HUNTINGTON - Jake Smith had come close before and lost, and didn't like the feeling. He wasn't going to let it happen again.
HUNTINGTON - Jake Smith had come close before and lost, and didn't like the feeling. He wasn't going to let it happen again.
George Washington's Smith, the state's top-ranked Class AAA wrestler at 145 pounds, earned his school's first championship since 1994 Saturday night as the 65th state tournament concluded at Big Sandy Superstore Arena.
"This feeling is 100 percent different,'' Smith said, comparing it to last year's loss. "I'm so proud of myself and all my coaches - I couldn't have done it without them. They're phenomenal.''
Smith's victory came on a night when Parkersburg South (AAA) and Point Pleasant (AA-A) reaffirmed their superiority over the rest of the state by repeating their team crowns with comfortable margins. It marked the fourth in a row for South and third straight for Point, which moves up to Class AAA next year.
Another top-ranked Kanawha Valley wrestler wasn't as fortunate as Smith, however, as Herbert Hoover senior Josh Mack lost 3-2 to Point's Zach Nibert in double overtime in the AA-A 160-pound final.
Last year, Smith dropped a 5-1 decision in the state finals at 135 as a sophomore, and didn't leave anything to chance Saturday night against sophomore Seth Cutright of Buckhannon-Upshur (47-5).
Smith scored an almost-immediate takedown and led 4-0 after one period before settling for a 5-0 decision. Twice he lifted Cutright completely off the floor in controlling the match.
"I definitely wanted to get in there and score the first takedown,'' Smith said, "and get in the guy's head - instill it mentally and physically out there, just pushing him. I know I got a little gassed at the end, but that's the name of the game.''
Smith became GW's first state titlist since Mark Samples won at 152 pounds in 1994 - the year Samples was voted the AAA state wrestler of the year. Smith (48-5) also set a school record for victories in a season.
"I'm not stopping here, though,'' Smith said. "I've got more goals to achieve. There's the All-America status times two - I get that going next month. It doesn't stop here. Next year I hope to come back here in 365 days and win it again.''
Mack (47-3), like Smith a No. 1-ranked wrestler in his division by WVmat.com, wasn't able to complete his own strong season, losing in the finals for a second straight year, this time in heartbreaking fashion.
With the score tied at 1 and 14 seconds left in the third period, Mack grabbed Nibert's leg and lifted it off the ground in search of a winning takedown. Nibert, however, was able to hop on the other leg and lunge out of bounds to avert the takedown.
Mack took a 2-1 lead with an escape in the first part of the second overtime (which is comprised of two 30-second periods), but Nibert scored a reversal with 15 seconds left in the second part to win.
Twice before this season, Mack had beaten Nibert, including a 10-2 decision in last weekend's Region 4 meet.
"We had a couple close calls that could have went either way,'' said Hoover coach Heath Perry. "If we get one of them to break our way, we win. They just happened to go against us tonight.
HUNTINGTON - Jake Smith had come close before and lost, and didn't like the feeling. He wasn't going to let it happen again.
George Washington's Smith, the state's top-ranked Class AAA wrestler at 145 pounds, earned his school's first championship since 1994 Saturday night as the 65th state tournament concluded at Big Sandy Superstore Arena.
"This feeling is 100 percent different,'' Smith said, comparing it to last year's loss. "I'm so proud of myself and all my coaches - I couldn't have done it without them. They're phenomenal.''
Smith's victory came on a night when Parkersburg South (AAA) and Point Pleasant (AA-A) reaffirmed their superiority over the rest of the state by repeating their team crowns with comfortable margins. It marked the fourth in a row for South and third straight for Point, which moves up to Class AAA next year.
Another top-ranked Kanawha Valley wrestler wasn't as fortunate as Smith, however, as Herbert Hoover senior Josh Mack lost 3-2 to Point's Zach Nibert in double overtime in the AA-A 160-pound final.
Last year, Smith dropped a 5-1 decision in the state finals at 135 as a sophomore, and didn't leave anything to chance Saturday night against sophomore Seth Cutright of Buckhannon-Upshur (47-5).
Smith scored an almost-immediate takedown and led 4-0 after one period before settling for a 5-0 decision. Twice he lifted Cutright completely off the floor in controlling the match.
