Photo Provided The five-skater group of the Wheeling Skate Club set to compete at the Keystone State Games on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23. Pictured front row left to right– Emma Robbins, Leah Cole, Leah Steele, Pyper Brandon and Lila Fulton, coach Matt Essigmann in back. The five make for the most West Virginia skaters to compete at Keystones.

WHEELING — It could be tough for an organization that has been around for over 50 years to make history, but that’s exactly what one crop of up-and-coming figure skaters will be doing next month.

The Wheeling Skate Club will be bringing down five skaters, between the ages of seven and 16, to York, Pennsylvania on Feb. 22 and 23 for their part in the Keystone State Games, an annual athletic competition which includes 46 different sports listed on their website.

The skaters- Emma Robbins, Leah Cole, Leah Steele, Pyper Brandon and Lila Fulton- will combine to represent Ohio County, Marshall County and Belmont County at the competition, which will take place in the York Ice Arena.

Their coach, Matt Essigmann, is excited for his group to join in the fun. The Keystone State Games are part of the State Games of America, a nation-wide web of region-based athletic competitions, with the Keystone Games taking in athletes from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Washington D.C., Ohio, and West Virginia.

Come Feb. 22, Essigmann’s troupe will have the opportunity to qualify for the 2026 State Games of America, a nation-wide competition to be held in State College, Pa.

“They’re really looking forward to it,” Essigmann said of his group of five. “The nice thing is, these games are Olympic-style, so there’s opening ceremonies, and if they do get to move on and compete, it’s not just figure skating, there’s other sports- running, archery, baseball, basketball, bowling, darts, diving, there’s a ton.”

“We have broken the record of most West Virginia skaters at Keystones,” Essigmann said.

The Wheeling Skate Club practices Friday and Sunday at the J.B. Chambers Memorial Rink, with current members encompassing a wide range of age and skill levels, from youth to adults and from beginners to more advanced skaters. For the segment making the trip to York, the competition will be a first for many of them.

“Alot of them this is their first competition,” Essigmann said. “We have had kids compete locally out of PIttsburgh before but this is the first time we’re taking them to state-level competition. It’s kind of new to the club. We’ve been trying to grow the program within the last couple of years.”

At the Keystone State Games, skaters will be partitioned by class, from basic to gold singles.

“They’ve been practicing their skill and I’ve put them in the best levels I see fit to give them the best chance and start growing their experience,” Essigmann said.

“Most of our kids are more in the lower levels, but the fact that they’re going out and trying, I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

This is Essigmann’s first year as coach at the club, though he’s been a skater for 20 years.

A native of Upstate New York, Essigmann moved to Marshall County for work, and soon found himself getting involved with the Wheeling Skate Club.

“I’d been a skater all my life, and I took a small break, but I thought ‘you know what, I’d really like to give back to the community,'” Essigmann said. “I found Wheeling Skate Club, one thing led to another and I ended up being head coach.”

The trip to Keystones is a positive sign for the club, which Essigmann hopes to see grow.

“We’re starting to [grow],” Essigmann said. “The hardest part is, it’s such a niche thing so having enough qualified coaches can be rough. I’m slowly working on that, and have found some really great instructors. We want to give another outlet for kids in the Ohio Valley to do. One of our big things is the Symphony on Ice performance where our kiddos get to perform with the Wheeling symphony.”

“We really try to give them the best quality of instruction that we can in the Ohio Valley.”