Herbert Hoover, Greenbrier West see hard work pay off

Feb. 18—As he pondered what his team had just accomplished, Herbert Hoover head coach Richard Harper expressed sincere appreciation of the journey.

So did Greenbrier West's Jeremy Tincher.

Another grueling wrestling season will come to an end in less than two weeks. The sight of seeing things come together at the right time put things in perspective.

"As a wrestling coach, people don't understand what we go through," Harper said after the Huskies won the Class AA/A Region 3 championship Saturday night. "You've got kids sick. You get snow and can't get off the hill. Grades, making weight. My goodness, it's stressful. Right now, when I get in the truck and head home, that's probably the most relaxed I'll be in a long time.

"All week we tried to prepare and get ready, and everything was great. Then, five, seven inches of snow is supposed to be coming. All of a sudden, last second, we're like, 'All right, what are we going to do?' So we decided to come up (Friday) night because of the weather. We got up this morning and everything went well.

"As a coach, once you get the kids through skin checks and get them through weight and everybody makes it through, that's a big relief. I saw so many kids who didn't make weight or had skin issues and didn't get to wrestle, and even though they're not my kids, you feel for them. They worked hard all year and all of a sudden there's misfortune.

"That's what I always tell my kids — we can control what we do. Everyone else, whatever happens, we can't control that. We just take care of us and see if we're there at the end and see what happens. The kids did a nice job with that this weekend."

It was a profitable day for the Huskies, who scored 232 points en route to their first regional title since 2020. Host Independence had won three straight and 10 of the last 11.

Hoover had eight wrestlers in the finals and won three championships, and will send 13 of its 14 wrestlers to the state tournament Feb. 29 through March 2 in Huntington.

"That 14th one, he was up by six or seven points and got caught," Harper said. "I wasn't planning on taking that many, so I can't argue the point. It is what it is."

Taking home championships for the Huskies were junior Orion Taylor (106 pounds), junior Jake Eden (165) and sophomore Mighty Lopez (285).

Meanwhile, Greenbrier West fueled up for its Drive for Five with a runner-up finish at 202 points. The defending Class A champion qualified 11 wrestlers for the state tournament, and four of its six finalists came away with championships.

It was West's best Region 3 finish since also taking second in 2019.

The Cavaliers will be looking for their fifth state championship overall and fourth in six seasons.

Tincher, who has preached all season about his team's lack of consistency, became emotional talking about it.

"I'm just blessed," Tincher said. "The Lord has just blessed me with this group of kids. They drive me crazy eight days out of 10. I've been on them and on them and on them about their consistency, about getting mentally ready to go, the right work, being mentally present and investing in what we do, and they save it for the right weekend."

Winning championships for the Cavaliers were junior Austin McKenzie (113) and seniors Tucker Lilly (120), Moses Gray (157) and Cole Vandall (215). Vandall will go into the state tournament as the defending 215-pound state champion.

Sophomore 285-pounder Trey Franklin wrestled for the first time this season and finished fourth.

"I couldn't be happier," Tincher said. "I can think of maybe one match that we dropped that we probably shouldn't have. The rest of them, we won all the matches we should have won, and we probably won a few we shouldn't have won. I just think the kids showed up today and they just did an awesome job."

Independence (179) finished third and will send eight wrestlers to Huntington, its fewest since qualifying nine in 2020. Things did end well — all four Independence finalists won championships, including Most Outstanding Wrestler Jesse Adams at 175 pounds. Adams was the 165-pound state champion as a freshman last season.

Other champs for the Patriots were freshman Brayden Hart (132), sophomore Hunter Whittaker (138) and senior Caelyb Nichols (144).

Shady Spring (116.5) finished fourth for the fourth straight season despite being without senior Walker Furrow and junior Ryder Laws. Neither could compete because of skin issues.

The Tigers will send six wrestlers to the state tournament, led by 190-pound region champ Gabe Knoblet.

Rounding out the top five was Liberty (99). The Raiders had seven state qualifiers.

The remaining two region champs were Sailor McKinney (126) and senior Preston Thomas (150). The Grizzlies will have four wrestlers at the state tournament.

The only thing left to do is get ready for a they hope will be a memorable weekend in Huntington.

"I've just got to give all the praise to Jesus for what he's done for me personally through wrestling, and the kids and the parents that He's blessed me with," Tincher said. "I couldn't be happier right now. This regional has just been really special for me personally because of the way the kids showed up. I'm just very proud of them.

"Now we've got 10 days. We've got to get back in the room and try to stay healthy and do what we do. Hats off to my seniors. Those three guys all went out of here as regional champions, as they deserve. I look for good things for them in two weeks. Hopefully we can bring home another team title and some individual state champions."

Team scores

Herbert Hoover 232, Greenbrier West 202, Independence 179, Shady Spring 116, Liberty 99, Nicholas County 96.5, PikeView 45, Webster County 45, Midland Trail 28, Richwood 18, River View 12, Meadow Bridge 10

Placewinners (Top 4 qualify for state tournament)

106: Orion Taylor (HH), Matthew Kesterson (GW), J.J. Scarafino (I), Tyler Goins (PV)

113: Austin McKenzie (GW), Hunter Hughart (HH), Gavin Brown (L), Conner Tallamy (NC), Jacob Jarrett (MT)

120: Tucker Lilly (GW), Luke Kelly (NC), Dalton Myers (HH), Luke Mullins (I), Melvin Perdue (RV)

126: Sailor McKinney (NC), Tanner O'Neill (HH), Malachi Moore (GW), Jaden Taylor (PV), Jaxson Martin (RV), Trenton Clay (L)

132: Brayden Hart (I), Jonathan Cottrell (HH), Chase Cantrell (PV), Cole Brandstetter (MT), Mason Bailes (NC), Andrew Franco (SS)

138: Hunter Whittaker (I), Colton Tolliver (L), Jon Painter (GW), Lathan Chandler (HH), Levi Maddox (PV)

144: Caelyb Nichols (I), Zach Mamismontri (GW), Jeremiah Griffith (L), Matthew Meadows (SS), Laiken Carter (HH), Caleb Kummer (NC)

150: Preston Thomas (NC), Kolton Fields (HH), Joevan Robinson (GW). Isaac Williams (L), Talen Adkins (I), Zeke Gray (WC)

157: Moses Gray (GW), Talon Harrison (HH), Damien Simmons (SS), Jackie Ferguson (WC), Landon Dunlap (I), Jaden Johnson (NC)

165: Jake Eden (HH), Kaden Helmer (SS), Tyson McGinnis (I), Evan Vandall (GW), Cruz Tompkins (MT), Perry Knight (WC)

175: Jesse Adams (I), Braelen Holstein (SS), Ethan Deal (HH), Matthew Hill (L)

190: Gabe Knoblet (SS), Cohen McGeeney (R), Trenton Teel (HH), Josiah Pilkington (L), Quinten Gilbert (NC), Luke Shorter (PV)

215: Cole Vandall (GW), Joey Cowger (SS), Bradyn Cox (I), Cody Collins (HH), Trip Roles (MB), Chase White (PV)

285: Mighty Lopez (HH), Michael Ferguson (WC), Connor Acord (L), Trey Franklin (GW), Landon Burleson (I), Izaac Redden (SS)

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