Photo Provided Bridgeport High School’s top wrestlers Robert Weekley, from left, Jordan Noble and Anthony Noble are doing their school proud. Coach Matt McFarland, behind, brought them to the recent school board meeting.

BRIDGEPORT — The Bridgeport Exempted Village School District board of education congratulated the district’s top wrestlers. The district is also seeking state funding to improve its the ability to serve the public.

Head wrestling coach Matt McFarland and the student athletes were in attendance for the March 20 board meeting. He said the young men’s commitment continues to shine.

“They drill hard, they work hard, I think they push the tempo in the room. I think it motivated a lot of guys on the team,” he said.

Robert “Cole” Weekley earned 113 points and was a freshman district qualifier in his second year of wrestling. Anthony Noble was a sophomore district alternate and placed fifth at the sectionals and eighth at the OVAC. He earned 138 points. Jordan Noble was the sophomore state qualifier and placed third at districts, first at sectionals and fifth at OVACs with 126/132 points.

McFarland said while Jordan Noble did not place in the state tournament, going 0-2, he gained valuable experience and cemented his determination.

“Getting to be on that stage, understanding what’s going to have to happen in these next two years to get to the top where he wants to be, I feel like he’s going be ready to bring that on to our room, and hopefully we can get there,” he said. “We’re looking to get better every day.”

Superintendent Brent Ripley said their hard work was noticed. Board member Kori Rosnick added officials from other school districts have noted and commented on Bridgeport’s wrestling program. She commended McFarland and the wrestlers.

“Keep working hard, we’re very proud of you,” she said.

Board member Ryan Kreiter said the district has a strong wrestling tradition, including a state championship team in the 1980s.

In other matters, the district also has hopes for some expanded services in the future. Ripley reported they are seeking funds through the Appalachian Community Innovation Centers program and an application has been submitted to the state.

“Its focus is education, health monitoring, and workforce development,” Ripley said afterward, adding the district worked with community partners in each of those areas when crafting the grant application.

Ripley said few particulars are being disclosed at this early time, but success would mean some changes to the district complex.

“We applied for enough to facilitate some classroom expansion here. Also to offer some new programs in the classrooms,” Ripley said. “Ultimately it is a grant to add on to the school building.”

He said the riverside communities remain an underserved area and the need is high.

Approval would mean the possibility of helping both Bridgeport students and the community during after-school hours.

“We want to help improve lives and improve the generations of people in this area,” he said. “It’s a longshot, it’s a dream for Bridgeport, but it could really help our community out and that’s what we did. We could also stretch our outreach and offer services within this grant to other members of the eastern side of Belmont County.”

Ripley commended grant writer Angela Sommer for her work, adding the application referred to Bridgeport’s name with the theme of “Bridge out of Poverty.” Sommer said she included information about the district’s central location for bus routes that connect area communities.

“We wanted to basically focus on how our area is in a center of deprivation and needs the resources the most,” she said afterward.

“We just wanted to highlight our great educational and workforce development partners and really showcase how they would be integrated into the facility for all of us to benefit from – students, families, the community.”

The team at Bridgeport, including Board Members, Community Members, Administration, the Superintendent, Treasurer, Guidance Counselor and Sommer began work on the application in mid-February and said the district expects to hear a decision by the end of May.

Ripley called this a great process of forming ideas together and then reconnecting to focus on how they could express that the need for help is desperately needed riverside and not in the middle of Belmont County, where many resources are already located. Ripley said the state program is awarding $85 million throughout Appalachian counties in Ohio.

Sommer added the district’s hopes are high.

“As a team, we said if we were going to go for it, we were going to go big, so we swung for the fences with this one,” she said.

When writing the application, she said she followed a rubric with priorities including sustainability and benefits for the community.

“Our motto was make it hard for them to say: No,” she said, adding she expects the district will be facing stiff competition.

“I definitely think a lot of schools in the area and other entities will be going for it,” she said. “It’s a beneficial grant for everyone, so I can see that many different people will be vying for it, so we had to bring the best proposal we could.”