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Kiowa Nephew, Starz Supreme bring ‘A’ game

Kiowa Nephew and Starz Supreme have each raced at three different tracks across the country. During their careers, they also have competed in multiple stake races with marked success. Now the Flying Eagles-Miner Kennel duo are making their presence felt at the Wheeling Island racetrack. Since coming to Wheeling in December 2007, Kiowa Nephew has been on fire with 5 wins, 3 seconds and 1 third in his first 11 sprint starts. Four of his wins have come against Grade AA company. Starz Supreme has turned into a force in 3/8 after shipping to Wheeling in October 2007. He has 9 wins, 5 ...

Rotilio has Big East hardware heading to NCAA meet

April Rotilio showed up in Morgantown after a brilliant prep career. However, her first year of collegiate track and field didn’t go nearly as well as she had hoped or even planned. After battling through an ankle injury much of the season and missing the latter part of her freshman indoor campaign and being plagued by the same problem during the outdoor season, Rotilio came away a little discouraged. Despite that there was never a thought of throwing in the towel. And the Mountaineers track program and Rotilio are extremely glad that the ankle is 100 percent because the ex-St. ...

Wrestlers succeeding after wrestling

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – When you are looking for the best in wrestling all you have to do is head to a premier wrestling state. One hundred forty wrestlers fought the sweat, blood and tear over the past year to qualify for one of wrestling’s premier events – the national tournament – and West Liberty State College has six of those 140 kids. With decades of wrestling flooding into the Crown Plaza hotel, there was one underline theme that continued to be noted as the four newest members were inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame and that was wrestling ...

Nothing flashy about Pirates

COLUMBUS — The Garaway Pirates don’t do much of anything flashy. The Garaway Pirates don’t have any rim-rocking Division I recruits. The Garaway Pirates have one thing that many don’t. They have a date in the Division III state championship game Saturday afternoon. The Pirates — who had been bounced in the district semifinals each of the past three seasons — have been up to all challenges through the post-season run, which includes a win over St. Clairsville in the district semifinal. The challenge they faced here Friday at the Value City ...

Former OVAC coach, official now refereeing at national tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – When you are in a tournament with the quality of wrestlers as in the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Tournament you want the best officiating in your match and former Ohio Valley Athletic Conference referee Merle Tournay is one of those high caliber officials. Originally attracted to the valley because of the West Liberty mat program, Tournay went onto spread his wrestling knowledge at Brooke High School for 12 years. The veteran wrestler and rookie coach quickly built a Bruins’ powerhouse capturing the school’s only West Virginia state ...

Whitmore will be missed by many

Ohio track and field has lost one of its staples. The Buckeye State track and field community is mourning the loss of track and field historian Craig Whitmore who passed away last weekend in his suburban Columbus home after a lengthy bout with cancer. Whitmore, 71, has been involved with the sport since he was an athlete at Shadyside High and became the first Tiger to advance to the Ohio State track meet in 1955 in 880. Since that time, Whitmore and the sport of track and field have become synonomous. Whether it’s through coaching, watching, cheering or through record-keeping, ...