The sacrifices will be great but so will the rewards.

Goals for the 2009 2010 Season
1. Win our county championship for the 6th year in a row.
2. Place 10 wrestlers or more at WSAZ
3. Stay among the top middle schools in the coach's polls
4. Maintain our high standards of academics and sportsmanship
5. Improve our training, technique and toughness.
6. Finish the season healthy and injury free
7. Get each wrestler including JV at least 35-40 matches

2009-2010 Schedule

Nov. 9 First Practice
Nov. 13 Final Cut - Team Chosen
Nov. 24th Wrestling With Hunger Scrimmage @ MMS

Dec. 2nd JV Quad @ McKinley - St. Albans
Dec. 4-5 Charleston Inv. - Charleston Civic Center
Dec. 11-12 Falcon Invitational @ John Adams
Dec. 18-19 Jason Eades Memorial @ Point Pleasant
Dec. 28-29 Clash of Champions @ Parkersburg

Jan. 6th JV Quad @ McKinley - St. Albans
Jan. 9th Fighting Camel Inv. @ Campbell Co./ Wilder KY
Jan. 15-16 JV - Trojan Inv. @ McKinley / St. Albans
Jan. 22-23 WSAZ Invitational @ Huntington Civic Center
Jan. 29-30 WV Duals @ Parkersburg
TBA Cabell Conference Tournament

*Note - JV wrestlers will also compete at tournaments with the varsity wherever possible. We are always looking for more JV Maches - if interested contact Coach LeMaster

Jump to the Milton Middle School Home Page
Return to the WV-Mat front page
Return to the list of teams

Updated 09/24/2009