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South mat not going anywhere

I suppose one could use a plethora of words to describe Parkersburg South’s state mat performance this past weekend in Huntington, but pure utter dominance comes to my mind first. Of course, in order to achieve goals and break school and state records, a lot of work has to take place behind the scenes in the matroom. The beauty of covering the sport is in watching the athletes try to realize their dreams. Parkersburg South senior 152-pounder Josh Humphreys had a new home this winter, but things couldn’t have turned out any better. Not only did Humphreys’ final win in the ...

This week in MOV athletics

Basketball now takes center stage for the rest of the winter sports campaign after the completion of a fairly smooth state wrestling tournament Saturday in Huntington. Mountain State hoops fans will have a complete picture of who is playing in the girls’ state tournament and what the boys’ regional co-finals look like by the end of the week. Four of our local girls’ basketball squads are in the mix for a trip to Charleston in Parkersburg, Parkersburg South, Parkersburg Catholic and Williamstown. In Class AAA, Scott Cozzens’ fourth-ranked Big Reds are looking for a second ...

A special day for the Patriots’ wrestling team

Parkersburg High School casts a towering, sometimes inescapable shadow over the other schools in the area, especially when it comes to sports. The School of Champions isn’t just a nickname, it is a way of life all Big Reds take pride in. PHS teams have accumulated enough state ...

Yellowjackets’ Bethany Arnold is a glass cleaner

Hanging on one of the walls inside Williamstown High School’s gymnasium is a banner with a single name printed on the material. Though hundreds of girls have passed through the Yellowjackets’ girls basketball program, Molly Kiger remains the only player to collect 1,000 career rebounds. This fact isn’t hard to understand. Williamstown head coach Fred Sauro uses a rotation system of five-player substitution patterns (so he always has returning experienced varsity players), which means any individual hoping to join their name with Kiger’s must take advantage of all their ...

Big Reds’ Stephen Carder fine being top dog

Stephen Carder wasn’t favored to a win a state title last year, but things are different this time around. The Parkersburg Big Red 145-pound grappler enters his final state wrestling tournament with a target on his back. That’s quite all right with him. “Honestly, it makes me feel ...

This week in MOV athletics

Two teams and one motivated individual have chances at history when the W.Va. State Wrestling Championships kick off Thursday inside Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington. Parkersburg South’s grappling team can complete a four-peat as the team title winner. I say “can” but it is more likely “will” at this point. The Patriots bring their entire starting roster to states, including the top- or second-ranked wrestler in more than half the weight classes. One of Shaun Smith’s wrestlers, Josh Humphreys, is aiming to join state legends by winning his fourth straight state ...