WELLSBURG — Being the underdog isn’t so bad. Just ask Oak Glen head wrestling coach Patrick McGillian. His Golden Bears entered Thursday night’s 7th annual OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 3A/4A Dual Meet Championships as the No. 4 seed.

They left as champions after edging past top-seeded St. Clairsville, 37-31, in the semifinals. The Hancock Countians then roared past No. 2 Barnesville, 64-7, in the championship match. The Shamrocks had defeated third-seeded Linsly, 66-18, in the other semi. The Red Devils then pinned the Cadets, 60-24, for third place.

“The kids wrestled well. Even though we were the fourth seed I thought we could be the second seed,” McGillian offered. “We knew the St. Clairsville dual (in the semifinals) was going to be tough. The kids battled and battled and we came out on top.

“We kept the momentum going into the final and the kids just kept wrestling hard,” McGillian said. “We’re gearing up for the postseason, so coming in here tonight and winning this should give the kids a lot of confidence.”

The championship match began at 132 pounds and Oak Glen never looked back after Ethan Lively gave them a 6-0 lead with a first-period pin of Cody Szabo. The Golden Bears would go on to prevail in the first four bouts in grabbing a 21-0 advantage.

Camden O’Connor (138) made it 12-0 with another first-period fall of Bryce Hall. Jonathan Creese (145) edged by Jacob Boulet, 5-3, while nationally ranked Peyton Hall (152) pinned Cameron Woods in 3:45.

Barnesville finally got on the board when Owen Oliver (160) defeated Chase Smith, 6-1, but the Shamrocks wouldn’t taste victory again until Griffen Stephen (113) scored a 17-5 major decision over Braxton Dlugopolski.

In between, Oak Glen kept widening its margin with a 10-1 major decision by Dylan Heinrich (170) of Brad Hall. Consecutive pins from Kyler O’Connor (182), Caiden Adams (195), Danny Bealles (220) and Josh Blake (285) bumped the margin to 49-3, with Adams’ fall in 1:33 of Trey Warner clinched the crown.

O’Connor took down Drew Holskey in the first period, while Bealles and Blake also claimed first-period pins.

The Golden Bears’ Camden Barr (106) was awarded a forfeit, while Clayton Lamb (120) earned a 7-1 decision over Carter Wells and Kaden Lundy (126) pinned George Hoover in 3:27.

“We kind of knew coming in that Oak Glen was pretty good. No excuses but we had four guys out, not that that was going to make a difference,” Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said of all three of his 106 pounders, A.J. Francis (132), Caiden Thornton (138) and Austin Frame (170) who are all sidelined with injuries. “It is what it is. We didn’t matchup very well and we had some kids that could’ve stepped up and won matches, but they didn’t.

“Hopefully, we can get healthy and ready for New Lexington this weekend and then the sectionals.”

In the semifinals that began at 126 pounds, St. Clairsville took a 13-0 lead and led 31-27 with two bouts left after Gannon Kazmirski (106) decisioned Barr, 7-2. However, the Golden Bears regained their lead at 33-31 on Dlugopolski’s 2:58 pin of Zach McKeever. Lamb sealed the deal with a 12-2 major decision of Josh DeNoble.

Barnesville used six pins and five forfeits in rolling past Linsly. The Cadets received pins from Steven Felton (195), Fabian Egger (220) and Chance Knight (285).