By Carl Holcomb
Pink perseverance:
East Hardy Girls Wrestling senior Morganne Miller turned coal into pink diamonds standing atop the podium as the state champion to pave the way for the Hardy County quintet of state medalists in Huntington.
Miller earned the 2026 WVSSAC Girls Wrestling Invitational 145-lb State Championship with an intense 14-13 decision over Buckhannon-Uphur’s Maya Garcia.
East Hardy Girls Wrestling understood the assignment by wearing pink infused singlets, then a special twist was added for the coaches having pink shoes in the championship match.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling was prepared with pink state tournament warm-up shirts.
“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” 2 Chronicles15:7.
The rewards for the grit and determination kept rolling on the mats with more state hardware coming back to Hardy County: Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s Kailynn Penkov (185) and Grace Simmons (132) earned state podium spots with fourth place medals, East Hardy Boys Wrestling’s Aaron Barb (106) snatched the lone Hardy County Boys hardware in fifth place and East Hardy Girls Wrestling’s Madilyn Funk (120) rounded out the podium appearances with a sixth place state medal.
“I’m proud of all our kids who competed. They represented East Hardy, our program, and our community the right way. They fought hard, showed a lot of character, and that’s what our program is all about,” East Hardy Wrestling coach Steven Miller noted.
Collectively, the Hardy County girls wrestling competitors earned 18 wins and the boys finished with six wins.
“I’m extremely proud of our wrestlers and what they accomplished at the state tournament. We had two state medalists – Madilyn Funk finishing 6th in the state and Aaron Barb finishing 5th. Both of them wrestled with a lot of toughness and heart and that’s a big accomplishment at the state level,” Coach Miller said.
East Hardy Wrestling coach and father Steven Miller was beyond ecstatic for his daughter Morganne winning the state championship.
“On the girls side, Morganne Miller won the state champion ship at 145 pounds. As a coach, that was an incredible moment, but as her dad it means even more. I’ve coached Morganne since she was about four years old. It’s been one of the true pleasure of my life to coach all four of my kids through the sport of wrestling,” East Hardy Wrestling coach Steven Miller stated.
Morganne gained some bragging rights over her siblings, but her sister had two individual titles before wrestling at Presbyterian College.
Coach Miller accepted a special deal with his daughter Morganne along with assistant coach TJ Van Meter to wear pink shoes in the championship round when she advanced to that point.
Both coaches donned bright pink shoes and that flair just might have been the extra push Morganne needed to win by one point and the celebration began with a huge smile and hugs.
Morganne Miller looked like a pink Cheshire cat with a gigantic smile winning the title and capping off her career with a 94-7 record.
Move over Pink Panther, there is a new cat in town as the East Hardy Cougars turn coal into championship diamonds.
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“Morganne made a deal with TJ and I. If you made the final, we would wear pink glittery shoes,” Coach Miller explained.
Miller’s journey to Coal Country culminated at the pinnacle of success to conclude an illustrious career and helped to usher in a new wave of sanctioned girls wrestling in the Mountain State.
Miller was a member of the East Hardy Girls Wrestling Invitational State Championship team in 2023 with an individual runner-up honor, then collected bronze medals the next two seasons.
Miller complemented that success being named the Potomac Valley Conference Girls Most Outstanding Wrestler for her entire career.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling team placed 12th overall as a team with 52.5 points and East Hardy took 17th place with 39 points.
Washington Girls Wrestling won the team championship.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s LeeAnne Coon (100) was edged in the opening round 7-6 against Parkersburg South.
Coon bounced back for the Yellow Jackets with back-to-back wins, a first period pin over Oak Hill and a 5-4 decision over Hedgesville.
Coon was eliminated by Calhoun County in a 7-2 decision.
Local PVC wrestler from Frankfort, Ana Mendoza, was the state runner-up in the 100 division.
East Hardy Girls Wrestling’s Madilyn Funk (120) began the state tournament with two straight wins, a second period pin at 3:50 over Spring Valley and a first period pin at 1:28 against Washington.
Eventual state champion Parkersburg’s Powell pinned Funk in the first period shifting her path to the consolation bracket.
Funk lost the next two matches against Greenbrier East and Wheeling Park to take the final podium medal.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s Annie Barr (126) commenced the state tournament with a 10-3 decision victory over Logan, then lost to the eventual state champion from Parkersburg in a first period pin at 1:19 and fell in the first period to Parkersburg South at 1:41.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s Grace Simmons (132) was adventurous this year competing in the first MHS girls soccer program before trying out wrestling.
Simmons looked like a veteran earning back-to-back wins to reach the state semifinals gaining a technical fall 19-3 over Huntington and a first period pin at 1:25 against Parkersburg.
Simmons lost by pin in the second period at 2:55 against eventual state runner-up and PVC foe Keyser’s Mya Burgess.
Simmons won gains against Huntington’s Clay with a first period pin at 1:39, then lost in the third place match to Shady Spring in the first round at 1:26 to gather the fourth place state bling.
