It’s opening weekend for high school wrestling in West Virginia, which in this region always means the Beckley Newspapers Invitational.
The annual tournament will be held at Shady Spring High School. Weigh-ins will be 7:30-9 a.m., with wrestling starting at 10 a.m. The championship round will start at about 4:30 p.m.
Ten area teams will compete — Shady, Woodrow Wilson, Liberty, Oak Hill, Greenbrier East, Princeton, PikeView, Nicholas County, Wyoming East and Webster County.
Here is a brief look at some of the teams that should make a strong showing:
Shady Spring — The host Tigers return most of their team from last season, including placewinners Tyler Kosut (fourth, 126 pounds) and John Duncan (sixth, 132). This is the Tigers’ first year in Class AAA after a top-15 finish in the Class AA/A state tournament back in February.
Woodrow Wilson — The Flying Eagles finished second to champion Liberty in this tournament last season. They return four state qualifiers, all but one of them seniors. Woodrow began its season Wednesday at Huntington, and the Class AAA No. 1 Highlanders cruised. Freshman Chris Worley’s overtime 3-1 win at the 170-pound class was Woodrow’s only victory.
Oak Hill — Like Shady Spring, the Red Devils will be making their triple-A debut today. Among six returning state qualifiers for Oak Hill is junior Marc Williams, who was fifth at 113.
Greenbrier East — The Spartans return qualifiers Davis Solak (160) and Dylan Bullock (138), both of whom were top-5 wrestlers during the regular season. A pair of freshmen could make some noise for Greenbrier East in Jared Morgan, a former junior states champion, and Jasiel Kinder, a two-time junior states placewinner.
Liberty — Tristan Harvey (113), Matthew Bailey (145) and R.J. Elam (152) were all qualifiers last season; Harvey and Bailey both finished sixth. The Raiders had six individual champions en route to last year’s BNI championship.
Nicholas County — The Grizzlies have dropped to Class AA and are making their first appearance at the BNI in some time. Qualifiers Austin Stewart (170) and Drew Hicks (182) are back for Nicholas.
Today's Sports Front
BNI wrestling tournament today at Shady Spring
- Today's Sports Front
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Woodrow downs defending AAA champs
It’s a play that Woodrow Wilson has practiced everyday this season and has rarely had to utilize.
It’s a good thing the Flying Eagles did practice it; it saved their season and led to a 2-1 victory over defending state champion Princeton. -
No repeat for Warriors
Independence has been on a tear offensively the entire month of May. It didn’t stop Tuesday, even against Wyoming East ace Derek Thornton.
The Patriots led 5-0 after two innings, and Brian Sexton — backed by that very offense and some sparkling defense — gutted out a complete game in a 7-5 win in the Class AA Region 3 semifinals Tuesday night. -
’Hounds hold off upset bid from Man Hillbillies
Valley’s potent offense never came to life, but the Greyhounds are still alive.
Valley (22-7) — with several players hitting .400 or better this season — could muster just three singles against underdog Man (6-20-1) in one of two Class A Region 3 baseball semifinals Tuesday, but the ’Hounds manufactured two runs in the crucial fifth inning to finally go ahead of the stubborn Hillbillies and escape with a 3-2 victory. -
WVU baseball team helps tornado victims
West Virginia University head baseball coach Randy Mazey was having lunch at an Oklahoma City restaurant Monday afternoon, keeping a close watch on the television set.
With every passing minute, the tornado that devastated the Oklahoma town of Moore, was moving closer and closer to his location and its path was being documented by a local television station. At one point, the coach even looked out the window to see if he could see the approaching funnel. -
Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Format Changed
In the wake of this week’s devastating storm in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, the Big 12 Conference is postponing the start of the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship. No. 3 seeded WVU scheduled to take on Kansas at 4 p.m. (Central) on Thursday.
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Patriots, Warriors meet in anticipated matchup
The matchup many people expected will take place today.
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Fayette teams, Cavaliers vying for Class A spots
Two Fayette County baseball teams have advanced deeper into postseason play and will begin Region 3 tournament action today.
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Epling already having a busy week for Miners
At this point a year ago, Sam Lewis was the only player on the West Virginia Miners roster to have reported to Beckley. All he did was pitch two no-hitters, and the Miners won the 2012 Prospect League championship.
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Confident Mavs headed to states
From the outset, James Monroe’s mission was clear: Get to the state softball tournament.
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Eagles get 2nd shot at Tigers
The road to the Class AAA state championship for Princeton last year went through Beckley. A repeat would require the same stop, but Woodrow Wilson is looking to put up more resistance this time around.
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