HS Girls Tournament preview

[brentsams]

Girls preview- Who to watch

West Virginia High School Wrestling fans will receive a featured bonus at this year‘s state tournament when the girls division, the fastest growing sport in the country, makes its Huntington debut appearance on Saturday, March 2.

West Virginia Girls High School wrestling held its first state tournament four years ago in 2020 at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center in Parkersburg and has continued to grow each year. The 5th Annual Tournament will be the largest field ever with 144 registered wrestlers, more than tripling the number of 42 wrestlers that participated in the inaugural event.

The girls division will compete on the four northern mats at the Civic Center that traditionally are reserved for the AA-A division. The AA-A consolation semi finals and finals will moved to two mats on the southern AAA side Saturday morning. The girls division will wrestle straight through the consolation finals on Saturday afternoon. They will hold their championship matches Saturday evening on a third mat alongside the varsity AAA and AA-A finals.

Leading the girls invasion of Huntington will be Spring Valley‘s senior wrestler, Ciara Riner. Riner is seeking to become the state’s second wrestler to win four girls titles. Cabell Midland’s Zoey Salmons, first accomplished the feat last year. Riner is entered in the 138 pound class this year and has previously won titles at 126 pounds, 128 pounds and 133 pounds when the tournament was using the Madison weight system.
Riner’s top challengers at 138 are Musselman’s Cicely Cullins and Nicholas County’s McKenzie Hanshaw. Cullins looks to improve on her third place finish two years ago, and her runner-up finish from last year. Hanshaw is a returning state placer at 138.

Eight other wrestlers will join Riner as returning champions, while a ninth wrestler, Aubrey Moore, a two time champion from Brooke County will be unable to three-peat due to injury.

Leading the list of super eight returners are East Hardy’s 185 Nahkita Bauserman and Hampshire’s 165 Kaylie Hall. Both wrestlers will be seeking their third state title.

Bauserman’s top challengers will be returning state placers Sophie Diaz of Brooke County, Brooke Bennett of Princeton, and East Hardy teammate Chelsea Mills.

Hall, a junior and former Super 32 Champion, will be challenged by three top newcomers in Anaston Caruthers of Wirt County, Emma McGinnis from Buckhannon-Upshur, and Parkersburg South’s Ali Marcum.

Ale Evans of Cabell Midland will defend her 100 pound title against returning placers Brooklynn McClure of Shady Spring, and Lanie Knopp from Ripley and Spring Valley’s Jocelyn Adkins.

Independence’ Kenzie Taylor and Autumn Knotts of Grafton, a pair of former champs from 2022, return to the mats to seek their second crowns after taking last year off.

Taylor is seeking the 126 pound title against a very deep and balanced weight class that includes returning state placers Charlotte Kershisnik of Washington and Musselman’s Kerrington Bennett as well as top newcomers Amiya Powell of Parkersburg South and Braylynn Custred from Parkersburg High.

Knotts is seeking to regain the 235 pound title but will have to go through returning placers Rory Amos from Paden City, Liberty Raleigh’s Maddy Lucas, and Claire Holt of Princeton.

Two other wrestlers return to repeat as champions and will also try to lead their schools to the team title as well. Liberty Raleigh and Parkersburg South looks to be in a very tight battle for first. Both schools are bringing eight wrestlers to the tournament with several top seeds. Defending Champions East Hardy will also bring eight wrestlers and will not go down easily.

Liberty Raleigh will be led by Carlee Osborne, who is seeking to win her second title at 132 pounds this year. Osborne will be challenged by two returning state runner-ups in Buckhannon-Upshur’s undefeated Maya Garcia, and Morganne Miller from East Hardy.

Parkersburg South is led by sophomore Justice Anthony who will defend her 120 pound title against last year’s 113 champion Kirclyn Coleman from Oak Hill. The 120 pound class is the only weight with two returning champions competing in it.

The four remaining weight classes, 107, 113, 145, and 152, will crown first time champions.

Lakenzi Whittington of Sissonville has finished runner-up to four time champion Salmons for three years and looks to get over the hump by winning the 107 pound title. She will be pressed by Cabell Midland’s freshman sensation Annabelle Ward and Beast of the East runner-up Abigail DeBerry from Musselman.
Buchanan-Upshur’s Brianna Howes and Parkersburg South’s Anniya Powell are the top competitors at 114 pounds with Howes getting the top seed by coin flip. They should meet in Saturday nights finals.

Gracie Hutchinson is keeping the family’s wrestling legacy alive in Huntington and is a favorite in the 145 pound class. Hutchinson is a multiple state runner-up finisher and will take on the top challengers of Eliana Winfrey from Tyler Consolidated, Princeton’s Emily Morris, Brenna Riggs from Parkersburg South, and Shady Spring’s Abigail Honaker.

Luckily the 152 pound class is bracketed and not round robin as all the competitors have wins against another with two tournaments going to criteria in round robin ties. From top to bottom it is the most balanced bracket in the tournament with any of the eleven registered wrestlers capable of winning. Liberty Raleigh’s Lucy Farris got the top seed based on returning state placer and most recent victories. Newcomer Presley Hurlbrink from Musselman is one to watch as she recently won on criteria at the South Open. Oak Hill’s Kya Osborne finished second at Williamstown and South, and South’s Olivia Junkins finished first and third at Williamstown and South. Greenbrier East’s Josie Bennett won the Lady Liberty Tournament ahead of Farris but finished 5th at South behind Pike View’s Abby Hedrick, who finished second at Williamstown and was beaten by Raleigh’s JV Katie Mullins. Then there is also returning state placers Madison Spanaugle from Frankfort and Spring Valley’s Rebekah Napier who also won the 165 pound class at Williamstown. Tussle Champion Mia Howerton of Ripley and Jefferson’s Meredith Hunt can’t be overlooked in the mix of competition.

The girl’s competition begins at 10:30 Saturday Morning March 2nd with the Championship Finals scheduled for 6:00 that evening.

[beachbum1234]

[Awesome stuff. Thank you.

[RobFrank]

Great article. The number of good wrestlers in all weight classes, and especially in 114, 120, and 126 is encouraging. In the 120 weight class, there is at least an argument to be made that there are 3 state champions seeded. Maya Frank of Greenbrier East (seeded No. 4) was last year's Middle School champion (Madison 118) - pinning all of her opponents in the tournament. Agreeably, a middle school championship may not be the same as a HS championship, but it is still an indicator of competition at that weight. Emily Dunlap of Ripley (seeded No. 3 at 120) is a tough competitor as well. This is a great bracket to watch.

[aacoach62]

I know everyone is busy. When can we expect the release of the Girls State Tournament brackets?

Thank you

[beachbum1234]

I know everyone is busy. When can we expect the release of the Girls State Tournament brackets?

Thank you

Thought I read somewhere brackets weren't coming out until after weigh ins.