The final tune-up for local high school wrestling teams comes Saturday as 24 teams converge on Buckeye Local High School in Connorville for the annual Panther Classic.

Teams from the tri-state area include six from Pennsylvania, three from West Virginia and 15 from the Buckeye State.

Schools entered are Buckeye Local, Martins Ferry, Union Local, Jefferson-Morgan (Pa), Weirton Madonna, River, Indian Creek, Edison, Steubenville Central, Bridgeport, Shadyside, Tri-Valley, Caldwell, East Liverpool, Plum (Pa), Wheeling Park, Westinghouse (Pa), Ellwood City (Pa), Obama Academy (Pa), Fairless, West Mifflin (Pa), Harrison Central, Tyler Consolidated and Bellaire

According to Buckeye Local head coach Guy Nestor, there should be plenty of exciting semifinal and championship bouts.

OVC Championships

The younger version of the OVAC Ron Mauck Wrestling Championships was held at Union Local High School last weekend, and history was made just like it was two weeks ago.

Harding Middle School seventh-grader Talea Guntrum was not only the first female to win a title as she breezed to the 86-pound title but she was also the first female to be selected Most Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament.

Now a sparkling 23-3 on the season, Guntrum was ranked No. 3 nationally in the 73-pound weight class in girls 12-and-under.

Congratulations Talea.

Other winners were Corbin Phillips (80–Blennerhassett); Wyatt McCune (92–East Liverpool); Colt Carpenter (98–Barnesville); Gabe Chaplin (104–Bellaire); Bobby Buchheit (110–Beaver Local); Evan Ours (116–Beaver Local); Marshall Laishley (122–Cambridge); Brody Perzanowski (128–Union Local); Gavin Pownall (134–Indian Creek); Jake Hughes (142–Beaver Local); Nolan Blackburn (150–Harding); Rowan Wiley (160–East Liverpool); Wyatt Brady (172–Triadelphia); Isaac Martin (205–Triadelphia) and Anderson Palian (245–Linsly).

Harding won the team title with 236.5 points, which was 29 better than Beaver Local. There were 34 schools entered.

WVU

Three members of the West Virginia University wrestling team rank among the top 33 of their respective weight classes in the first NCAA coaches’ ranking, released Friday afternoon.

In all, four coaches’ rankings will be announced leading up to the NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday, March 9, at 6 p.m.

Redshirt senior Killian Cardinale, a 2021 All-American, leads the way at No. 6 in the 125-pound weight class. He also is the second-highest wrestler out of the Big 12 Conference in his division (No. 4 Trevor Mastrogiovanni – Oklahoma State).

At 165 pounds, Oak Glen graduate and true sophomore Peyton Hall cracked the top 10 with a 17-1 record. Hall checks in at No. 9 and is third among conference competitors (No. 1 Keegan O’Toole – Missouri and No. 4 Travis Wittlake – Oklahoma State). Redshirt sophomore Michael Wolfgram rounds out the trio at No. 21 in the heavyweight rankings.

Additionally, the Big 12 totaled 69 grapplers, along with a conference-high nine wrestlers at 174 and 197 pounds, respectively.

Next up, WVU returns to action for back-to-back Big 12 road duals from Jan. 28-29. The Mountaineers open the weekend against South Dakota State on Friday at 8 p.m., before battling North Dakota State on Saturday at 2 p.m.

WLU

Hilltoppers’ heavyweight Francesco Borsellino has been selected as the Mountain East Conference Wrestler of the Week, the fourth WLU grappler to earn that weekly honor this season.

A junior 285-pounder from Waynesburg, Ohio and a returning NCAA Division II All-American, Borsellino barely broke a sweat as No. 4-ranked West Liberty powered its way to a pair of impressive dual meet wins against Glenville State and Notre Dame (Ohio).

Borsellino made short work of his two opponents on the evening with a pair of first-period falls. The Hilltopper big man pinned GSC’s Devin Gauldin at 1:57 before wrapping things up with a 2:39 win by fall over the Falcons’ La’Ron Parks in the final match of the night.

The nation’s No. 5-ranked heavyweight, Borsellino was the 285-pound champion at last year’s MEC Championships and will be looking to defend that title on Saturday when he and his West Liberty teammates host the third annual MEC Championships inside the ASRC. The first wrestlers are scheduled to hit the mats at 10 a.m.

Cleveland State

Steubenville graduate Anthony Rice earned a 5-3 decision over Jacob Oliver of Edinboro, 5-3.