Parkersburg South’s Justice Anthony celebrates after winning a state championship for the fourth straight year Saturday in Huntington. (Photo by Ben Powell)

HUNTINGTON – In what was the final West Virginia girls state invitational held Saturday night inside the Marshall Health Network Arena, the Parkersburg South wrestling program watched senior Justice Anthony complete a run for the ages as the Patriots finished third overall as a team with 103 points behind champion Washington’s 124 and runner-up Buckhannon Upshur’s 114.

Justice, who is off to compete at West Liberty, wasted little time making noise against Washington 114-pound freshman Aleeya Rideoutt. The Patriot opened with a quick seven-point move and then turned her opponent for four more near fall points. Just 38 ticks into the second period the Patriot capped her 220-40 career record by fall for her fourth straight title.

“It’s been fun,” admitted Anthony, who went 42-2, is coached by father Dustin and captured two previous titles at 120 before winning it all at 114 as a junior. “My dad has been my coach since he became coach when I was a sophomore. It’s been fun doing it together. It’s awesome.

“I love this sport and South just feels like a family and it feels like a family just lifting me up and helping me. I lost in the Ironman finals to the girl who is currently ranked number two in the nation and then I lost in the quarters at Powerade and fought back to third.”

Second-year Parkersburg head coach Brailynn Custred was nearly at a loss for words after sisters Anniya Powell (120) and Amiya Powell (126) became the first pair of Big Reds to capture state crowns.

Parkersburg’s Amiya Powell, right, competes against Morgantown’s Maddie Mazzoni during Saturday’s state wrestling finals in Huntington. (Photo by Ben Powell)

Anniya, the senior, stuck Logan junior Daisy Tomblin in 1:48 only to have her younger sister by a year Amiya come out firing on all cylinders with a quick 27-second takedown of Morgantown sophomore Maddie Mazzoni, which led to a mat slapper in 1:45.

“She beat me once and I beat her the other time,” said Anniya, who was a state champ two years ago at 114 and a state runner-up at 120 last year for South.

“My thoughts going in I was thinking I’ve been preparing and I’ve been working hard, just use what I’ve learned. I feel really good because my grandpa (Troy Owens) graduated at PHS. To get to go up on the wall with him is really cool.”

Amiya had lost twice to the Mohigan, but that wasn’t going to happen a third time.

“I kind of just had to stay level-headed,” admitted Amiya, who placed fourth and third the past two years at 126 for South before coming to PHS. “If I would’ve came out cocky I just wouldn’t have wrestled as smart as I usually do. It feels pretty good.

“I watched videos of how I lost and I worked on the bar because that’s what she runs, an arm bar, so I worked on not getting put in an arm bar and then I just had to come out more aggressive. It’s pretty cool one-upping my sister (pin time). We talked about it (state titles) before, but it wasn’t like a big deal. Now it’s like a big deal being one of the first girls at PHS to be a state champion.”

Coach Custred replied when asked about her thoughts “I can’t even explain to you how I’m feeling right now. They busted their a–es all year. Amiya had lost to her two times in a row, but man she walked out there and there were no nerves in her at all. She didn’t see Maddie at all warming up. Maddie sat in the back. We walked out on the mat and it was the first time seeing her the whole day. Go out there and you could tell Maddie was sweating bullets.

“Amiya was calm, cool and collective, goes out there and she knew what she had to do and she did exactly that. I think that coming up here and seeing your big sister do what you want to do and then follow it afterward is a great thing to do. Follow your big sister man. It’s a big thing. I love it. Watching her (Amiya) go out there calm versus the first two times, you know, she was a little nervous. She went out there and was like ‘we’re at states’ and I’ve never seen her so confident in what she was about to do. She was ready for this.”

Tyler Consolidated senior Eliana Winfrey capped off her Silver Knight career by capturing her third straight title. Winfrey defended her 152-pound crown after she won by fall in 68 seconds versus Oak Glen junior Alexandra Watkins. The Silver Knight also was the 145-pound champ in 2024.

“I wanted to get this one quick,” admitted Winfrey. “I’m going to the Army National Guard and then to West Liberty. She’s done better against me in the past. It feels great. I like to represent my county and my school.”

The Mid-Ohio Valley also had two other opportunities with Ripley 138-pound freshman Austin Nichols and Patriot 165-pounder Avery Ferguson. Nichols lost by fall in 3:06 to Preston sophomore Ava Turner, last year’s 132-pound champ, while Ferguson was pinned with two seconds left in the first by B-U sophomore Lylah Ketterman.

“She set a goal four years ago to be a four-time state champ and it came to fruition tonight,” coach Dustin Anthony said of daughter Justice. “Extremely proud of her. Not only is she a four-time state champion, but she’s the fourth girl to ever do it in the state. Just an amazing ride. It’s been a short four years. She’s on to bigger and better things now. I mean she’s committed to West Liberty. She’s going there to wrestle 117 in college for them.

