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PARKERSBURG — Now that Parkersburg South is a member of the Mountain State Athletic Conference, the past is the past.

With a balanced conference schedule, no longer can teams dodge playing Parkersburg South on the Patriots’ home floor.

“Joining the MSAC was a big plus for us, – both game-wise and travel-wise,” said Parkersburg South coach Mike Fallon, who was one of the major proponents in favor of the school’s transition out of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference. “I think we have more home games this year than what we have had the last two years combined. Now teams have to come here. They can’t dodge us because we are in a conference together.

“We have teams that owe us a home game that never returned a home game. Now they will have to play us here eventually. This is the best place in West Virginia you need to play.”

Unlike recent years where the boys basketball program was graduating up to as many as 10 seniors every year, the Patriots graduated three players from a team which finished 15-10.

“It was one of the smallest graduating classes we’ve had – those three guys put in a lot of time with us and were dedicated to us,” Fallon said. “They were three pretty big pieces for us.”

This season, Fallon has an abundance of depth at his disposal. His primary pieces are seniors Harry Silvis, Taj Joyce and Matthew Mullen.

Much of how South operates starts with Silvis. A pure shooter, Silvis has extended his game.

“Harry is not a jump shooter anymore – he is a basketball player now,” Fallon said. “He is putting the ball on the floor, attacking the rim and handling pressure.

He kind of reminds me a lot of Ashton Mooney when he went from his junior to senior year. It just kind of clicked. Same thing with Harry.”

With Silvis on the floor, Joyce becomes that much more dangerous along the interior. Joyce played wide receiver in the fall for the Patriot football team.

“Taj is just an animal,” Fallon said. “He’s grown a little bit. I think football has toughened him up a little bit.”

Fallon plans to put Mullen in a more specific role. Last year, Mullen played primarily with his back to the basket.

“We’re putting Mullen on the perimeter a little more where he is more comfortable,” Fallon said. “We’ve seen a growth in his game this summer just because we changed up positions with him.”

Among the dozen or so bodies which will rotate in and off the floor on a consistent basis are seniors Bowen Rader, Chase Offenberger, Cam Fallon, Evan Hyson and Drew Blough.

“Over the summer, Bowen Rader has become a force – he shoots the basketball really well,” Fallon said. “He has become more vocal and outward with things. Chase Offenberger has always been a force. Cam can shoot the basketball and stretch the floor. Evan Hyson came out of his shell and done some good things for us. Drew has also come around and done some good things.”

Aiden Treat and Xavier St. Andry are two juniors who figure to be part of the equation, along with sophomores Carter Fluty, Logan Graham and Baron Davis.

“It’s a great vibe on this team – we have a lot of camaraderie,” Silvis said.”It’s like my freshman year. We were always together as a team – outside of the season, outside of practice. Everybody was doing stuff together. I feel like everybody is a little more connected. Everybody has a similar goal in mind. It’s a bit of selflessness.”

South, which led against Morgantown early in the fourth quarter during last year’s 59-50 state quarterfinal loss, has advanced to the Big Dance three of the past four years – finishing runner-up in 2022 and again in 2023.

“It’s something we talked about the first day and said we wouldn’t bring up again,” Fallon said. “We’re tired – tired of second place. We want to get over that hump. Our kids know in the back of their mind what we want to accomplish, but we know it’s a process.

“They’ve bought into everything we have done.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Turn the page.

Those three words are vital to the Parkersburg South girls basketball team while trying to put the previous last season under lock and key. The Patriots built some momentum at the tail end before closing out at 8-18.

“It was a tough year – we didn’t have much go our way with injuries and sickness – it was just one of those things,” South coach Ed Davis said. “To the girls’ credit, once we did get people back I thought we played our best basketball at the end of the season. I was proud of them for persevering.”

The wear and tear of the season also took its toll on the coaching staff. On occasion, to supplement the number of bodies available at practices, the coaching staff was called upon to lace up the tennis shoes and take part in drills.

Coach Davis used part of the offseason to do a personal assessment and decide how he wanted to handle the program moving forward.

“I took some downtime in the offseason and thought about it a lot – I prayed about it a lot,” Davis said. “I can’t say enough about (athletic director Jenny Null) and principal (Maria Francisco) – they were very supportive and that gave me the motivation to put a product out there for them, for the school and the community. I know what the expectations here are – I knew that coming in.