East Hardy Girls Wrestling’s Chloe D’Amico (132) lost both state matches in the first period against Parkersburg and Huntington.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s Morgan Malone (138) opened the state tournament losing to eventual state runner-up Ripley’a Austin Nichols in the first period at 0:48, then edged out by Parkersburg in a 4-0 decision during the consolation bracket.
Miller’s road to the state championship for the Cougars started with two first period pins against Wahama and Liberty, then a state semifinal pin at 5:37 over Williamstown to reach the state title match and winning by 14-13 against Garcia from Buckhannon-Upshur.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s Jaelee Lender (152) began the state tournament with a third period pin over Pike View’s Poe.
Lender lost to eventual state champion Winfrey from Tyler Consolidated in the first period by pin at 0:10.
Lender fell to Parkersburg South in the consolation bracket during the first period at 0:56.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s Kailynn Penkov (185) garnered a fourth place state medal beginning with back-to-back wins to reach the state semifinals coming through opening frame pins over Riverside at 0:28 and Shady Spring at 1:06.
Penlov lost to the eventual state champion Olivia Blonn from Buckhannon-Upshur in the state semifinals first period at 0:56.
Penkov swarmed back with a first period pin over Greenbrier East, then fell to John Marshall in the third place match at 1:46.
Penkov showed amazing improvement moving up from last year’s sixth place state finish.
“I was thrilled I made it to states again. Fourth isn’t first, but it’s an amazing achievement from last year. I’m very proud of myself. The atmosphere was great, it felt amazing with all the people that cheered me on this weekend,” Moorefield Girls Wrestling fourth place state medalist Kailynn Penkov commented.
Moorefield Girls Wrestling’s Kourtneyy Smith (235) commenced the state tournament with a fist period pin at 1:09 over Liberty’s Meadows.
Smith lost in the state quarterfinals against eventual champion Buckhannon-Upshur’s Abby Radabaugh in the first period at 1:48.
Smith bounced back with a first period pin at 1:39 over Robert C. Byrd in the consolation bracket.
Koontz of Berkeley Springs ousted Smith in the first period at 0:56.
On the boys side, East Hardy was 32nd (5th Class A) and Moorefield was 38th in the combined WVSSAC Class AA-A State Wrestling Tournament standings.
Class AA-A Region II 106-lb champion Aaron Barb (38-7) singlehandedly catapulted the East Hardy Boys Wrestling team into second place for Division 3 (A) just entering the state semi finals with two pins as their lone representative competing.
“I feel beyond blessed by even getting a chance to compete at such a high level of competition as I did. It was amazing being able to represent my school and earn a podium finish,” East Hardy Boys Wrestling state medalist Aaron Barb remarked.
“Seeing the team score in second place while being the only one representing your school is an unbelievable feeling just being able to see I accomplished that myself. The atmosphere was so surreal, especially being out on the mat was such an amazing feeling knowing how much work I put in. The keys to winning are putting everything I learned and worked on during the season to use even if I lost I tried my hardest.”
Barb would finish in fifth place as an individual and his points were good enough to usher the Cougars into fifth place in Division 3.
“Aaron was absolutely on fire during the tournament. For him to battle through that bracket and place 5th, and for us to finish 5th as a team with essentially one wrestler scoring those points, says a lot about his termination and grit,” Coach Miller said.
Barb pinned Sissonville (0:07) and Nicholas County (5:39) to pounce into the state semifinals.
Oak Glen edged Barb in the state semifinals with a 5-2 decision.
Barb lost in the consolation semifinals to Point Pleasant 6-1.
Barb refocused and collected a 17-6 major decision against Lewis County to earn the fifth place state hardware.
Moorefield Boys Wrestling’s Jhon Paul (138) lost by technical fall 20-4 to Independence in the state tournament opener.
Paul swarmed back with a consolation round win against Ritchie County, then lost to Herbert Hoover in the first period by pin to bow out.
Moorefield Boys Wrestling’s Alex Rodriguez (157) earned a first round state tournament win with a second period pin at 3:14 over Herbert Hoover.
Rodriguez fell in the state quarterfinals to Ripley in the third period by pin at 4:50.
Chapmanville knocked out Rodriguez with a 7-1 decision.
Keeping an eye on the prize, East Hardy senior Morganne Miller turned coal into pink diamonds reaching the pinnacle of success transforming the final visit to Huntington into the West Virginia Girls Invitational State Championship.
The wrestling programs in Hardy County continue to grow with tremendous skill and the state tournament was a sign of more great results coming in the future as the feeder programs expand.
West Virginia’s girls wrestling programs have collected a huge following and will be featured in a separate state tournament next year.
The wrestling mats are filling up fast, so keep showing support for the local grapplers as those kids move up to the state tournament glory.
“I am very proud of our wrestlers. They give me 100 percent every day in practice. Grace and Kailynn made their way to the podium and that is always our goal. The best move in wrestling is when you have your hand raised,” Moorefield Wrestling coach Larry Schoonover concluded.
