Football players often cite a desire to hit someone different as a reason to anticipate the season opener.
It’s no different for wrestlers.
Prep wrestling season starts today around the state. Locally, that means the Beckley Newspapers Invitational.
The 33rd annual tournament will be held at Shady Spring. Weigh-ins will be from 8 to 9:30 a.m., with wrestling set to get started at 10 a.m.
The host Tigers will be joined locally by Woodrow Wilson, Meadow Bridge, PikeView, Princeton and Webster County. Independence and Liberty will both field teams featuring a mix of young varsity wrestlers and “B” team competitors.
Also entered are Huntington, Logan and Parkersburg South.
“We’re real young, but we have a lot of talent,” Shady coach Danny Carter said. “A couple of them are already out with injury. We only lost two seniors from last year and we only have three seniors this year.”
Shady is led by former state champion Sonny Harrah. He won a state title as a freshman and was a placewinner each of the last two seasons.
Harrah is seeking his fourth BNI title.
Mike Miser, a senior like Harrah, will be looking to bounce back from an injury that led to an inconsistent 2009 season.
The Tigers also have a newcomer in senior Chris Erskine at 130 pounds. He transferred last year from Independence. Carter likes the intensity Erskine brings to the mat.
“It gets him in trouble sometimes,” Carter said. “He can be a man among boys if we can just get him settled down long enough to wrestle with them.”
Junior Chris Setliff is looking to improve on last year. He finished fifth in the state at 140 pounds and got two wins over Oak Glen’s Paden Potts.
Also, juniors Robbie Duncan and Zach Ransom should provide depth to the Tigers’ tournament fortunes.
Carter is excited about the prospect of his freshman class, although one has already been lost for the season because of injury.
Cody Lowe will need to have immediate surgery after it was discovered he went through the entire football season with an injury he sustained last wrestling season.
“We will miss him because he was going to be our anchor in the middle weights,” Carter said.
Erskine will remain at 130 pounds for the season, but everyone else who wrestles for the Tigers today will later drop a weight class.
Carter said this season will be dedicated to the memory of Dix Manning, the Shady Spring coaching legend who died in July. The state coach of the year award is named after Manning.
“We are looking for great things from (the team),” Carter said. “We won’t accept low performances. Coach Manning wouldn’t have, and we won’t, either.”
Among the future tournaments will be the Raleigh County Quad Dec. 15 at Woodrow Wilson. Not only will all four high schools compete, but so will the county’s middle schools.
— E-mail: gfauber@
register-herald.com
Sports
December 5, 2009
BNI wrestling tourney kicks off season today
- Sports
-
-
Luck named WVU athletic director
Oliver Luck, former West Virginia University and NFL quarterback and Academic All-American, this morning was named the school's new director of intercollegiate athletics, effective July 1.
-
Reports: Marshall’s Jones heading to UCF
HUNTINGTON - Marshall men’s basketball coach Donnie Jones has accepted Central Florida’s offer to become its new head coach, multiple national media outlets are reporting.
-
Flying Eagles rebound
Coaches often remark that they don’t want a tough loss to beat their teams twice.
-
Hounds do enough to eliminate Fayetteville
SMITHERS — It wasn’t quite a gold-medal performance, but Valley coach Marshall Murray will settle for it. For now.
-
Huggs ejected late in WVU loss to UConn
HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun opened the game with a technical foul and West Virginia’s Bob Huggins ended it with two.
-
No. 2 Red Devils rout Bluefield
OAK HILL — A little high-low was a little too much for Bluefield.
-
Local Roundup: MSU loses for first time
Lee 92, Mountain State 89
-
Locals set to compete in Class AAA states
This area will be well represented in the Class AAA portion of this week’s state wrestling tournament.
-
Season ticket success could lead to more seats
Prospective fans of the West Virginia Miners have a say in the growth of Linda K. Epling Stadium.
-
Shuffle on down to the state tournament this weekend
With the 63rd annual West Virginia state wrestling tournament beginning Thursday, there are a lot of reasons to liken this competition to a poker match.
- More Sports Headlines
-
Luck named WVU athletic director
