It isn’t often that high school wrestlers aspire to own a Tigger doll. But the bouncing feline of “Winnie the Pooh” fame carries special significance to the team at Oak Hill.

Coach Alan Fell believes in the power of conditioning, noting that a lot of his wrestlers “win matches in the third period.” It’s OK to be tired; just don’t let the opponent sense it.

When Fell saw his wrestlers bouncing around — just like Tigger — late in their matches at an earlier tournament, a light bulb went off.

“Now we have the ‘Tigger Award,’” Fell said. “It goes to the one who shows the most stamina throughout a match and a tournament.”

Perhaps no one has bought into the concept more than Marc Williams.

The sophomore has established himself as one of the top 113-pound wrestlers in the state. He carries a 33-2 record into the Coalfield Conference Wrestling Tournament, which will be held today at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Building in Fayetteville.

Williams is 33-2 on the season, but he is unbeaten at 113. His two losses came at the 126-pound division — to Woodrow Wilson’s Jakob Cooper in the season-opening Beckley Newspapers Invitational and to Fayetteville’s Robert Alderman at the Webster County Hardwood Duals.

“I’ve had a few tough matches at 113, but nothing too challenging yet,” Williams said. “Hopefully I can keep it going.”

Williams will be looking for a second conference championship today. He was the 103-pound champ last season, a title he followed up with a runner-up finish in the Class AA/A Region 3 tournament.

As a freshman, Williams finished 24-10, enjoying success that he didn’t anticipate.

“I expected to get tossed around and have a tough year,” Williams said.

Fell, however, felt differently. Williams was one of the wrestlers Fell always had an eye on.

“He has been in our program since he was little,” Fell said. “He had a lot of success at the youth level and the junior high level. He was one that we had a feeling about.”

Fell even thought that Williams would eventually leave Oak Hill as a four-time state placewinner. But that dream ended quickly, when Williams lost to Herbert Hoover’s Scooter Farmer in the consolation bracket a year ago.

The final score was an agonizing 1-0. A win would have guaranteed Williams a top-six finish.

“That felt terrible,” he said. “To know you could have done something and lose by one point.

“It stays in the back of my mind all the time.”

“He took it well,” Fell said. “He’s a very smart kid. He approaches every match intellectually. He analyzes everything, who his competitor is and what they do.”

Williams has recently won championships at the Ed Cressel Classic in Bristol, Va., and at the Bob Stover Invitational at Clay County.

He is a microcosm of the whole team, it would seem. Fell says this is “probably the most intellectual team I have had,” adding that six of his eight wrestlers have GPAs of 3.5 or higher.

Williams is ranked fifth in the state, while Cody Gillespie is eighth at 106 pounds.

And, like Williams, everyone has bought into Fell’s conditioning philosophy.

“Conditioning is very important,” Williams said. “Most matches, by the third period, guys are done. The one with more conditioning is likely to win the match.”

And, at Oak Hill at least, it could lead to the prized possession of a hyperactive, fictional tiger.

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Wrestling today will start at 9:30 a.m. Weigh-ins will go from 7:30-8:30 a.m., followed by a coaches meeting that will precede the start of wrestling.

Participating teams will be Oak Hill, Fayetteville, Midland Trail, Richwood, Greenbrier West, Independence, Liberty, River View, Shady Spring, Webster County, Wyoming East and Westside.