By Carl Holcomb
“It came for me. It’s mine, my own, my love, my precious.” Excerpt from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Shiny medals from the Potomac Valley Conference Wrestling Tournament in Keyser were glimmers in the eyes of the grapplers (beholders) with the Golden Tornado grabbing the overall team title with 14 medals.
Keyser and runner-up Frankfort collected 13 total gold medals for Mineral County.
Hardy County had a plethora of precious medals with a total of 26 pieces to bring home.
Moorefield finished in fifth place overall with 15 medals, including four girls gold medals.
East Hardy snatched 11 medals for 6th place overall, including a pair of gold medals for the boys and girls.
East Hardy Girls Wrestling senior Morganne Miller became a four-time Potomac Valley Conference Champion and honored as the PVC Most Outstanding Girls Wrestler (MVP) for a third season.
There were nine PVC teams eyeing medals to bring back home and the biggest collection went to Hardy and Mineral counties with 52 total precious medals adorning them.
Petersburg was third place as a team with eight medals (2 gold) and Berkeley Springs took fourth place with seven medals (2 gold).
Rounding out the PVC field: 7th Hampshire, 8th Pendleton County and 9th Tucker County.
Every single member of the Moorefield Girls Wrestling team collected medals including four precious gold pieces.
The Yellow Jackets’ PVC Girls champions were: Kailynn Penkov (185/235), Jaelee Lender (152/165), Lexi Vanmeter (144) and LeeAnne Coon (100/107).
Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s Annie Barr (126) and Grace Simmons (132) hauled in the silver medals, while Morgan Malone (138) collected the bronze medal.
Moorefield Boys Wrestling snatched eight precious medals with the top two silver medals going to Levi Williams (132) and Jhon Paul (138).
The Yellow Jackets grabbed bronze medals thrice for Teagan Eversole (113), Jordan Fields (144) and William Atkins (285).
Moorefield Wrestling accolades continued with: 4th Axel Rodriguez (150), 5th Blake Robinette (215) and 6th Ledziel Matos (120).
East Hardy Wrestling collected a total of 11 precious medals at the PVC Tournament.
“Overall, it was a great day for East Hardy Wrestling and I couldn’t be more proud of how both our girls and boys performed,” East Hardy Wrestling coach Steven Miller remarked.
Morganne Miller was named the PVC Most Outstanding Girls Wrestler with a gold medal finish (138).
“Morganne Miller was absolutely dominant, and earning the Most Outstanding Wrestler (MVP) award was well-deserved. She wrestled with confidence and composure all tournament,” Coach Miller noted.
East Hardy Girls Wrestling’s Madilyn Funk snatched the gold medal in the 120 class.
“We also had Madilyn Funk come away as a PVC Champion, which is a huge accomplishment and shows how much she’s improved. In addition, we had two more girls earn spots on the podium: Jaedyn Funk 2nd place and Chloe D’Amico 3rd place,” Coach Miller said.
The Cougars Girls Wrestling success continued with Jaedyn Funk claiming the silver medal (126) and Chloe D’Amico collecting the bronze medal (132).
“The girls had an outstanding day at PVC and I’m extremely proud of them. We had multiple medal winners across the lineup and the team represented East Hardy the right way – tough, disciplined, and competitive from start to finish,” Coach Miller stated.
East Hardy Boys Wrestling hauled in seven precious PVC medals.
“The boy had an excellent tournament as well. We had two PVC Champions on the boys side: Aaron Barb and Nick Roomsburg. Beyond the champions, the rest of the boys wrestled hard, competed with intensity, and continue to improve every single day. We’re seeing real progress across the lineup and the effort they’re putting in is starting to show on the mat,” Coach Miller explained.
Two PVC gold medal championships were collected by Aaron Barb (106) and Nick Roomsburg (215).
The Cougars grabbed three fourth place medals for: Connor Henderson (285), Ryan Harman (190) and Khristian Bauserman (157; fifth place medal for Carter Myers (144); and sixth place medal for Hunter Nelson (165).
Hardy County Wrestling is making waves on the mat and will be ready for the Viking Smash in Petersburg.
Keyser’s four-time PVC champion senior Owen Rotruck won the PVC Most Outstanding Boys Wrestler award.
Every gold medalist is considered a member of the All-PVC Wrestling Team.
It was a tremendous tournament with excellent hospitality at Keyser.
