Marion County set for big Day 2 at regionals with 24 wrestlers still alive for state bids
Apr. 10—FAIRMONT — A light Day 1 Friday at the Class AA/A Region II wrestling tournament for Marion County will make for a massive Day 2 on Saturday for East Fairmont, Fairmont Senior and North Marion high schools at the FSHS Field House, as combined the three county squads have 24 wrestlers still alive in their respective weight classes.
Fairmont Senior has the most wrestlers left in the field with 12, while East Fairmont has eight and North Marion has four.
Out of the 24 wrestlers set to compete on Day 2 across the Polar Bears, Bees and Huskies, 16 will start Saturday in the championship semifinals of their respective weight classes. Fairmont Senior has the most such wrestlers with nine set to compete in semifinal matches, while East Fairmont has four such wrestlers and North Marion has three.
That leaves an additional eight county wrestlers who will begin Saturday's final day in the consolation brackets of their respective weight classes.
All wrestlers who finish in the Top 4 of their respective weight class on Saturday will earn a bid to the Class AA/A state tournament April 21-22 in Huntington. That means each of the 16 wrestlers set to wrestle in championship semifinals bouts enter Saturday in win-and-in scenarios in terms of the state tournament, regardless of what happens in the championship final. The path for those in the consolation brackets entering Saturday, however, is much tougher, as those wrestlers will have to win at least two consecutive matches to reach the third-place bout and thus guarantee a Top 4 finish.
Saturday's matches are slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. with the consolation quarterfinals, followed by the championship semifinals at approximately 11 a.m. and then the consolation semifinals at 12:30 p.m. The final round is scheduled to begin at approximately 2 p.m.
Team-by-team breakdown entering Saturday: Wrestler (weight class)
Fairmont Senior:
Championship bracket semifinalists: (9)
Mikey Jones (120); Hunter Spitznogle (126); Kolbie Hamilton (132); Dominic Armistead (138); Michael Kruzel (152); Nick Scott (170); Zach Anderson (182); Germaine Lewis (195); Iain Campbell (285).
Consolation quarterfinalists: (3)
Dakota Kinsley (145); Angelo Manzo (160); Gavin Hissam (220).
East Fairmont:
Championship bracket semifinalists: (4)
Levi Carpenter (106); Blake Boyers (138); Jacob Ogden (220); Evan Helm (285).
Consolation quarterfinalists: (4)
Conner Konya (132); Jacob McKenzie (160); Ben Cyphers (170); JT Miller (182).
North Marion:
Championship bracket semifinalists: (3)
Brody Hess (120); Hunter Kuhn (145); Tyler Curry (182).
Consolation quarterfinalists: (1)
Lucas Lapeer (220).
Email Bradley Heltzel at bheltzel@timeswv.com or follow him on Twitter @bradheltzTWV.
