Last year, Bridgeport High School did something it’s never done before when it hosted its first-ever prep cross country regional at the Bridgeport Recreational Complex. Now, the school is about to have another first.

 

This Friday and Saturday, the Indians will be hosting the first-ever regional wrestling competition. BHS Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Matt DeMotto said the two-day event kicks of Friday afternoon and resumes Saturday morning.

 

Weigh-ins are at 2 p.m. Friday and wrestling begins at 4 p.m. DeMotto said matches should finish up on day on between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. On Saturday, action begins early with weigh-ins at 8 a.m. and wrestling starting at 10 a.m. He anticipates wrapping things up at 4 p.m.

 

 

The Class AA-A Region II meet will feature 17 schools competing on three mats throughout the course of the two days. Along with Bridgeport, the rest of the field consists of Braxton County, Clay County, Clay-Battelle, Doddridge County, East Hardy, Elkins, Grafton, Lewis County, Liberty, Lincoln, Moorefield, Notre Dame, Philip Barbour, Roane County, Robert C. Byrd and South Harrison.

 

Bridgeport will go into the competition not having wrestled since Feb. 4. That was the second day of the Big 10 wrestling championship. A recent meet at Roane County was canceled due to inclement weather. Despite the long layoff, first-year Coach Chris Courtney doesn’t think it will hurt his squad.

 

“We needed the break.  It gave us time to heal and regroup prior to the regionals,” said Courtney.

 

One thing is fairly certain – Bridgeport will not win the region. And that’s not a reflection ability or coaching. Rather, the Indians won’t be fielding wrestlers in all of the weight classes. Courtney said the goal is to qualify as many wrestlers as possible for the state meet in Huntington.

 

“I preach to every wrestler that at the beginning of every elimination tournament everyone's record is 0-0.  It just depends on who is hungrier for the win. I would like all of them to qualify,” said Courtney. “We have had consistency with the Gibson brothers (Aidan andAustin), Wojo, (Josh Wojciechowicz) and Cooper (Hineman). I hope the rest of the guys come in to play the spoiler.”

 

While Courtney is prepping for his first regional event as the BHS coach, DeMotto is prepping for the school’s first ever regional even as the host school. He said it’s a significant undertaking.

 

“I’ve been a little bit nervous about this because I’ve never hosted one before, but as it approaches and I’m getting more excited about it because it’s good for the school, the program and the community,” said DeMotto. “There are a lot of moving parts in wrestling. There are between 130 and 140 wrestlers from 17 schools, which requires a lot of preparation.”

 

The preparation includes running action on the aforementioned three mats and running a trio of scoreboards. There is also a bullpen area that has to be in order for wrestlers who are on deck and a head table that orchestrates the flow of the event. DeMotto said having someone on board knowing how to run bracketed tournaments is significant and that issue has been addressed.

 

“There’s an awful lot going on and I’ve observed a lot of wrestling this year and have become more familiar with it, which I think will help. The big thing is that we’re blessed on a few fronts, the first being the volunteers,” said DeMotto. “On top of that, we have outstanding coaches in the Courtneys. (Coach) Chris (Courtney) and (Assistant) Ryan (Courtney), along with John Sigley, have expertise that’s hard to match. There are good things ahead for the program and this event is one of those things that is a positive, I believe, for Coach Courtney advancing the program even further.”

 

The meet is open to the public. The cost both days is $6 for adults and $5 for students.

 

Editor's Note: Photos courtesy of Jason Wojciechowicz.