“Her future is very, very bright. Our 165, Avery Ferguson, phenomenal freshman and has a very, very bright future. That whole freshman class. We’re sitting in second now with one sophomore, one senior and five freshmen. The future is very bright for the South program and we got more freshman coming in out of the same program next year. I’m very, very blessed with the feeder programs that we have.”

Parkersburg, which had their first two state champs in school history, just missed out on a top-five team finish as Wheeling Park (86) and Ripley (79) followed PSHS with the Big Reds settling for sixth with 75 points.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

West Virginia Girls Invite

TEAM SCORES (Top 10): Washington 124, Buckhannon-Upshur 114, Parkersburg South 103, Wheeling Park 86, Ripley 79, Parkersburg 75, Liberty 64, Cabell Midland 60, Greenbrier East 58.5, Morgantown 57

100

1st: Jocelyn Adkins (Cabell Midland) d. 9-4

2nd: Ana Mendoza (Frankfort)

3rd: Allegra Keaton (Parkersburg South) p. 0:41

4th: Zariah Cottingham (East Fairmont)

5th: London Cook (Liberty) p: 2:23

6th: Kyleigh Morris (Calhoun County)

107

1st: Annabelle Ward (Cabell Midland) p. 5:21

2nd: Madison Barrett (Spring Mills)

3rd: Izzy Fetty (Washington) d. 5-2

4th: Lanie Knopp (Ripley)

5th: Emry Cobb (Ripley) d. 8-4

6th: Jailey Wyatt (Spring Valley)

114

1st: Justice Anthony (Parkersburg South) p. 2:38

2nd: Aleeya Rideoutt (Washington)

3rd: Kyra Hamilton (East Fairmont) p. 1:40

4th: Savannah Modrzakowski (Ripley)

5th: Zoe Wolford (Morgantown) p. 1:00

6th: Ava LeMasters (Cameron)

120

1st: Anniya Powell (Parkersburg) p. 1:48

2nd: Daisy Tomblin (Logan)

3rd: Maya Frank (Greenbrier East) d. 9-8

4th: Kirclyn Coleman (Oak Hill)

5th: Abigail O’Donnell (Wheeling Park) p. 1:55

6th: Madilyn Funk (East Hardy)

126

1st: Amiya Powell (Parkersburg) p 1:45

2nd: Maddie Mazzoni (Morgantown)

3rd: Presley Buckley (George Washington) p. 2:34

4th: Morgan Jones (Keyser)

5th: Lilly Shafer (Preston) md. 12-0

6th: Braylee Jones (Parkersburg South)

132

1st: Oliva Kershisnik (Washington) p. 3:09

2nd: Mya Burgess (Keyser)

3rd: Madalyne Phillips (Shady Spring) p. 1:26

4th: Grace Simmons (Moorefield)

5th: Kaylee Moore (Lincoln) p. 0:30

6th: Mikaela Clay (Huntington)

138

1st: Ava Turner (Preston) p. 3:06

2nd: Austin Nichols (Ripley)

3rd: Arianna Tucker (Washington) md. 15-7

4th: Elizabeth Blankenship (Greenbrier East)

5th: Willow Rhoten (Berkeley Springs) won by injury default

6th: Rosa Hudkins (Nicholas County)

145

1st: Morganne Miller (East Hardy) d. 14-13

2nd: Maya Garcia (Buckhannon-Upshur)

3rd: Charlotte Kershisnik (Washington) p. 3:47

4th: Olivia Junkins (Williamstown)

5th: Nevaeh Feeley-Mack (Morgantown) p. 1:55

6th: Emma Hartshorn (Liberty)

152

1st: Eliana Winfrey (Tyler Consolidated) p. 1:09

2nd: Alexandra Watkins (Oak Glen)

3rd: Allie Brown (St. Albans) tf. 16-0

4th: Shalen Moore (Braxton County)

5th: Katie Mullens (Liberty) p. 2:53

6th: Gracie Howell (Philip Barbour)

165

1st: Lylah Ketterman (Buckhannon-Upshur) p. 1:56

2nd: Avery Ferguson (Parkersburg South)

3rd: Kinley Buckley (George Washington) p. 1:56

4th: Allie Bowles (Liberty) 0:24

5th: Morgan Brandon (John Marshall) p. 1:35

6th: Sawyer Robinson (Oak Hill)

185

1st: Olivia Blonn (Buckhannon-Upshur) p. 1:55

2nd: Kymber Heldreth (Wheeling Park)

3rd: Jaycee McEndree (John Marshall) p. 1:46

4th: Kailyn Penkov (Moorefield)

5th: Makaylee Bennett (Greenbrier East) p. 3:32

6th: Delilah Taylor (Shady Spring)

235

1st: Abby Radabaugh (Buckhannon-Upshur) p. 3:45

2nd: Terriona Gibbons (Wheeling Park)

3rd: Nevaeh Hundley (Spring Valley) p. 0:17

4th: Aries Fragman (Lincoln)

5th: Terriona Gibbons (Wheeling Park) p. 0:33

6th: Natalie Koontz (Berkeley Springs)