Parkersburg South’s Brayden Johnson, pictured here after winning his second state championship last year in Huntington, opened 2020 on Wednesday by receiving a forfeit in his match against rival Parkersburg in the annual city dual. South defeated the Big Reds, 64-18. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — Gavin Quiocho got the season officially underway on a warm Wednesday inside Rod Oldham Athletic Center as host Parkersburg South celebrated senior night with a 64-18 dual meet victory versus rival Parkersburg.

Quiocho, who is seeking a fourth consecutive Class AAA title, registered a takedown nine seconds into his 160-pound match with Carter King. The Big Red trailed 8-3 after one and Quiocho secured three more takedowns before getting a pin in 2:41.

“It’s crazy. It’s crazy,” said Quiocho of being the lone senior who competed as fellow 12th-graders Noah Buckalew (220), Devin Easton (120) and Brayden Johnson (138) also were honored. “It’s taken awhile, but glad to be out here.

“Just wrestle how I do. That’s all I can do.

We’re pretty lucky to have some good kids that have came up and good kids who have stayed with us and we really have some hard workers I’m pretty appreciative for.”

Jude Childers needed just 36 ticks to get a pin at 170 against Big Red Bryant Walker for a 12-0 lead. Patriot Aydan Edwards registered a takedown just five seconds into his 182-pound battle against Gabe Martin and won via fall in 26 seconds.

Parkersburg, which has a 6 p.m. home quad Saturday when Wirt County, Clay County and Roane County invades Memorial Fieldhouse, got on the board when 195-pounder Zach Howard won by forfeit.

Head coach Matt Littleton’s Big Reds then received the quickest pin of the night when 220-pounder Jacob McCune finished Zane Taylor in 22 seconds. The match was even for the only time at 18-all following Jeffrey Jones’ pin in 2:38 of Patriot heavyweight Demetrius Gearheart, who led 5-0 after securing a takedown seven seconds in and then registering three near fall points. Jones used a reversal late in the first and nearly had a mat slapper, but it came just after the buzzer.

“Definitely happy to see the season start,” admitted Littleton, who hopes to have Michael Owen (182), Levi Townsend (120/126) and Phoenix Sprigg (132) back for Saturday. “We were worried that it wasn’t going to happen back in November and then December and then January. Now we are starting to get things rolling, which is nice.

“Obviously, we have to get healthy and we got a lot of holes in our lineup right now due to some injuries. That’s our focus right now, trying to get those guys back to 100%. We knew we had some matchups with some of their better kids and it’s back to the drawing board and we got to get better.”

Brady Roberts’ win via forfeit at 106 put the Patriots ahead for good at 24-18.

The score moved to 28-18 following Brent Bosley’s 14-3 major decision of George Cantwell at 113. Bosley secured the first takedown and led 4-1 before the Big Red got a reversal on the edge of the mat. However, the Patriot grabbed a 6-3 lead after one thanks to a reversal of his own with seven seconds to go. Bosley led 11-3 going to the third and turned Cantwell for his final three points.

Easton took a win by forfeit at 120 and the score was 40-18 after South’s Parker Field had a takedown on Braycon Hedges 10 ticks into their 126-pound match. Field won via fall in 90 seconds.

“It was hot. I don’t know. It wasn’t my idea. That’s for sure,” said PSHS boss Shaun Smith, who watched Trent Jones (132), the two-time state champ Johnson, Gage Wright (145) and Robert Shockey (152) all win via forfeit. “That’s what I said to the boys, be grateful for this opportunity. There was a time when I wasn’t sure this day was going to come and I’m very thankful for that. Saw some really good things tonight.

“I know it wasn’t a whole lot of wrestling, but I saw some things we need to work on. We’ve got a few things we need to work on and when we wrestle this weekend (10 a.m. Saturday with George Washington at Huntington tri) I’m sure we’ll hit on things we need to work on as well.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com