Middle school wrestling tournament honors Fairmont's Zach Frazier

Jan. 20—FAIRMONT — When West Fairmont Middle School wrestling coach Bubby Caputo launched the school's wrestling tournament three years ago, it was set up as a team duel tournament.

Fast forward to 2024, the Jan. 6 event transformed into an individual bracketed tournament in which 16 middle school wrestling teams traveled from all over West Virginia to compete at the Fairmont Field House.

"We had teams from Huntington there. We had Milton who's down by Huntington, Independence from Beckley," Caputo said. "We had Parkersburg teams, Williamstown and then we had teams from the Northern Panhandle like Sherrard and Moundsville."

And then throw in local and regional teams such as East Fairmont, Taylor County and Mountaineer Morgantown and the tournament ballooned into a substantial event.

At the same time Caputo worked to broaden the number of schools taking part in the tournament, he also sought to give it a name that would carry with it a certain legacy as well.

From now on, the tournament will be called Frazier's Field House Classic to honor former West Fairmont Middle School wrestler Zach Frazier.

Caputo characterizes middle school wrestling as an avenue to prepare athletes to compete on the high school level. And, although he missed coaching Frazier in middle school, it's obvious Frazier was well-prepared for the high school level.

While a Fairmont Senior High Polar Bear, Frazier won four straight state championships in the heavyweight class, which is tough to do and be consistent.

"Middle school wrestling is really for just getting ready for the high school level," Caputo said. "And you know, he's our only four time state champion. And he also did that at heavyweight, which is you know, winning heavyweight as a freshman is a really big deal."

After high school, Frazier didn't go on to wrestle in college, but played as an offensive lineman and center for the West Virginia Mountaineers. His hometown has watched his college football career grow and blossom to a point that the conventional wisdom is that Frazier is destined for a solid career in the National Football League.

Many who know Frazier understand that he does not seek out the spotlight, so it took a while for Caputo to get him to agree to having the tournament named after him.

At first, when Caputo asked Frazier, the Mountaineer responded with, "I haven't done anything." However, when this year came along, and Frazier accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl indicating he would forego his senior year at WVU to enter the NFL Draft, Frazier agreed to Caputo's request.

"He's going to be in the NFL, you know, after this year, so I just thought, 'You know, why not name it after him?'" Caputo said. "I got the idea a couple years ago, and I had asked him about a year and a half ago and he was real hesitant and shy about it."

During the tournament, guests bought raffle tickets to take home a football Frazier signed and donated to help raise money for the Soup Opera, which is still in need after a November flood destroyed parts of their building on Quincy Avenue in Fairmont.

When it came time to close out the raffle, Frazier had the honor of pulling the winning ticket. After the raffle, he signed autographs for the kids.

"He kind of got bombarded by kids but it was awesome because they loved it," Caputo said. "He was signing their wrestling shoes, their shirts, their head gear, he was signing all kinds of stuff. So it was really cool to see."

And despite Frazier's low-key demeanor, Caputo said the local sports legend didn't mind being in the spotlight for the tournament.

"He was very appreciative about it. You know, he's a very shy, quiet person to begin with, but I could really tell he was very happy and he appreciated what we did for him," Caputo said.

West Fairmont Middle wrestlers also took home a substantial number of champions and placers in the tournament.

In the 78 pound class, Brock Nichols was a first place champion as was Dominick Frisenda in the 102 pound class. In the 70 pound class, Matthew Stalnaker placed second, and in the 110 pound class, Jimmy Hershman placed second.

In the 70 pound class, Bryce Ross was fifth and Brayden Evans was sixth place in the 78 pound class.

Cooper Urse placed third in the 135 pound class, Grayson Dinger placed fourth in the 171 pound class, and Walter Eshenaur placed third in the 190 pound class.

Reach Eric Cravey at 304-367-2523.