COAL CITY, W.Va. — A tough night, despite a .500 finish.
The Point Pleasant wrestling team came away with second place at a tri-match Thursday night at Independence High School as the Big Blacks defeated Herbert Hoover 56-18 and fell to the host Patriots by a 61-15 margin in Raleigh County.
PPHS finished the night with a 13-14 overall mark in head-to-head matches, and only four of its 14 grapplers came away with unblemished records.
Justin Cornell (106), George Smith (113) and Austin Wamsley (152) all posted a pinfall win while going a perfect 2-0 in the tri-match, while Miles Williams (152) also scored a pinfall win in his lone match of the night against HHHS.
Cornell, Smith and Wamsley were the only victorious grapplers to compete against Independence, with Wamsley scoring the only non-forfeit win following a 4-2 decision in his 152-pound match.
Caleb Lane (120), Jeffrey Simpkins (138), Jacob Roub (145), Tyler Clendenin (170), Grant Safford (195) and Andrew Roach (220) all finished the evening with identical 1-1 records. Simpkins and Safford each recorded a pinfall victory, while Roub scored a technical fall against the Huskies.
Logan Southall (132) and Brian Gillispie (285) both went winless in two matches, while Nazar Abbas (160) and Colton Carr (170) also went 0-1 in their lone matches.
There were no results available for the Herbert Hoover and Independence head-to-head matches.
Complete results of the Point Pleasant at Independence tri-match are available on the web at wvmat.com
Bryan Walters can be reached at 740-446-2342, ext. 2101.
