ON THE MATS — Big Red’s Cole Harvey wrestles during Thursday’s OVAC duals. - Kim North

MOUNDSVILLE — For the third consecutive year, Steubenville has flexed its muscles in the OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 5A Dual Meet Championships.

Thursday night inside the John Marshall Fieldhouse, top-seeded Big Red defeated No. 2 Wheeling Park, 46-35, in the championship after taking down No. 4 John Marshall, 42-28, in the semifinals.

“Tonight’s performance wasn’t our best, but coming into the matches we knew John Marshall and Wheeling Park both had good teams, so we knew we were in for a fight,” Steubenville head coach Lucas Huffman said. “I’m proud of our kids because we had to step up a couple of times and came out with two wins.”

The one match that Huffman noted was the 144-pound battle where sophomore Demeatrus Benjamin built a 14-7 advantage after one period and then had to hang on, recording a pin with two seconds remaining in a topsy-turvy match with the Patriots’ Donovan Dunkin.

Wrestling in place of injured all-Ohioan Cooper Smith, Benjamin showed some resolve, which made his head coach smile.

“He has done a great job of filling in for Cooper,” Huffman said. “That was a big win for him and for our team.” Smith is sidelined with an ankle injury.

The victory gave Steubenville a 24-18 lead, but Wheeling Park won the next three matches to take a 35-24 advantage.

Jake Carmen (150) and Nate Hodge (157) earned pins before Isaac Sands (165) prevailed by technical fall, but that set the stage for Big Red’s late rally.

“I was very happy with our performance,” Wheeling Park head coach Danny Doyle said. “We’ve been preaching to the kids the last couple of weeks the importance of getting bonus points and not giving up bonus points. Our kids responded to that tonight.”

Steubenville closed strong as a Wheeling Park forfeit at 175 pulled Big Red to within 35-30. A pin by Landon Crosier put Steubenville ahead for good at 36-35.

Freshman Colt Gamble posted a major decision at 215 as the margin increased to 40-35, but heavyweight Beau Hudson put the finishing touches on with a 58-second fall. Hudson recently committed to West Liberty to continue his football career.

“Landon and Beau have both been around long enough and we rely a lot on them,” Huffman said. “They both came through for us.”

Steubenville will compete in the Panther Classic on Saturday at Buckeye Local High School in Connorville.