Oak Glen wrestlers who have qualified for the state tournament include (front, from left) Alexandra Watkins, Kayden Spencer, Jordan Tomsic, Kaleb Eckleberry (back) Wyatt Wolanski, Parker Boyce, Paxton Ware and Noah Schmidt. (Submitted Photo)

NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. — Oak Glen’s wrestling team didn’t see the typical success it has been used to this season but it did manage eight state tournament qualifiers and the team believes everything is in place for some good results on Thursday through Saturday at Mountain Health Arena in Huntington.

“Even though we had some down tournaments, we wanted to peak at the right time, and that’s really what I’ve been trying to preach to the kids and what I’ve been trying to do in practice is prepare us for the regional and state tournament,” Oak Glen wrestling coach Josh Cornell said. “We had a really good regional tournament, and now we just want to continue that in the next weekend give all eight qualifiers a shot to place as high as they can.”

While only one Golden Bear had a regional championship, Cornell believes enough of his team have seen the top competition West Virginia has to offer and know they can do good things at the state tournament.

Wrestling starts at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday with action on eight mats across two divisions. Oak Glen is in Div. II this season as West Virginia scrapped the letter based classifications.

Friday’s second session is slated to start at 11 a.m. on Friday and will run six hours. The evening session on Friday is set for 7:30 p.m. and is scheduled to take around two hours to complete.

The girls tournament will start at 8 a.m. on Saturday with boys consolation matches slated for 10 a.m.

Finals will commence at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

All session passes are $45 for adults and $35 for students. Individual sessions are $10 for adults and $7 for students.

Jordan Tomsic

106 pounds, 32-16, Jr.

Tomsic, a team captain, finished sixth at state as a sophomore and is ranked third in his weight class by the West Virginia Wrestling Coaches Association.

“It’s his third year wrestling, so he’s still new in the sports, but he’s really starting to pick up the little technical things that you need to do to be a good wrestler,” Cornell said. “He was voted team captain and is a great leader for us.”

Tomsic will likely meet No. 2 ranked Enoch Queenberry of Ripley in the quarterfinal.

“He’s 1-2 all time against him, but the matches have been close, and we really think we’ve worked on some things and made some adjustments so we can come out on top this time against him,” Cornell said.

Kaleb Eckleberry

126 pounds, 18-16, Soph.

Eckleberry was runner-up at the regional meet in only his second year of wrestling.

“His dad Kyle Eckleberry was a state champion and his uncle Troy was a great wrestler for Oak Glen,” Cornell said. “He’s in a wrestling family so he has picked up the sport quickly and he’s working with them at home all the time.”

If Eckleberry can get past his first round match, he’ll likely have No. 3 ranked Austin Modzrakowski of Ripley in the quarterfinal.

“He’s only in his second year but he really knows what he’s doing and you know he’s a hard worker,” Cornell said. “He’s a high-energy kid so it shows in his wrestling. He’s always going, always attacking and you know by the way he wrestles he’s got a chance to beat everyone.”

Kayden Spencer

138 pounds, 24-20, Fr.

A promising freshman, Spencer comes into his first state tournament ranked ninth.

“Had a great year last year at middle school, so we knew he was going to come in and do pretty well,” Cornell said. “He had a little rough time at first adjusting to high school because kids are a little stronger and a little quicker. At first it was a struggle for him, but he’s really put in the time throughout the year and he’s really picked up his wrestling.”

No. 1 ranked Jackson Swingle of Keyser awaits in the quarterfinal if Spencer should score an opening round win.

“(Spencer) has a big win over St. Mary’s Ayden Powell in the semis at regionals,” Cornell said. “Being a regional runner-up as a freshman is a tough thing to do.”

Wyatt Wolanski

144 pounds, 46-7, Sr.

Wolanski, who took fifth place at 132 last year and fourth at 132 pounds as a freshman at state, placed third at the regional.

“We’ve got all the confidence in the world that he can beat anyone in his weight class,” Cornell said. “He did take third at the regional, but he was in there with No. 1 Blake Ringer of East Fairmont and No. 2 Jake Junkins of Williamstown.”

Cornell said he a close match against Ringer at the regional and believes that No. 4 ranked Wolanski will likely see Junkins in the semifinal.

“We think we have a good game plan against him,” Cornell said. “Wyatt is tough to score on and can score when he needs too. He rides hard and hasn’t placed lower than third in any tournament this year.”

Wolanksi has more than 130 wins in his career.

Parker Boyce

157 pounds, 33-20, Sr.

It’s been a long road for Boyce, but he’s finally seeing the dividends of hard work pay off.

Boyce, who finished fourth in the regional, earned his first spot at the state tournament after years of struggle.

“He started wrestling in eighth grade but when he got to us as a freshman we kind of just threw him in the lineup and he would get his butt kicked,” Cornell said. “As a sophomore he got a little better but would still kind of get beat on.”

Cornell said Boyce stayed consistent and put in a lot of work to get where he is.

“He’s not scared no matter who he is wrestling,” Cornell said. “He’s out there fighting until the end of the match. He’s the type of kid you want on your team. He’s a great teammate and he’s always going to cheer on his teammates and he’s always going to battle for his teammates. All of that shows in his wrestling.”

He will wrestle No 6 ranked Jace Stracher of Ripley in the first round.

Paxton Ware

165 pounds, 23-21, Soph.

Ware placed fourth at regional in a tough weight class, but has been coming into his own.

“He’s kind of similar to Eckleberry,” Cornell said. “He was on jayvee last year and then first in line this year where he struggled at first. He’s improved his strength and bumped up a lot in weight. He’s really been battling the last month in practice. He’s very tough on top and can get attacks when needed. He’s another one that has a lot of potential. We’re just hoping he peaks at the right time and finds a way to the podium.”

Noah Schmidt

215 pounds, 43-6, Sr.

Schmidt, who has more than 150 wins in his prep career, earned Oak Glen’s only regional championship.

Schmidt was a runner-up at 285 pounds last season after losing a 12-3 major decision to Herbert Hoover’s Connor Facemire in the final. As a sophomore he was fourth.

He’s ranked No. 2 in the coaches’ rankings behind Independence senior Landon Burleson.

“We’ll most likely see him in the semis,” Cornell said. “They’re 1-1 against each other. Both beat each other 4-1. Schmidt has a great shot and he’s been working hard at it.”

Schmidt dropped down to the lighter weight class this season after being a heavyweight for most of his high school career.

“He was not huge for a heavyweight and we just thought 215 was the best shot for him to win a state title,” Cornell said.

Alexandra Watkins

152 pounds, 30-7, Jr.

Watkins wrestled at state last year but did not win a match. This season marks the first that West Virginia had regional tournaments for the girls. She was fourth in her regional and had an OVAC championship as well.

“What helped her this year was the fact that we outlined a whole girls schedule for her for the first time,” Cornell said. “She’s wrestled 37 matches, all against girls. And that has helped a ton. In practice, she’s going up against the boys and some of the stuff she wants to do doesn’t always work because they’re big and strong. When she goes out and wrestles with the girls it has really worked for her and she has picked up a lot of pins. Based on how she has wrestled this year I don’t see why she couldn’t be a state placer for sure.”