This season’s ‘been a ride’ for PHS wrestlers
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PARKERSURG -- The Parkersburg High School wrestling trio of senior Jesse Showalter and sophomores Stephen Myers and Dominic Way had no issues Thursday night during the opening round of the 78th annual West Virginia state wrestling tournament being held inside Huntington's Marshall Health Network Arena.
Showalter, who bumped up to 175 pounds, is hoping to reach his first state final, Myers is eyeing his second state crown while Way is just excited to have a chance to win the Class AAA title at 138 after missing regionals a year ago.
Although the PHS grapplers did their best to convince head coach Matt Littleton to dye his hair, that didn't transpire.
"He's got a real nice draw to make a finals run. He really put himself in a really good position going up to 175," coach Littleton said of Showalter, who placed fourth at 120 as a freshman and took third at 150 as a junior.
"We beat the Murphy kid from University at state duals and came into the region the fourth seed and upset the one, and then obviously avenged our only loss at 175 in the finals with the kid from (Cabell) Midland, so I think he's got himself in a good spot to really make a run at this thing."
"You can't take anything lightly," said Showalter. "I just know I got to go out there and wrestle how I know how to and keep the pace up."
When asked about the blonde hair issue the senior replied "just this week we all decided, all the qualifiers that are going to state, to bleach our hair, so all of our 11 guys who've made it got bleached hair.
"We tried to get him, too. We got a deal with him that he's going to dye his beard after states. We got to get the job done first. I can tell you that. Senior season, it's been fun. It's been a ride. Four years goes by fast. It goes by quick, but senior year has been fun and the growth that we've had is amazing. I'm glad to be a part of this team."
Showalter said he's currently undecided about his future, but would consider wrestling at the next level if the right offer came along.
"It's fun," the Big Red added of being in the matroom. "You get to come in here and you get to compete. Different types of levels, different styles. It's all fun.
"You got kids that can beat up on you. You got kids that you're going to have a grind with. It's all fun. We all come out smiling at the end. We all just enjoy it."
That would depend on the day of the week because Myers, who went 40-1 en route to last year's 126-pound crown, was sporting a gash above his brow inflicted by Way that had to be glued.
"Funny story," quipped Myers, who is 42-6 and favored to win 132, of going blonde. "We were eating lunch and Dom was scrolling on Instagram and he came up across, I think it was Iowa State, and they all had bleach hair.
"Dom was like 'I think that would be pretty cool' so I said no. I was like I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. Next thing you know here I am with bleach hair. I was the last person to do it though. They really had to convince me to do it."
Myers doesn't need to be convinced that hard work pays off even though this season started slower than he wanted.
"At the beginning of the season, all of December, it was very hard. I went to Ironman, Powerade and those are top tournaments in the country," Myers said. "After those it was basically just like another match to me really. It's West Virginia. There's nothing compared to those out of state tournaments like that.
"It's more of a motivational thing. That's what keeps me pushing to try and achieve my next goal is what I like to tell myself. Just those losses, it means, like I have my Ironman medal in my locker right now and I always look at it everyday, so that pushes me to drive to the next level."
Way, who also has six defeats on his record, knows he has to stay on top of his game.
"I went through a lot last year. This year is going to be a lot different. I got a target on my back," admitted Way, who added of not competing in last year's regional "it took a lot out of me. I went a few months, just it was really hard, but it drove me to wrestle harder and work harder in the room and just be a better wrestler all around. I feel like I had a lot of pressure on me last year and not being able to wrestle it really just opened my eyes to I just got to take advantage of what I can.
"I didn't like it for a while. It took me a while to really get back in the groove and wrestling really well. I really think we got a good team. We got a good shot to win it. I think we're fully capable of going out there and winning no matter what everyone else thinks. We're down a guy. University is down a guy. I think we just got to show up and wrestle to the best of our ability and we'll be able to win that title."
Way pointed out "we've had a tough season this year. I've pinned and tech'd everyone I've won this year. I've lost six matches this year. I had a bad tournament and lost two. The other four losses all came to nationally-ranked wrestlers. That tournament really pushed me forward showing me where I was at with some of those guys and it drove me to work harder and get better at wrestling.
"Just getting better and really close to those guys so it's coming up in this freestyle season going to the nationals and going to Super 32 and all these big tournaments, and just going out there and prove myself, get ready for college and get on the map."
No matter what transpires during the final two days in Huntington, Showalter just wants to give it his best and try to go out in style.
"I'd say mostly the experience," the senior responded when asked what he cherished most about being a Big Red. "You got all the alumni that come in and talk to you and hope you do just as good them or better. It's just a great experience to know that you have a lot of people that cheer you on and want you to do great."
Myers understands that quite well and he plans to just continue doing his thing.
""It's definitely gone by fast," Myers said of his prep mat career nearing its midpoint. "I definitely have a lot of memories in the past two years. All the trips and just all the experiments and side quests that me and this team had. Our brotherhood, it's just unmatched.
"We all love each other. We're just brothers. It's just a grind we always have together and we always stick with it and we always have each other's backs. From there, that's just how we win stuff and we always bring each other up."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com