Two of the region's top wrestlers suffered heavy defeats in the finals of the 75th Annual State Tournament.
Independence Junior Judah Price suffered a sudden 2-1 loss to Point Pleasant's Justin Barty in the Class AA-A 145-pound state championships. Moments later, Woodrow Wilson 152-pound junior Ethan Osborne suffered a similar fate, falling 1-0 to Patrick Jackson of the Spring Mills.
Both were on their way to their first state championship.
Price (30–2) was in a rematch with Barty, a senior Price lost 4–3 in a third-place match of the WSAZ Invitational.
Barty got an escape in the second period and Price forced a surprise win in the third. It tied after 60 seconds.
Barty won the coin flip and opted down to the next period and escaped for a 2–1 lead. Over the next 30-second period, Price had a chance at the bottom, but could not completely break free, and Barty went on to become the state champion four times.
Independence coach Jeremy Hart called it "a heartbreaking loss for Judah." "Judas is the hardest working kid. Just such a nice kid. Your heart breaks for him."
The Patriots finished fourth overall and third among Class AA teams with 110 points. Both the Fairmont and Class A state champion Cameron finished with 116.5 points.
Point Pleasant won their fourth consecutive state title with 233 points.
Meanwhile, Osborne was unable to commit much offense in his match against Jackson. It was his third loss of the season to Spring Mills Jr.
Jackson got an escape point in the second period and held it. In the third period Osborne came close to running away and turning back, but could not finish them.
"We thought he needed to go out there and fight a little bit more, attack him a little bit more," said Matt Osborne, Woodrow Wilson's coach and Ethan's dad. "He played the role of defense the whole time."
Woodrow finished the tournament in sixth place with 110 points. With Osborne's runner-up finish and J.J. The finals of the Belles' 113-pound state championship, the Flying Eagles, were the first time multiple wrestlers, as Keith Honnaker (119), Mike Honnacker (125) and John Bennett (152) all finished runners-up in 1989.
That team also finished sixth (77 points) in the state and was the last Woodrow team to win a regional championship before this year's team did so last month.
Wheeling Park defeated seven-time champion Parkersburg South to win the Class AAA team state championship with 207.5 points. University stood runner-up with 176 marks.
The top five were Spring Mills (155.5), Huntington (126) and Parkersburg South (116).
The Greenbrier was runner-up in the West Class A team race with 62 points and 10th overall.
Here is a complete list of Area Place Finishers:
Class AA-A
106: Dillon Perdue, Independence, 1st
113: Tucker Lilly, Greenbrier West, 4th
120: Joshua Goode, Shady Spring, 3rd
126: Clayton Robinson, Greenbrier West, 6th
132: Moses Gray, Greenbrier West, 6th
138: Caleyb Nichols, Independence, 6th
145: Judah Price, Independence, 2nd
170: Colten Caron, Independence, 1st
Dalton Hanshaw, Nicholas County, 4th
182: Conner Jones, Nicholas County, 3rd; Cole Vandall, Greenbrier West, 4th
220: Tyler Workman, Richwood, 6th
285: Logan Isom, Independence, 3rd
Class AAA
106: Garrett Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, 4th
113: J.J. Bailes, Woodrow Wilson, 1st
152: Ethan Osborne, Woodrow Wilson, 2nd
195: Jay Jones, Woodrow Wilson, 3rd
220: Thomas Mullins, Greenbrier East, 5th
285: Jackson Evans, Woodrow Wilson, 3rd; Colton Naylor, Oak Hill, 6th