“When I got here in the summer, we talked with the team. Our girls returning wanted to turn the page. We all knew last year wasn’t up to anybody’s standards. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. They were anxious to prove that it was an aberration.”

Following a soccer season which landed her numerous awards as a goalkeeper, Emilee Owens embarks on her senior year on the basketball court. Since earning varsity starts as a freshman, Owens has gone toe-to-toe with some of the best guards throughout the state.

“Emilee is invaluable to the other kids because she has played against so many good players,” Davis said. “She has that wealth of experience. She can play multiple positions – she’s played point, she can play off the ball.”

Tae Richards also enters her senior year. She has been wearing a boot during the preseason, but once she is cleared to play coach Davis is confident once Richards will return as one of his best on-ball defenders.

Among the players returning, McKenna Mace received varsity experience as a sophomore. Classmate Macie Forshey is back on the roster after a one-year absence.

It’s the freshman class that may be the most impactful with the arrival of Quinn Bolyard, Olivia Conaway, Grace Dotson, Rachel Farnsworth and Lindsey Logston.

“Not that the other kids haven’t worked hard, but the freshmen have really worked hard – they are expecting success and that’s a good thing,” Davis said. “They have played a lot of basketball. Their knowledge, their IQ and everything else has been impressive.”

Members of the South girls basketball team began its bond competing in basketball leagues throughout the summer. The biggest takeaway coach Davis saw was their unselfish as a whole.

“They played well together, they were unselfishish and even though we didn’t have much practice time I thought they were comfortable playing with each other.

“We are not overly big, so we want to play fast – it’s kind of a necessity this year. We have to create our offense off our defense a little more. I’m hoping we can force the issue a little bit more rather than react and try to take away what other teams do.”

In a bit of a twist, instead of hosting a sit-down style team banquet, Coach Davis and his staff treated the girls and their families to a baseball game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The response was nothing but positive. Future trips could be on the horizon to reward the girls.

The thought process has definitely changed in the South camp in the hopes of creating a team unity that results in bigger and better things.

“We met with the girls this summer, with everybody on the team that was returning – we wanted to get some feedback on what they thought was important and what we could do as coaches,” Davis said. “It was just kind of a discussion. There were a couple of things we came away with. One, being closer as a team. And doing things as a team. And I’ve seen them apply that so far.

“Also, making the state tournament. Those are two things we want to do.”

WRESTLING

The precedent Parkersburg South High School sets on the wrestling mat didn’t quite materialize last season following a fifth-place finish at the Class AAA state tournament.

Coach Shaun Smith and his staff will do everything in their power to see that history doesn’t repeat itself.

“Fifth place is definitely where we don’t want to be,” said Smith, who enters year number 11 as South’s head coach. “It was a year of ups and downs. We were never 100% healthy. We had kids banged up from the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, that’s a part of the sport.

“I was pleased with our underclassmen. They really stepped up as the year went. A lot of those kids had never placed at state before. That will help us for the upcoming year.”

Despite losing six wrestlers to graduation, the Patriots return six individuals who qualified for the state including the trio of Jordan Dearth, Aaydin King and Asa Yost, who all placed fourth in their respective weight class.

Coleton Hill was one match from joining the group of placewinners. Dearth placed for the second year in a row. King also earned rave reviews from his coach.

“There’s some pretty good kids coming up into the program in freshmen Austin Conley, Braedyn Carstens, Jansen Dearth and Brady Hoffman,” Smith said. “Those are our bigger well-known freshmen. Those individuals have wrestled a long time and have the ability to make some noise for a long time.

“Hopefully with the schedule we have, they will be among the best by the end of their high school careers. They are primed and experienced enough to have a good state tournament.”

Parkersburg South’s depth definitely improved with the addition from Jesse Adams, who was a three-time state champion for Independence at the Class AA/A level. Fellow senior Nathan Murphy is another individual the coaching staff is high on. Junior Charles Williams will wrestle heavyweight.

“We have numerous kids who could potentially place high for us at state, and maybe even win it,” Smith said.

Parkersburg South continues to beef up its regular season schedule. In addition to its neighboring state of Ohio, the Patriots will travel to tournaments located in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Patriots also have their share of elite schools in-state.

“Those tournaments give our kids to wrestle in those tournaments and get some notoriety they deserve,” Smith said. “They don’t always end up well, but I am just looking for them to compete., wrestle their hardest and give their best effort. Sometimes, you know, funny things happen. They just get better.”

One change on the schedule from years past concerns the transition from the OVAC to the MSAC for the first time.

