Park dual tournament set for Friday
By BRIAN COOK, Times Leader Sports Writer POSTED: December 27,


Fact Box
PREP? WRESTLING
Who: Wheeling Park? Domino Duals
When: Friday & Saturday, 9 a.m.
Where: Wheeling Park HS.


No practice, no conditioning, nothing can get the body ready to endure nine to 10 matches in two days of wrestling. However, 30 teams are going to pack The Palace on the Hill Friday and Saturday at Wheeling Park and dual it out anyways.

Bringing in top talent from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, the Wheeling Park Domino Duals' Tournament Director Steve Shaffer assures there aren't too many tournaments like this available in the country with as much talent as what he has been preparing for all season.

"The nice thing is the Domino Duals brings in different styles of wrestling to compete against," Shaffer explained. "Pennsylvania is more on the mat, Ohio is more on your feet and West Virginia is a blend of both."

With 500 wrestlers expected to hit the mat, Shaffer says the tournament has anywhere from 75-200 state qualifiers each year.

Returning state champions set to compete include Wheeling Park's Dirk Bauer (103), Hedgesville' Billy Forquer (160) and John Marshall's Taylor Potts (215).

State runner-ups included in the whirlwind of wrestling are Bellaire's Robbie Chilson (140), Parkersburg South's Tyler Green (119), East Fairmont's Hunter Wood (112), Drew Jenkins (130), Mason Bailey (160) and Morgan Murphy (189).

"Remember, the number of state placer winners and qualifiers may seem high, but they fluctuate pending on the state," Shaffer noted about the high number of state wrestling participants. "West Virginia, being a smaller state, makes that number a lot higher compared to Ohio and Pennsylvania."

Bauer will have his hands full this weekend. Not making weight in one tournament, the junior Patriot was stunned in last week's North Canton Holiday Invitational by Alfredo Gray of Wadsworth while Carrolton freshman Jordan Burkhart ran the table to bring home an individual title. Though Bauer and Burkhart never toed the line together, Burkhart's victory was immaculate as he was the only non-seeded grappler to  win the tournament.

Being in two different team pools, it would take a lot for these two grapplers to come head-to-head.

"Jordan in a freshman and is fairly unknown. Going into the (North Canton) Hoover Tournament he only had limited action and he came out and proved himself," Carrolton coach Ken Pasiuk. "As to whether we'll face Wheeling Park, we have a very young team and would have to wrestle well to against them come Saturday."

Forquer, who is ranked No. 10 in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association High School Rankings, leads Hedgesville's mat program and is a crucial leader in coach Bill Whittington's practice room.

Potts returns to the mat this season roaring like a Monarch. The senior leads coach Ted Zervos' mat squad.

"He is a strong kids with a lot of talent," Zervos said in a phone interview entering the season. "We have a lot of high expectations for Taylor and see a lot of things falling into place."

Teams scheduled to compete include Bellaire, Buckeye Local, Bridgeport (W.Va.), , Buckannon-Upsher, Cabell-Midland, Carrolton, East Fairmont, Edgewood, Fairmont Senior, Greenbrier East, Hedgesville, Hopewell Senior, Indian Creek, John Marshall, Mars, Martins Ferry, Montour, Morgantown, North Hills, North Marion, Parkersburg South, Peters Township, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Plum Senior, Punxsutawney Area, Ringgold, Ripley, Steubenville, University, Wheeling Park A and Wheeling Park B