"I definitely wanted to get in there and score the first takedown,'' Smith said, "and get in the guy's head - instill it mentally and physically out there, just pushing him. I know I got a little gassed at the end, but that's the name of the game.''
Smith became GW's first state titlist since Mark Samples won at 152 pounds in 1994 - the year Samples was voted the AAA state wrestler of the year. Smith (48-5) also set a school record for victories in a season.
"I'm not stopping here, though,'' Smith said. "I've got more goals to achieve. There's the All-America status times two - I get that going next month. It doesn't stop here. Next year I hope to come back here in 365 days and win it again.''
Mack (47-3), like Smith a No. 1-ranked wrestler in his division by WVmat.com, wasn't able to complete his own strong season, losing in the finals for a second straight year, this time in heartbreaking fashion.
With the score tied at 1 and 14 seconds left in the third period, Mack grabbed Nibert's leg and lifted it off the ground in search of a winning takedown. Nibert, however, was able to hop on the other leg and lunge out of bounds to avert the takedown.
Mack took a 2-1 lead with an escape in the first part of the second overtime (which is comprised of two 30-second periods), but Nibert scored a reversal with 15 seconds left in the second part to win.
Twice before this season, Mack had beaten Nibert, including a 10-2 decision in last weekend's Region 4 meet.
"We had a couple close calls that could have went either way,'' said Hoover coach Heath Perry. "If we get one of them to break our way, we win. They just happened to go against us tonight.
"[Nibert's] a good kid and they had a good game plan. They made a good move [at the end]. They were trying for one and we countered it, and he busted into a slip trying to get two and we just couldn't stop it. That overtime period's tough, 30 seconds. You get started on a move and sometimes you run out before you make it and sometimes you don't.''
Point Pleasant, which qualified six athletes into the finals, had its crown locked up before Saturday's finals and finished with a margin of 85 points over runner-up Independence (224-139). Clay County (1261/2) was third.
"We've wrestled very well this weekend,'' said Point coach John Bonecutter. "I'm proud of the kids. I told the boys going into tonight that we've got to finish this off right.''
The Big Blacks did just that, racking up individual championships in three weight classes. Besides Nibert (40-8), a junior at 160, titles went to junior Noah Searls (48-1) at 132 and senior Josh Hereford (44-4) at 170.
The Big Blacks came into the tournament sort of straddling the fence. When the SSAC announced its realignment figures last November and Point Pleasant was one of the schools moving up from Class AA to AAA starting this fall, it knew bigger challenges awaited, like competing for titles with reigning AAA king South.
Bonecutter said Point will deal with those issues in due time. But Saturday night was not the time.
"Our thing all year,'' Bonecutter said, "is that Sunday morning [after the state meet] is when we'll start worrying about triple-A. There's nothing in the world we can do to control that. We're setting back and taking care of what we can control, then starting Sunday, we'll start to get ready for triple-A next year.
"There's still a few things we're going to change next year. We've got to make some decisions. We may have a few scheduling changes. We're not sure what we're going to do there, but we'll have to sit back and look and see what we need to do to get ready for the next level.''
One of the many highlights for South was senior David Jeffrey at 126, who captured his fourth state title and finished the season with a 57-2 record. Two other rare four-time champs produced Saturday were Ripley's Adam Bickak (46-4) at 170 in AAA and Roane County's Dylan Cottrell (43-1) at 145 in AA-A.
Cottrell was selected as the AA-A most outstanding wrestler of the tournament, and Lewis County senior Elijah Hull (57-0 at 160) earned the AAA award. The coaches of the year were South's Paul Jackson (AAA) and Cliff Warden of Independence (AA-A).
South hit the finish line with 1991/2 team points, outdistancing Ripley (182) and Huntington (145). GW (541/2) tied for 11th.
Besides Smith and Mack, the Kanawha Valley had five other place-winners - AAA: Capital senior Dylan Marker (45-2), third at 132; GW sophomore Jensen Lorea (39-16), fifth at 126; GW senior Grant Cokeley (44-14), fifth at 220; Winfield freshman Bryce Humphreys (36-9), sixth at 120; AA-A: Hoover sophomore Zane Weese (46-6), fifth at 195.
Reach Rick Ryan at 304-348-5175 or rickr...@wvgazette.com.
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