NEW FACES — There are nine new head wrestling coaches in the OVAC for the 2024-25 season. Six were in attendance at Monday night’s preseason press conference inside WesBanco Arena, the site of the 71st annual OVAC Championships on Jan. 16-18. They are, front row, from left, are Cameron’s Chad Burge; Conotton Valley’s Jesse Crilley and Toronto’s David Blawut. Back row, from left, are Wheeling Park’s Danny Doyle; Steubenville Catholic’s Fr. Ryan Liebahaber; and Cambridge’s Jordan Ball. The new schools are Columbiana, East Palestine and Leetonia. - Kim North

WHEELING — The 2024-25 OVAC wrestling season officially got underway Monday night with the annual press conference inside WesBanco Arena, the site of the three-day tournament 71st annual OVAC Ron Mauck Championships on January 16-18.

The field for the gigantic tournament has grown to 58 schools this season, with Columbiana, East Palestine and Leetonia joining. In addition to those three, six other schools have new head coaches: those being Jordan Ball (Cambridge); Chad Burge (Cameron); Jesse Crilley (Conotton Valley); Fr. Ryan Liebahaber (Steubenville Catholic); David Blawut (Toronto) and Danny Doyle (Wheeling Park).

“I’m looking forward to another great season and another great tournament,” OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament Director Shane Shaffer said.

OVAC Executive Director Dirk Decoy said, “This is one of the crown jewels that the OVAC puts on. Things are going very well in the conference right now.”

Decoy also students can get into any OVAC championship event for $1, this is something the conference started last year.

“We can’t do this without all of you,” he said while talking to the head coaches at each school. Each one of you is carrying a small piece of the torch that lights the entire flame.”

Dr. Dan Doyle, past OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament Director, announced that fans attending this year’s spectacle will be able to view highlights on the marquee board from the 1962 Finals.

“Someone gave us a reel-to-reel of the tournament and we had it made into a CD,” Doyle explained. “It will be shown throughout the tournament.”

Doyle also said a pair of former OVAC products were inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame West Virginia chapter. They are Cameron product Ron Trowbridge and Brooke graduate and long-time official Chris DiSerio.

For the second consecutive season, the OVAC will send an All-Star team to Dublin Jerome High School in suburban Columbus on November 23 to compete against the Central District in an All-Star Classic. Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen is the contact person.

The 29th annual OVAC-MAC “Clash of Champions” will be Wed., March 12 at an undetermined MAC school in western Pennsylvania. The banquet will be held the night before in Weirton at Undo’s Restaurant.

The OVAC Bill Hinegardner Dual Meet Championships will once again be staged by Brooke and John Marshall high schools. The Class 1A/2A and Class 4A duals will be held inside the Wellness Center at Brooke on Jan 29 while the Class 3A and Class 5A will be held inside the John Marshall Fieldhouse in Moundsville on Jan. 30. Both events begin at 6 p.m.

Dr. Doyle also announced that the OVAC Wrestling Family lost a long-time member when former Cameron head coach Jim Potts recently passed away.

The two local college wrestling coaches – West Liberty’s Danny Irwin and Wheeling University’s Shane Brown took a couple minutes to talk about their respective teams.

“We have five former OVAC wrestlers on our roster this season,” Irwin noted. “We also have our home opener on November 21 when Fairmont State visits the ARC.”

The five OVAC products are returning All-American Alec Cook (Madonna); and freshmen Logan Davis (Oak Glen), Shawn Young (Weir), Lucas Zambotti (Magnolia) and Gabe Blissenbach (Southern Local).

Irwin also noted the Hilltoppers women’s team has 18 members.

Brown is excited about the upcoming season as the Cardinals have a lot of new equipment, including a competition mat and will be getting a new locker room in the 2025-26 season.

“We have the highest roster number in the past five seasons,” Brown said. “We are back in the original wrestling room this season, as well.”

Locals competing at Wheeling are Zach Kuneff (Bridgeport) and Hunter Bittinger (Harrison Central).

The Cardinals debut at home on Dec. 6 when West Virginia University Institute of Technology visits the McDonough Center.