St. Marys junior heavyweight Ben Wagstaff walks off the mat a winner Saturday evening at Wirt County following his 4-2 championship match overtime decision against Braxton County’s Conner Facemire that concluded the 59th annual Little Kanawha Conference wrestling championships. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

ELIZABETH — The 59th annual Little Kanawha Conference wrestling championships held Saturday at Wirt County once again ended with head coach Sterling Beane’s Braxton County program atop the team standings for the sixth straight time.

The Eagles bested the field and finished with 225.5 points to easily top Tyler Consolidated’s 146.5. The Silver Knights, who were runner-up a year ago as well, finished ahead of Ravenswood (124), fourth-place Williamstown (100.5) and Roane County (86.5).

Doddridge County senior 138-pounder Riley Curran, who had a takedown and two near fall points against Braxton County’s Andrew Brandt in the first period of their title match, secured a 15-0 technical fall and was voted as the Most Outstanding Wrestler.

The Bulldogs of head coach Chris Coffman not only watched Curran become a two-time LKC champ, but 190-pound teammate Trenton Huffman also registered a 15-0 technical fall versus Williamstown’s Brayden Buckley. Huffman was the 160-pound champ last year for the Silver Knights.

“It was great to have Trenton Huffman get in the finals and get a championship there, too,” said a smiling Curran. “I think it was a good tournament. I think I’m starting to get in better shape. That’s been the big thing with this season is getting in better shape. I think I’m starting to finally get in better shape and wrestle my matches out better.

Williamstown heavyweight Jensen Burge, who pinned Tyler Consolidated’s Raustyn Wade, takes a glance at the scoreboard during his consolation finals match Saturday evening at Wirt County during the 59th annual Little Kanawha Conference wrestling championships. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“It was good to get a tech fall in the finals. It’s great getting these accomplishments, but it’s time for the big dance to start and get down there, get to regionals, get our tickets to state there and punch them. Then hopefully go out and compete well at state and get a few state titles.”

Braxton County, which finished in fifth place behind champion Calhoun County back in 2016, had 10 finalists and crowned a quartet of champions. That included 144-pounder Blayne Jarvis and 157-pounder Logan Bennett securing their second career LKC crowns.

Jarvis got a takedown 31 seconds into his match against Tyler Consolidated’s Branson Winfrey, who trailed 12-2 entering the third. The match was stopped after Winfrey was shaken up at the end of the second as Jarvis officially won by injury default.. Bennett went ahead with 27 seconds left in the first after taking down Gilmer County’s Caleb Hall. The freshman Titan only trailed 3-0 entering the third, but lost via fall in 4:32.

Three other wrestlers stoop atop their respective weight class in the LKC for a second time — Tyler Consolidated’s Kaden Huffman as well as Clay County teammates Zane Minger and Noah Casto. Huffman defended his 113-pound title thanks to an 8-3 win against Wirt County’s Grant Boyce. The Tiger freshman used a reversal to square the match at two going into the second, but Huffman was able to turn him for three near fall points to take control. Minger recorded a 12-2 major decision versus Braxton County’s Anthony Currence to claim 126. At 215, Casto won 3-2 against Braxton County’s Justin Bishop as he made a third period takedown stand. Casto was the 195-pound champ as a freshman.

Coach Beane’s other two LKC crowns came from 132-pounder Paxton Smith, who won via forfeit against Ritchie County’s Tristen Ginanni, and at 165 from Tyler Cox. At 1:17 of the first, Cox watched opponent Chase Lowe of Wirt County strike first with a takedown. However, Cox was able to use a reversal and two near fall points to take a 4-3 edge into the second. Cox then secured his crown via a 5-4 decision as each wrestler only managed an escape apiece the rest of the way.

Unranked Roane County junior Levi Holbert opened the finals at 106 with a pin. The Raider was able to secure his mat slapper with a second left in the opening period against Eagle Cody Stout.

Ravenswood head coach John Heath’s Red Devils crowned two champions — 120-pound senior Jordan Varney and 150-pound junior Jacob Bowling. It was the first time the Red Devils pulled off the feat since 2006 when David Dennis won 119 and Judd Billings stood atop the podium at 140. Varney won via a 12-0 major decision versus Tyler Consolidated’s Colsen Spragg. Bowling was matched up for the second straight weekend against Wahama’s Kase Stewart, who lost 8-6 last week in the finals at the Single-A Challenge in Ellenboro. This time, though, the Red Devil won via fall in 2:53.

The other two LKC champions were 175-pounder Sean Winfrey from Tyler Consolidated and St. Marys heavyweight Ben Wagstaff. Winfrey won by forfeit against Braxton County’s Jackson Davis. Wagstaff trailed Conner Facemire 2-1 in third, but was able to get it into overtime after the Eagle was hit with two stalls in the final 40 seconds. Once into the extra one-minute session, the Blue Devil was able to get his winning takedown just 20 ticks in.

“That was a hard-fought match,” Wagstaff admitted. “Just keep winning. That was the goal. I just wanted to ride him out as long as I could and see what happened from that.”

Ravenswood had a trio of consolation finals victors thanks to Levi Blackhurst (106), Matthew Phelps (138) and Wyatt Milhoan (157). Roane County — Tyson Pena (120) and Lane Watson (175), South Harrison — Kye Teeter (126) and Michael Radcliff (165) as well as TCHS — Keith Doyle (150) and Kendall Huffman (190) each had two wrestlers finish third place.

Also securing third-place podium finishes were Ritchie County’s Brayden Lamp (113), Wirt County’s Philip Balis (132), Calhoun County’s Haiden Staton (144), Wahams’s Ashton Broughman (215) and Williamstown heavyweight Jensen Burge.

“I thought we did pretty well. I was pretty happy we ended up fourth,” said Williamstown head man Tyler George. “Last week we probably wrestled the worst we’ve wrestled all year. Ended up eighth at the Single-A Challenge, but we kind of got together as a group and realized what we were doing and refocused this week. We had a very good week in practice. Yeah, we got four starters out, but you can’t use that as an excuse.

“You got to show up with who you got and perform to the best of your ability. I think, for the most part, we did that today. As long as we are peaking at the right time that’s all I care about. If we roll into regionals keeping this momentum then I think we will be able to upset some guys and kind of beat some guys who have overlooked us this year. I’m happy the way we performed and bounced back from last weekend.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com