WHEELING — Cheer teams from across the OVAC converged on WesBanco Arena to compete for the conference championships Saturday- and for some OVAC teams, the competition amounted to their final stop for the season.

In a five-tiered affair starting bright and early Saturday morning, the Madonna Blue Dons took the crown at 1A, the Toronto Red Knights won in 2A, the Barnesville Shamrocks came out atop 3A, the St. Clairsville Red Devils were first in 4A, and the Wheeling Park Patriots were champs in 5A.

More teams competed in 2023 than in years prior, and- with the event involving cheer squads from both West Virginia and Ohio- the scoring system was a hybrid of requirements from both states.

The unorthodox nature of the competition had teams preparing new routines just for the event.

Wheeling Park was able to rise to the top under the OVAC conditions to end their season with a 5A conference title.

“It means a lot,” Wheeling Park head coach Shawna Shepherd said. “It’s a long season. We officially start in August, so to keep kids healthy and motivated through three different routines- because this routine is very different from our regional and state routine, there are no stunts- it’s sometimes hard.”

“But this is a great group, it’s probably one of the best groups I’ve ever coached, and they’re just a family. They love each other, they work hard and they push each other. We had a lot of injuries and illnesses all this week, and we pushed through. I’m very happy with the outcome. It wasn’t our best performance, but I’ll take it.”

In addition to the 3A title, Barnesville also finished with the overall high score Saturday. It was their third straight conference championship, something the Shamrocks took great pride in.

“Our team really went in wanting to land our third straight OVAC title in the 3A division,” Barnesville head coach Abby McClelland said. “Not only did they do that, but they came out with the overall highest score of the competition. That really was the icing on the cake.

“I’m super proud of them and I think they did an amazing job yesterday. We really focused on all the little things to improve their performance competition after competition, and I think they really nailed it yesterday.”

For Barnesville, the OVAC competition was one part of a busy weekend. On Sunday, the ‘Rocks qualified for the OASSA Cheer & Dance state competition in March for both Game Day and Traditional. They are also leaving Friday to compete at ESPN Wide World of Sports’ 2024 UCA National High School Cheerleading Championship in Disney World.

Even with more to come from Barnesville, their performances at OVAC will be a big part of this year’s graduating class, seniors Belle Corder and Tate Spangenburg.

“They’ve gone undefeated in their career for OVAC titles,” McClelland said. “I think that’s really amazing for them to put on their record. Tate and Belle are amazing leaders and they really bring the team together. It was a great way for them to end their OVAC cheer career.”

While teams on the Ohio side of the river will continue on, some West Virginia teams like Wheeling Park wrapped up their year Saturday.

For the Patriots, their win at WesBanco was the cap on what had been a successful season, and standout careers for seniors Adam Carman, AJ Walters and Civita Cooper.

“This is our last competition,” Shepherd said. “We had regionals in November that we won, we competed in states and won runner-up.”

“It’s kind of bitter-sweet, especially for my three seniors who have been here four years, and they’re great. I really wanted it for them.”

River won first place at the competition’s small school non-tumbling routine, while Edison won the large school counterpart. Wheeling Central was runner-up in 3A, and John Marshall was runner-up in 5A.