Jarvis also shares Most Outstanding Wrestler honors
By Shirley Shuman
Blayne Jarvis led the Eagles’ honors at the WV State Wrestling Tournament this year as he won the championship in his weight class and shared the honor of being West Virginia’s Most Outstanding Wrestler with Gunner Andrick from Point Pleasant. Three other Braxton wrestlers placed in this year’s tournament. Paxton Smith, at 138, and Connor Facemire, 285, both finished third, and Eliah Moore, 190, placed sixth.
Jarvis, whose season record is 66-0, is Braxton’s second state champion with a perfect record. He shares that honor with Rick Merzouk. He and Kelly Morris are the only two Eagles’ wrestlers to place in the state tournament all four years.
Smith, a sophomore, finished the season with a 59-10 record, and Facemire has a 60-7 record for the year. Moore, who was injured early in the season and did not wrestle as many matches as the others, carried a 30-6 record. All of Braxton’s wrestlers won at least one match in the tournament, their coach pointed out, and he said if Cody Stout, Bradyn Morris, Steven Deal and Jadyn Wheeler had won one more match, they, too, would have placed. He also noted that at 106, Stout went 2-2, Nathaniel Thayer,113, was 1-2, and Braydon Helmick,126,1-2. Deal, 165, was also 1-2, and Wheeler, 215, 2-2, The wins these wrestlers managed helped Braxton finish as high as they did.
The Braxton team finished fourth among AA schools competing at the state tournament. Point Pleasant won the team championship, and Fairmont Senior was runner-up. Oak Glen placed third.
Coach Beane pointed out that this year, female wrestlers also had for the first time a state tournament. Braxton had three girls compete. Emily Brown, at 120, had a record of 3-2 in the girls’ tournament. At 132, Lilly Fitzwater also had a 3-2 record, and Heidi Singleton, 126, went 0-2.
See additional photographic coverage on Page 14 of this issue.
