HUNTINGTON — The Ohio Valley has 40 individuals headed to the W.Va. Class A/AA state wrestling tournament this weekend inside Marshall Health Arena.

In the boys portion of the two-gender event, Oak Glen leads the local contingent with eight while Cameron has six; Tyler Consolidated and Weir four each; defending Class A state champion Wheeling Central with three; and Magnolia two.

Of the 40, 13 are females as Tyler Consolidated accounts for seven. Magnolia has three, with Cameron, Oak Glen and Paden City all having one in the one-division event

The state tournament begins tonight and runs through the championship finals on Saturday night. The top six finishers in each weight class earn all-state.

WHEELING CENTRAL

It will be a hard task for the Maroon Knights to repeat their success of last winter as injuries decimated them this year. They lost state alternate Joey Hall to a season-ending injury during football and had two stalwarts – state runner up Wyatt Brady (165) and Dominic Asbury (285) both sustained season-ending knee injuries during the OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament in December.

“Obviously, you qualify individually but with the relationships that these kids have with each other is really the driving force of any success we have,” head coach Rick Welker assessed of his Maroon Knights.

“We will again be travelling with the entire team and support staff and hopefully that support will carry our qualifiers through the tournament.”

Three Maroon Knights punched their tickets. They are juniors Tylique Marshall (106); Isaac Lucious (190) and Isaac Martin (215). Martin is a defending state champion.

“Isaac has put together a solid season and I am sure he is hoping to get four more wins,” Welker said. “He is working hard and getting ready and hopefully the work pays off. His weight class is pretty solid in Huntington so he will need to be at his best.”

Martin checks in at 43-3 and was an OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament titlist.

“Tylique has worked hard for us the past couple of seasons and is continuing to improve. He took a few years away from wrestling in middle school and it is awesome to have him back,” Welker reported. “It is great to get him to the state tournament after coming up short last year. I am really excited to see him compete in Huntington where things do not get any easier.”

Marshall will carry a 28-13 mark to the state tournament.

“I am extremely excited for Lou, he has really taken advantage of the end of the season and really put together a strong performance at the regional tournament,” Welker said of Lucious. “He was an alternate a couple of years ago and I think that was on his mind and really pushed him at the regional.

“Those losses stick with you for a while and I think he finally is over that hurdle and will hopefully have a strong state tournament.”

CAMERON

The Dragons have had a fine season under first-year head coach Chad Burge. They will be represented by a very young squad that features one senior, three sophomores and a pair of freshmen.

Slaton Pettit (150) is the lone upperclassman. He is currently 36-3 and was a state runner up last winter. He won the Region I title two weeks ago at St. Marys High School and was an OVAC Ron Mauck runner up.

Sophomores Braxton Birch (126), Marshall Crow (138) and Eli Tedrow (157) all won Region I titles. Birch, now 24-2, and Tedrow, currently 45-5, were state runner ups last year. Birch won an OVAC Ron Mauck title in January. Tedrow was second. Crow has a 25-10 mark.

Freshmen Maverick Lilley (106) and Talen Brown (144) round out the state qualifiers. Lilley is 25-16 and finished fourth in the regionals. Brown, 43-9, was a regional runner up and finished third at the OVAC Ron Mauck event.

OAK GLEN

The Golden Bears are represented by Region I champions Greg Sauers (190) and Noah Schmidt (285). Both seniors, Sauers is 41-13 and Schmidt 40-7. They both also finished fourth at their same weights a year ago.

Senior Aiden Anderson (113) was a regional runner up and carries a 29-16 mark to Huntington, while junior Wyatt Wolanski (132) and sophomore Jordan Tomsic (106) were second-place finishers at the regional. Wolanski is 24-10 and Tomsic 30-14.

Senior Hayden Lamb (144) and junior Logan Graham (138) both took third at the regionals. Lamb, who was third in the state a year ago at 132, is 28-8. Graham has a 23-15 record.

Junior Richie Gudino (215) rounds out the Oak Glen contingent. He was fourth in the regional and is 30-16.

WEIR

The Red Riders have four state qualifiers in senior Wyatt Hostutler (120); junior Ben Bryan (175) and sophomores Joshua DeFelice (165) and Ashton Hans (285).

Hostutler, a region runner up, is 35-10. Bryan, who took third at the regional, checks in at 40-9, while regional fourth-place finishers, DeFelice is 35-11 and Hans 23-17.

TYLER

CONSOLIDATED

The Silver Knights have four qualifiers in seniors Colsen Spragg (138) and Branson Winfrey (157), along with sophomores Kellan Dalrymple (144) and Gideon Winfrey (150).

Branson Winfrey is 35-6 and was a Region I runner up. Gideon Winfrey carries a 29-9 mark to Huntington after finishing third in the regional. Spragg, 35-10, and Dalrymple, 22-6, both finished fourth in the regional.

MAGNOLIA

The Blue Eagles have fourth-place regional finishers Dominic Harper (120) and Eden Harlan (190) in their qualifiers. Both seniors, Harper is 22-17 and Harlan 35-12.

GIRLS

TYLER

CONSOLIDATED

The Silver Knights have seven state tournament qualifiers in seniors Mariah King (114) and Sofia Corso (132); juniors Phranki Garris (132), Myra Johnson (138), Arianna Hartline (145) and Eliana Winfrey (152); and sophomores Cameron Westbrook (126) and Starrla Hales (145).

MAGNOLIA

The Blue Eagles have three representatives in junior Chloe Dutton (185); sophomore Jozie Madden (165) and freshman Jocelynn Parsons (114). Dutton finished fourth last year.

CAMERON

The Dragons’ representative is junior Ava Lemasters (114) who was third last winter. She is 15-15 and 5-0 in female competition.

OAK GLEN

The Golden Bears are represented by sophomore Alexandria Watkins (132).

PADEN CITY

The lone qualifier for the Wildcats is freshman Monaya Gibson (165).