St. Clairsville’s Koen Kish works for control on top of Bellaire’s Joseph Bonfini during their quarterfinal match Friday evening at the OVAC Ron Mauck Wrestling Tournament. Kish won and will take part in today’s 120-pound semifinals.

WHEELING — Beaver Local gave itself some breathing room during two sessions of the 66th annual Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Wrestling Championships inside WesBanco Arena Friday.

After nearly six hours of competition, the Beavers lead five-time defending champion Parkersburg South, 162-150, and have 10 individuals in this morning’s championship semifinals. The Wood County Patriots have eight.

Leading the Beavers charge is two-time titlist and top seed Cole McComas (126). Other No. 1 seeds Logan Ours (120) and Beau Smith (170) also advanced in the winner’s bracket.

Half of Parkersburg South’s semifinalists are top seeds. They include Brayden Roberts (145), Zane Hinzman (160), Braxton Amos (220) and Louden Haga (285). Roberts and Amos are defending champions, while Amos is ranked No. 1 nationally. Another defending champion, Tucker Windland (126), is seeded fourth and will meet McComas in today’s semis.

Steubenville, which sits in third place overall with 136.5 points, has half-a-dozen wrestlers in the semis, including top-seeded and defending champion Anthony Rice (152). He is ranked No. 1 in Division II in the Buckeye State.

Wheeling Park and John Marshall each have four semifinalists. The Ohio County Patriots are fourth in the team race with 122 points, which is 17 better than the fifth-place Monarchs.

“We had seven in the quarters and we were able to get four through,” John Marshall head coach Ted Zervos said. “We had a pretty good day.”

As far as the division races go, only Beaver Local has clinched. The Beavers have already nailed down the Class 4A title with 162 points. St. Clairsville is second with 89, which is just 12 in front of third-place Oak Glen.

In Class 3A, Barnesville and Shenandoah have made it a two-team race. The Shamrocks hold a 14-point margin, 63-49, over the Zeps. Each team has two semifinalists.

“We’ve got two in the semis. We had four in the quarters but just couldn’t get them through another round,” Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said. “It was kind of like last year when we had five in the quarters and lost them all.

“We’re still in the lead in 3A, but Shenandoah has three placers and two in the semis.”

Freshman Griffen Stephen (106) and senior Brylan Clouse (182) are the ‘Rocks in the semis.

Barnesville finished runnerup to Magnolia a year ago.

In Class 1A, 2A, Caldwell took over the lead with 48 points, which is four ahead of Thursday’s leader, Bridgeport. Southern Local (38.5) and Cameron (38) are still in the hunt. The Redskins have just one semifinalist, while Bridgeport has two.

The Bulldogs semifinalists are second-seeded Tino Kusic (170) and third-seeded Mason Kuneff (160).

Two surprise semifinalists are Magnolia’s Mikey Hamrick (285) and Harrison Central’s Blayne Erwin (182). Hamrick is seeded 11th but knocked off third-seeded Donte Lewis of Martins Ferry in the quarters. Erwin, the 12th seed, upset fifth-seeded Logan Wilson of Indian Creek before taking out No. 4 James Stillwagoner of Magnolia.

“Blayne has wrestled well all season long. I’m proud of him,” Harrison Central head coach Bill Bryant said. “He’s had some injuries. He missed two weeks, but he’s wrestled hard and wrestled smart since he’s been back in the lineup.”