Parkersburg South heavyweight Brycen Arthur has his hand raised following a 21-second pin of George Washington’s Daylon Thomas during Thursday’s opening round of the 76th annual West Virginia state wrestling tournament held inside Huntington’s Mountain Health Arena. (Photo Provided)

HUNTINGTON — Following Thursday’s opening round at the 76th annual West Virginia state wrestling tournament inside Mountain Health Arena, Parkersburg South leads the Class AAA field with 41 points.

The Patriots of head coach Shaun Smith watched his team go 12-1 with seven pins. That included an opening round best seven-second mat slapper from 175-pounder and two-time state champion Gage Wright.

PSHS, which leads Spring Mills (34), University (34), Woodrow Wilson (32) and Wheeling Park (25) in the team standings, also received victories by fall from Corbin Phillips (106), Uriah Morris (120), Brady Roberts (126), Kyle Wheeler (157), Ayden Morris (215) and heavyweight Brycen Arthur, who won in 21 seconds.

Patriots Ryan Martin (138), Makiya Powell (150) and Robert Shockey (190) won via major decision, while teammates Nathan Murphy (138) and Trent Bush (165) advanced in the championship bracket with wins by decision.

Parkersburg head coach Matt Littleton’s squad went 2-3 on day one. Region IV champion C.J. Carrodus at 113 and fellow freshman teammate Adam Elder at 215 both started their state tournament careers with pins.

Ripley’s seven wrestlers finished 3-4. Hunter Brown at 150 and Cooper Durst at 175 won via fall, while Ethan Kay advanced via a major decision at 144.

In the Class AA race, six-time defending Little Kanawha Conference champion Braxton County is in third place with 33 points behind Fairmont Senior (40) and Point Pleasant (36). Independence (26) and Oak Glen (23) round out the top five.

The Eagles of veteran boss Sterling Beane finished 9-2 and received seven total pins thanks to Cody Stout (106), Anthony Currence (126), Paxton Smith (132), Blayne Jarvis (144), Logan Bennett (157), Tyler Cox (165) and 190-pounder Bryce Leegan.

Justin Bishop also recorded a major decision at 190 for the Eagles, who watched heavyweight Ryder McLaughlin nip Tyler Consolidated’s Raustyn Wade, 2-1.

Cameron and Wirt County currently lead the single-A field with 14 points and were followed by Greenbrier West (10), Tyler Consolidated (10) and East Hardy (10).

The Tigers went 4-1 and received wins by fall from Phillip Balis at 132 as well as Chase Lowe at 165 and Channing Lowe at 175. Xzavier Wells picked up an 8-2 decision against Doddridge County’s Trey McDonough at 106.

Tyler Consolidated managed a 3-2 effort and had pins thanks to Kaden Huffman at 113 and Sean Winfrey at 175. Colsen Spragg advanced for the Silver Knights via decision.

In other area Class AA/A head-to-head matchups, Stout pinned Ravenswood’s Levi Blackhurst and Roane County’s Levi Holbert did the same to Williamstown’s Waylon Barniak at 106. At 113, Huffman registered a second period fall versus Clay County’s James Sears.

Roane County also received a mat slapper from Chase Beckner at 126 in his match versus Yellowjacket Holden McComas. Ritchie County’s Tristen Ginanni topped Magnolia’s Lucas Zombotti, 6-0 at 132.

The Eagle Jarvis needed 27 seconds to pin Calhoun County’s Haiden Staton. At 157, Ritchie County’s Dalton Settle won via a 15-0 technical fall against Magnolia’s Jordan Davis. Wahama’s Andrew Roush fell to the Eagles’ Cox by fall in 4:26.

The other two area opening round matchups saw Williamstown’s Brayden Buckley record a pin in overtime against Silver Knight and fellow 190-pounder Kendall Huffman, while Clay County 215-pounder Noah Casto took care of Calhoun County’s Levi Stump with a pin in 3:00.

Also winning on Thursday from the area were Roane County’s Tyson Pena (120) and Lane Watson (175), Williamstown’s Cayden Blankenship (120) and Jensen Burge (285), Clay County’s Zane Minger (126) and Ethan Morris (285), Ritchie County’s Kodi Camp (138), Doddridge County’s Riley Curran (138) and Trenton Huffman (190), Wahama’s Kase Stewart (150) and Ravenswood’s Jake Bowling (150).

Action is set to resume at 11:30 a.m. today with the state semifinals getting underway at 7:30 p.m.