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The Ohio Valley Athletic Conference has long been the biggest prep sporting conference in the nation.
With 45-members strong, the conference has a glowing history of producing fine athletes in a bevy of sports.
However, there’s something about those three chilly days in January, which brings together the conference in a whole new way.
And actually we’re currently in the midst of those three days. The 55th annual Ron Mauck OVAC Wrestling Tournament opened Thursday evening at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling.
Wrestling is one of the purest sports in the world. It’s one-on-one style and the need to beat everyone who comes in front of you regardless of class proves that the 14 gentlemen who have their arm raised Saturday evening on the center mat are true OVAC Champions in every sense of the word.
The only two other sports that determine a true OVAC champion are the cross country meet in the fall and next weekend’s swimming championship.
People may complain and bellyache how the football and formerly how the basketball champions are crowned, but in wrestling lies nary a controversy. If Johnny is better than Joey, he’s the champion.
The OVAC Wrestling Tournament is something I will admit I never competed in because growing up when chances to join pee-wee wrestling came across, I realized that there were no turnbuckles or ropes surrounding me, so I stuck with Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and the like. However, I began attending this extravaganza when I was in high school.
I made the trip over on Thursday evening, but my parents would never allow me to miss Friday classes, so I didn’t return until the evening.
Once, I got out of high school and landed a job at The Times Leader, I made sure I used every opportunity to come and enjoy one of the finest events of the Ohio Valley calendar. The first year I covered the OVAC Wrestling Tournament was in 2000 and as I sat here with my laptop and pecked away with result after result, I realized how much true grit and determination this sport took.
As I have made trips to WesBanco Arena yearly for at least a couple of days of action for the past eight years, it’s also dawned me what a true family sport wrestling is. The people in the stands have been attending pee-wee matches and high school matches together for the better part of most of their children’s lives.
It’s not just about the folks in the stands or the wrestlers, but also about the folks who make their way to the arena for shifts of work and volunteering.
“We’ve got well over 100 volunteers, almost too many to even count,” said Ron Mauck who is the head of the OVAC Wrestling family. “We’ve got people who schedule vacations around this thing. That just shows the kind of dedication we get from the workers. Without them, this thing could never go on.”
Mauck — the outgoing tournament director who the tournament is named after — running around making sure everything is going to plan, you see his wife Mary Lou working away on a computer. Mauck was quick to praise the work of his wife.
“Without the help of my wife on this tournament, I would be floundering in the wind,” Mauck smiled.
Dan Doyle — the next tournament director — is another who you see yearly and have seen ever since he was the head coach at Buckeye Local. Heck, you’ve even got Doyle’s son, Sean, as the head coach at Wheeling Park, which is leading the way entering today’s action.
These are just a couple of the figure heads. Guys like Bill Hingardner, Todd Fullerton, Steve Kish, Rich McCardle and all of the other behind the scenes guys who make this tournament a huge success.
“I just call those guys and they take care of their part of the event,” Mauck said. “We have some great people, and just because I am stepping down, this tournament won’t miss a beat. We’re blessed with some great, young, knowledgeable wrestling people who will keep this thing going for quite sometime.”
The OVAC Wrestling Tournament is like a family and there are other traditions outside of the opening ceremony precession and the flag of the Olympic Rings, which hangs high above the action.
It’s even to the point where the teams sit in the very same section each year. I know that when I enter the arena that I can look up into section 205 and see Martins Ferry or into section 226 and see the likes of Buckeye Local and John Marshall.
Wrestling is a family sport in every sense of the word.
“We’re like a big family of wrestling fans,” Mauck said.
I will once again admit, that I am not a walking wrestling rule book or a wrestling guru to the point where I am going to give anyone any pointers, but I know a good sport when I see it and wrestling is a good sport.
To take it a step further, you can also tell a good event when you see it and one more step, you can tell a good, dedicated group of people when you see them and when you roll all of those things together you come up with one thing.
The 55th annual Ron Mauck OVAC Wrestling Tournament and it’s under way now.
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com