Cameron, Weir, Oak Glen have state champs
ON THE MATS — Cameron’s Maverick Lilley and Oak Glen’s Jordan Tomsic wrestle for the gold at 106 pounds Saturday inside Marshall Health Arena. - Benjamin Powell
HUNTINGTON — It was a good day to be a Dragon on Saturday inside Marshall Health Arena, where four Cameron matmen claimed spots atop the podium in the championship round of the 2026 WVSSAC State Wrestling Tournament, while multiple other grapplers from local programs also claimed championships on the final day of the high school wrestling season in the Mountain State.
DIVISION II
The Cameron Dragons availed themselves well as a team, finishing third overall in Division II (Class AA-A,) tallying 130 team points to finish behind only team champions Ripley and runners-up Williamstown.
The Dragons went 4-4 in championship bouts on Saturday. At 106 pounds, sophomore Maverick Lilley defeated Oak Glen junior Jordan Tomsic 9-3 for the gold. Junior Braxton Birch, a runner-up last year, won the crown at 132, defeating Chapmanville’s Devin Hensley 10-5. Sophomore Talen Brown took down Braxton County’s Paxton Smith 10-2 for the 157-pound crown. Junior Eli Tedrow won the gold at 165, pinning Weir junior Joshua DeFelice in 3:06. The victory made three-straight state championships for Tedrow.
“We couldn’t have asked for much more,” Cameron head coach Matt Burge said. “We scored a lot of points with what we brought down here. Most of our guys, except for two matches, we either majored, teched or pinned somebody leading up to these finals. They did a phenomenal job scoring.”
“We only had six. We lost a guy to injury, a knee injury, our 126-pounder, so it was unexpected toward the end of the year and he wasn’t able to be at the regional. We brought five of six, and you know, with the five we brought; four champs and a third.”
Weir freshman Chad Artman won the gold at 126 pounds, pinning East Fairmont’s Haydyn Spitznogle in 5:11. Artman earned a spot in Red Riders history with the championship victory, becoming the first-ever freshman champion in Weir history.
After finishing as state runner-up at heavyweight last year, Oak Glen senior Noah Schmidt won the 215-pound championship over Shady Spring’s Joey Cowger, 7-1.
“Noah getting a state championship as a senior; he took fourth (as sophomore heavyweight) and was runner-up last year so it was nice for him to end the day for us with a state championship,” Oak Glen head coach Josh Cornell said.
“Overall I was proud of the team. Jordan Tomsic is a third year wrestler in the state final and then Wyatt Wolanksi taking third, capping off his senior year. He was in a very tough weight. We are very proud of the way he wrestled the entire season and his entire career, and then also Alexandra Watkins got to the finals and upset two girls that beat her earlier in the year; she had a great tournament and had another tough girl in the finals. Overall I felt like the team, win or loss, they wrestled and gave it their all.”
Several other local wrestlers placed in Saturday’s finale.
Wheeling Central’s Tylique Marshall placed third in 113. Teammate Wyatt Brady placed fifth at 190, and Dom Paesani placed fourth in the heavyweight division.
Oak Glen’s Wyatt Wolanski placed third at 144-pounds.
Cameron’s Marshall Crow finished third at 150-pounds.
As a team, Oak Glen finished eighth in Division II, Weir finished ninth, and Wheeling Central finished 12th. 52 teams were represented in Division II.
DIVISION I
John Marshall finished in eighth in Division I, while Wheeling Park finished in 10th and Brooke in 16th.
Wheeling Park senior Isaac Sands finished as state runner-up at 165 pounds, as Bridgeport’s John Knight captured the title 11-2.
“Isaac has put together an amazing season and an amazing career,” Wheeling Park head coach Danny Doyle said. “He had an unfortunate injury at regionals that really hampered him these past two weeks. He hasn’t gotten the mat time that he would’ve liked, but you know there was nobody who was going to keep Isaac off the mat this weekend. He put all of his effort into this weekend. He wasn’t feeling the best, but he’s a tough kid and he just had that perseverance to get out on the mat, put the pain behind him and go out there and work.”
Park’s Hunter Flanegin finished in fourth at 106 pounds, and Nate Hodge finished in third at 157 pounds.
John Marshall was all over the Division I podiums on Saturday. Milo Ward finished in fifth at 106 pounds, Nathan Hughes finished fifth at 120 pounds, Kai Johnson finished in sixth at 165 pounds, Spencer South finished in sixth at 175 pounds and JT Morris finished in fifth at 190 pounds.
“I’m very happy with the kids as a whole this year,” John Marshall head coach Ryan Asbury said. “We had a very young team coming in. We only had one senior and one junior in our starting lineup this year so qualifying 11 to come down here was fantastic.
“We were able to put five of the guys on the podium, which is the most we’ve had in several seasons, so very, very excited about how this year went and even more so how the next few are going to go as these guys continue to build with that experience they gained this season.”
Brooke’s Anthony Maple claimed bronze at 113 pounds and teammate Landon Burdine finished in sixth at 132 pounds.
GIRLS
Tyler’s Eliana Winfrey finished her dominant senior season as a repeat champion at 152 pounds, pinning Oak Glen junior Alexandra Watkins in 1:09. It was the longest match of Winfrey’s whole tournament run.
Wheeling Park, who finished eighth as a team, placed two wrestlers in the 235-pound weight class. Terriona Gibbons finished in second, and London Fankhouser finished in fifth. Kymber Haldreth finished in second at 185 pounds, and Abigail O’Donnell placed fifth at 120 pounds.
John Marshall’s Jaycee McEndree finished third at 185 pounds.
Cameron’s Ava Lemasters placed sixth at 114 pounds.




