By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Bullseye: The Yellow Jackets Wrestling team swarmed into East Hardy stinging all the competition to remain unscathed en route to tasting sweet nectar securing the Baker Brawl championship boosted by Javier Acosta hitting 100 career victories last Saturday.
The Cougars hosted Moorefield, Petersburg, Hampshire, Pendleton County and Tucker County.
Moorefield took the Baker Brawl crown with an undefeated record of 5-0 with wins over Hampshire 66-12, East Hardy 56-21, Pendleton County 71-12, Tucker County 78-6 and Petersburg 48-36.
“I was really excited about how well they wrestled. That’s what makes me happy, when they wrestle good matches. Wrestling for pins, wrestling for points, winning matches we didn’t think we were going to win and lost a couple matches and that is the way it goes. They came together and wrestled hard. That makes me very proud,” Moorefield Wrestling coach Larry Schoonover remarked.
“[Baker Brawl] What is really nice about coming here is that we only had to drive 20 minutes, because usually we have to drive two hours. It was good. Stevie [East Hardy coach Stevie Miller] puts on a really good tournament. It’s a good really good time. They are a bunch of good people. There are a lot of good wrestlers, good coaches and good referees. It was a good day of wrestling and we got better and that’s what counts.”
It was time for the Yellow Jackets to get some of that winning the Baker Brawl and the search for a trophy commenced.
There was no trophy presentation, so Coach Schoonover created an imaginary trophy to show the team and his comical spirit joining Jordan Fields and Jhon Paul to pose with the mystery hardware.
The Vikings were the Baker Brawl runner-up with a 4-1 record beating East Hardy 36-18, Pendleton County 64-16, Tucker County 60-nil and Hampshire 42-18; while falling to the Yellow Jackers 48-36.
East Hardy finished in third place with a record of 3-2 with victories over Hampshire 48-24, Pendleton County 54-12 and Tucker County 66-6; while the setbacks came against Moorefield 56-21 and Petersburg 36-18.
The Trojans grabbed fourth place with a record of 2-3 with the pair of wins coming over Pendleton County 36-12 and Tucker County 36-12; while falling to Moorefield 66-12, East Hardy 48-24 and Petersburg 42-18.
Pendleton County placed fifth overall with a record of 1-4 with the lone victory edging Tucker County 30-18; while losing to Moorefield, Petersburg, Hampshire and East Hardy.
Tucker County, in its inaugural wrestling season, rounded out the competition in sixth place with a 0-5 record in the first full tournament.
Moorefield junior Javier Acosta highlighted the Baker Brawl recording his 100th career win milestone by forfeit and is already looking forward to collecting 150 wins.
“It’s amazing. I didn’t really want to get it on a forfeit, but that’s what I got and I am happy to get 100 wins. I have been working on this for three years. I finally got 100 and not satisfied, 150 is next,” Moorefield 100-win club member Javi Acosta stated.
“It is something special being part of this program. We are always in the weight room. We are always together, working hard in the gym and just trying to get better. Today we did really good. We had to bump a few guys around to get the last win. [Goals] We want to try to make as many wrestlers go to the state tournament as possible and maybe place there and I think we can do it.”
Being a part of the 100-win club is a special achievement and something to be extremely proud of in this Yellow Jackets program.
“I am proud of him getting 100 [wins], but that is just the beginning. We are working on 150 now. We will celebrate this one today, but it is back to work on Monday,” Coach Schoonover said.
The Baker Brawl hospitality room was top notch with plethora of food delights and the concessions stand brought the gold medal with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs along with much more selections for the wrestling contingent to enjoy.
Coach Schoonover was stoked about the hospitality room, saying it was the best hospitality room he has experienced at tournaments and he has to been a bunch over a long tenure.
“They have one of the best hospitality rooms in the state and that is always a bonus,” Coach Schoonover noted. “If you go home hungry, it is your own fault.”
An East Hardy Wrestling member motioned to the crowd about getting a hamburger to eat from the concessions stand before it was too late as stomachs were growling around the mats.
The Baker Brawl worked like clockwork with a dedicated group of volunteers covering everything from food service to clock management on the two mats being utilized.
Each team gained experience battling in five matches apiece as the crowd cheered nearly as loud as the bench support.
East Hardy Wrestling recognized its senior crew (not rowing) prior to the Baker Brawl with a special announcement and showed school pride with team colored balloons.
Moorefield had a plethora of grapplers going undefeated in the Baker Brawl: LeeAnne Coon, Teagan Eversole, Javier Acosta, Jhon Paul, Jordan Fields, Alex Rodriguez, Daltan Ault, William Atkins, Nathan Crites, Grace Simmons and Levi Williams.