“The OVAC was a very good tournament for us, so it’s going to be a little different being a part of the MSAC,” Smith said. “There are some benefits – we will get to see some of the individuals we’ll see at region and the state tournament a little bit more.”

On the girls side, Parkersburg South returns senior Justice Anthony seeks to become a four-time state champion. Since the birth of the High School Girls State Tournament in 2020, three individuals have accomplished this feat.

The Patriot girls roster consists of seven wrestlers, including Allegra Keaton, who placed third at state last season as a freshman, and Katie Ford, who advanced to the state quarterfinals as a sophomore.

Dustin Anthony, Justice’s father, was hired in the offseason as the head coach for the girls.

“Dustin has been here the last couple of years helping out our team, but it’s good to officially have him as the girls coach — it’s a positive direction for us as far as sanctioning the sport for our state which I think is overdue,” Smith said. “They have their own schedule and they get to compete throughout the state.”

SWIMMING

For the better half of Ryan Radcliff’s tenure as swim coach at Parkersburg South High School, the boys side made a new for itself. Back-to-back state titles in 2022 and again in 2023.

Recently, the girls side of the equation has put itself in the conversation on a state-wide basis. Last season, the Patriots placed fifth at the state meet – rated among the best showings in the history of the girls program.

The 2025-26 season should feature more of the same with the likes of varsity letterwinners Paige Johnson, Camryn McLain, Marie Silvis and Vivian Grimm returning to pool.

“We have always been a male heavy team mostly because we had more guys – now our program has kind of shifted naturally to the other girls side,” said Radcliff, who enters his seventh season as South’s head coach. “We kept trying to build that side of the program – it has to do with the type of kids you have on the team. A lof of kids have friends, you get some of them in here and they can kind of draw in a crowd.

“Camryn and Marie are soccer girls who have been huge getting other soccer girls in here. Jillian Eddy is the cross country coach at Blennerhassett and her daughter Jalyn swims. A lot of those kids need something to do in the winter and Jillian kind of promotes swimming.”

McLain, who is completing her rehab from a broken kneecap suffered this past soccer season, took second in the 200 individual medley and fifth in the 100 breast last season at the state meet as a sophomore. Grimm also reached the A finals while placing eighth in the 100 breast.

Sophomores Alexandra Smith and Karissa Epperly figure to add depth for the Patriots.

The freshman class has especially opened a few eyes on the coaching staff. Alexandra Smith is another swimmer making the transition from soccer.

Usually, one lane is set aside for the swimmers new to the sport and still learning the different strokes. This year, that lane does not exist.

“The freshmen bring athleticism,” Radcliff said. “They are all athletes. Usually we have a developmental lane where we have to spend more time with the swimmers. This year, we don’t have that lane.

“All these girls can swim. They are doing all the same workouts as the boys are.”

On the boys side, South graduated four swimmers who competed in the A finals during their senior year at the state meet. The Patriots placed ninth in the team standings. Whether this season’s version can equal or surpass that finish, it will take some work.

Senior Remington Blair, who placed seventh in the 100 free and competed on the 200 medley and 400 free relays which both finished third, is the lone returning letterwinner who qualified for A finals last season.

“We have a little bit of a rebuild going on with the boys – we were due for one,” Radcliff said. “We knew it was coming after we graduated 10 kids just about every year for the past three years. It was mainly boys graduating, but you knew it was going to empty out here sooner or later.

“The guys we have are quality. And we have a lot of young guys again. With only the one senior, we’ll build back up over the next couple of years. They’ll be fine.”

Figured to make an immediate impact for South are junior Brent Freels and sophomore Gatlin McLain both coming from the sport of cross country, junior Ben Marks, and freshmen Easton Parsons and Shawn Thornhill.

As for Radcliff’s coaching staff, Don Bailey remains his assistant but long-time assistant Jim Pursley decided to step down. Fortunately for South, two female assistants were hired in the offseason – former South swimmer Nickole Smith and Wheeling Park grad Alexa Bole. Bole was a member on a state championship team at Wheeling Park.

Toward the back-end of the schedule, South will make its debut as a member of the MSAC Championships held at Marshall University.

“It’s great to have the two females and their presence here, especially with this year’s group and to get their feedback,” Radcliff said. “If we want to grow our program, especially on the girls side, you need a female presence. If we want a girls state and ever want to get there, I feel we needed to get female coaches in here. And we did.”