Grapplers finish second at Cameron

The Berkeley Springs High School Wrestling team placed second in the seven-team Tri-State Invitational at Cameron on Saturday, January 6. Led by first place finishes from Derek Hovermale, Tyson Bennett and Cody Reed, the Indians amassed 139 points, 16 points fewer than team champion Grafton.

Josh Connor also placed first at 119, wrestling for the Berkeley Springs B-team. Therefore his points did not count in the team standings.

Hovermale pinned Dylan Aulenbacher in the semifinal match at 103, before scoring a 17-4 major decision, over Devon Phillips of Magnolia in the finals.

Bennett too pinned his way into the 160 pound final, with a first-period fall over Keith Doty of Cameron. In the final, Bennett scored a 16-0 technical fall over Grafton's Chris Muller.

The third champion for the Berkeley Springs varsity, Cody Reed, scored a 15-0 technical fall in his semifinal match with Cody Taylor from John Marshall and then pinned Cody Sheme of Grafton in 2:27 of the 189 pound title bout.

The Indians also had three second place finishes, a third and a fourth in the one-day invitational.

Brad Reed fell to teammate Connor 12-2 in the 119 pound final, A.J. Blankenship lost to Julian Yost of Tyler Consolidated 9-6 in the 125 pound title match and Richard Marshall was pinned by Tevin Hall of Cameron in the 112 pound final.

Berkeley Springs got a big boost from Jake Stotler (285), who was wrestling in his first high school match. Stotler showed his strength and athleticism, placing third with a pin of Grafton's Joey Pitcher in the consolation final.

Rounding out the place winners for Berkeley Springs, was Zach Younker who finished fourth at 215.

"Overall, I was very pleased," said Berkeley Springs coach Darrell Bennett. "Jake really gave us a lift. This was the first time he has ever wrestled and he did a good job. Once he learns more, he will be a force to be reckoned with. We had all but three of our varsity lineup in the finals. I thought we had a pretty good showing."

Team Scores

Grafton 155

Berkeley Springs 139

Cameron 111 1/2

Tyler Consolidated 102

John Marshall B 75

Magnolia 68

Liberty Harrison 46

Morgantown quad

A day earlier, Berkeley Springs wrestled in a quadrangular meet at Morgantown High School. The Indians defeated Preston County 57-24 and South Harrison 54-12, before losing to Morgantown 45-33.

Hovermale, Marshall, Connor, Bennett, Caleb Smalley and Cody Reed each won all three matches, while Brad Reed, Younker and Stotler each won two matches.

Berkeley Springs wrestles this Friday, January 12 and Saturday January 13 at the Winners Choice in Fairmont.