Finding out how painful a sting would be was discovered quickly by the Trojans as the Yellow Jackets pierced the mat with four pins by Daltan Ault, Jordan Fields, Jhon Paul and Alex Rodriguez.
Moorefield’s Annie Barr and Ledzie Matos earned wins through decisions against Hampshire, while forfeits boosted the score going to LeeAnne Coon, Kailynn Penkov, Teagan Eversole, Javier Acosta (100th win) and William Atkins.
The Yellow Jackets continued the momentum with ten wins against East Hardy.
Moorefield garnered pins thrice against the Cougars: Atkins pinned Conner Henderson, Fields pinned Bryce Toulomelis and Paul pinned Brinn Childers.
Two decisions were created for the Yellow Jackets: Ault over Ryan Harman and Axel Rodriguez over Khristian Bauserman.
Moorefield was given forfeit points to Coon, Eversole, Matos, Acosta and Alex Rodriguez.
East Hardy’s Jaedyn Funk won by decision over Barr.
Cooper Eckard and Hunter Nelson collected pins for the Cougars over Crites and Penkov, respectively.
Nick Roomsburg received a forfeit for East Hardy.
The Yellow Jackets grabbed a dozen wins against the Wildcats which included three pins, one decision and eight forfeits.
First period pins were garnered by Fields, Ault and Atkins; while the decision was finished by Matos.
Forfeits were given to Moorefield’s Coon, Eversole, Barr, Acosta, Paul, Alex Rodriguez, Axel Rodriguez and Nathan Crites.
Garrett and Liam took forfeits for Pendleton County.
Moorefield hauled in 13 wins against Tucker County including four first period pins from Grace Simmons over Emilija Arnold, Levi Williams over Anthony, Matos over Mitch Neil and Barr over Rachel Hile.
Forfeits went to Coon, Eversole, Acosta, Alex Rodriguez, Axel Rodriguez, Crites, Atkins, Ault and Penkov.
The Yellow Jackets buzzed for eight wins against Petersburg including three pins and five forfeits.
Moorefield’s first period pins were done by Eversole, Acosta and Fields.
Forfeits for the Yellow Jackets were received by Coon, Barr, Alex Rodriguez, Ault and Atkins.
The Vikings hammered four pins in the first frame by Landon Wrratchford over Blake Robinette, Lukas Wolford over Nathan Crites, Garrett Dolly over Axel Rodriguez, and Carter Thompson over Ledziel Matos.
Petersburg picked up two forfeits to Alex Halterman and Josh Lahman.
The Cougars pounced with nine undefeated grapplers: Chloe D’Amico, Hunter Nelson, Morganne Miller, Nick Roomsburg, Madilyn Funk, Jaedyn Funk, Ryan Harman, Khriz Guerrero and Cooper Eckard.
East Hardy snatched eight wins against Hampshire including three pins and a slam penalty, plus forfeits.
Brice Toulomelis was given the win due to a slamming penalty by the Trojans.
East Hardy’s Morganne Miller, Nick Roomsburg and Madilyn Funk garnered pins against Hampshire.
Cougars forfeits went to Chloe D’Amico, Khristian Bauserman, Hunter Nelson and Conner Henderson.
The Cougars pounced for four pins and five forfeits against Pendleton County.
Roomsburg, Toulimelis, Henderson and Nelson collected pins for the Cougars.
East Hardy forfeits went to D’Amico, Bauserman, Miller, Madilyn Funk and Eckard.
East Hardy created ten wins against Tucker County as Jaedyn Funk notched a pin over Mitch Neil, Miller pinned Emilija Arnold, Brinn Childers pinned Anthony, Roomsburg pinned Evans and Madilyn Funk pinned Rachel Hile.
The Cougars slashed to victory with five forfeits over the Mountain Lions: D’Amico, Bauserman, Nelson, Henderson, Ryan Harman and Khriz Guerrero.
East Hardy counted nine wins over Pendleton County including pins by Hunter, Henderson, Toulomelis, and Roomsburg, plus a decision by Jaedyn Funk and the rest were forfeits.
A special match has been declared for a Hardy County rematch tomorrow in the Hive as the rivals grapple for the Hardy Hammer.
Moorefield and East Hardy visit Keyser for the state qualifier duals on Saturday.
East Hardy heads to Fort Hill in Maryland on Monday.
Coming up on January 16-17, the Yellow Jackets travel to the Braxton County Tournament and the Cougars pounce into Maryland for the Mountain Ridge Tournament.
