Tyler Consolidated’s varsity wrestling team took 11 wrestlers to the huge Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Wrestling Championship’s over the weekend and came home with several wins, two podium appearances, and a lot of wrestling experience.

Thirty six teams with almost 400 wrestlers took part in the OVAC’s, the largest high school wrestling tournament in the United States. Wrestlers competed for individual championships in 14 weight classes, as well as overall team championships.

The Parkersburg South Patriot team, in their first OVAC appearance, walked away easily with the team championship with 256 points. Beaver Local placed second in the team competition with 176.5 followed by the Golden Bears of Oak Glen with 173 points and Steubenville with 161.5.

The Silver Knights placed 25th of the 36 teams with 29 points and Magnolia placed 30thwith 17.5 team points.

Individually for the Knights, seniors Brody Northcraft and Nate Taylor received awards for eighth place finishes at the tournament.

Taylor, wrestling at 152 and seeded 7th at the tournament won his first two matches 3-2 and 4-2 and then came up against Parkersburg South’s Bo Cooper, who would go on to place second overall at the tournament. Cooper and Taylor wrestled a close match, which could have gone either way, before Cooper scored two points to take the win, 3-1.

In the bottom bracket, Taylor defeated his Steubenville opponent 4-2, only to meet up with his first opponent of the tournament, Levi Hall of John Marshall, again. This time, Hall took the upper hand and the win, 3-2. Taylor fell 4-3 in his last match to gain an eighth place finish.

Northcraft, at 160, battled injury as well as opponents throughout the tournament. He pinned his first opponent in just 40 seconds, but fell to the bottom bracket as Barnsville’s Kody Crooks decisioned him 12-5. Crooks would go on to win the overall 160 bracket.

The Knight senior pinned his next two opponents before being defeated 5-0 and then 5-1 to place eighth overall in his weight class.

Consolidated’s Calvin McCune took his first match into to the third period before being pinned by his Cameron opponent, and then got a quick pin in his next match, but was defeated by a pin by John Marshall’s Dalton Hall in his last match of the tourney.

At 189, Adam Cross met with defeat in his first match by way of a pin, but major decisioned Indian Creek’s Ryan Whanger 16-2 to get a win in the next contest. Cross was defeated by a pin to end his podium hopes.

Greg McDougle, wrestling at 215 for the Knights was defeated in his first outing of the tournament, but also came back to score a win over his Barnesville opponent in the next. McDougle was out of the tournament when he was pinned in his next match.

Wrestling in the 285 weight class for Tyler Consolidated, John Epsilantis was pinned in his first match, but returned the favor to pin his next opponent to get the win. He was defeated by a pin by his Brooke opponent in his last match.

Also competing at the OVAC’s but unable to record a win at this outing were John Brosky, 112; Thomas Keller, 125; Joe Henthorn, 135; Levi Henderson, 145; and Brandon Grimes, 171.

The Knights will compete in a tri-match at Magnolia tonight and will participate in the WV Duals at Parkersburg South this weekend where they will again see some tough competition just in time to get them ready for Regionals.