Outside the Tribe: A Look Back at Some of the Top Moments from a Memorable BHS Athletic Season
By Chris Johnson on June 03, 2025 from Outside the Tribe
This weekend the high school sports season will wrap up this weekend with the state baseball tournament in Charleston.
It was another memorable year for Bridgeport High School so I figure before my attention turns to a couple North South games, flex days and summer tournaments I would take a look back at some my favorite moments.
10. The most recent moment on my list comes from Game 1 of the Class AAA Region II Super Regional between the Indians and Frankfort.
Down 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Jacob Stavrakis came to the plate with Jack Gould standing on first base. Mere seconds before a pitch, my friend and BHS Baseball radio play-by-play man, Chris George, said, “Boy, wouldn’t this be a good time for Jacob’s second home run of the season.”
The pitch came and Stavrakis connected. It was one of those that when he connected, everybody in attendance had no doubt it was gone. It looked like it was going to clear the Johnson Elementary roof, maybe landing somewhere around Compton Park.
The Indians ended up losing the game 6-5 and the series 2-1 but that was the most exciting home run hit at that field in I don’t know how long.
9. With 5:43 left in the Bridgeport boys soccer team’s showdown with Wheeling Park, Will Madden’s header off a perfect pass from Jackson Cogar proved to be the game-winner in a 2-1 victory against the Patriots. Grayson Church also had a goal in the game as it marked the first time all season that Wheeling Park, ranked No. 2 in the state at the time, had allowed more than one goal to a school from West Virginia.
8. One week after the boys soccer team’s monumental win against Wheeling Park, the girls team posted its own signature win. Bria Smell scored both goals, the first on a penalty kick, as the Indians defeated No. 1 and previously undefeated Parkersburg South, 2-0.
7. In Bridgeport’s 54-8 victory on the road against Linsly, Jack Spatafore did a little bit of everything. He ran for three touchdowns, threw two touchdown passes and on defense had an interception and a forced fumble.
6. Another road game for the football team, this one at Parkersburg South, saw the Indians in a tight game in the second half for the first time. After building a 28-0 halftime lead, the Patriots quickly made it a two-score game at 28-14. With momentum firmly shifted to the side of the home team, the Indians needed a spark and Alex Moses gave them one.
In his first game back after missing the previous three with injury, Moses returned a kickoff for a 67-yard touchdown to extend Bridgeport’s lead to 35-14. Moses was a walking highlight reel for the Indians and of his 24 touchdowns, that kick return was my favorite.
5. The 2024-25 school year produced three major WVSWA awards for Bridgeport. Myleigh Smell was named the state volleyball player of the year. Wes Brown, Jr. was named the Stydahar Award winner as the state’s best interior lineman and boys basketball coach Dave Marshall was named the Van Meter Award winner, given annually to the state high school coach of the year.
I was honored to present all three of them with their awards at the 78th annual Victory Awards Dinner which took play in early May at the Bridgeport Conference Center.
4. Every year at BHS, we say goodbye to senior standouts and their remarkable high school careers. We also see, every year, the emergence of new athletic standouts.
For the volleyball team, Salam Rajjoub is following in Smell’s footsteps as one of the state’s best all-around players. Taylor Randolph is emerging as a force as an outside hitter. Addison Veigel has become one of the best setters in the state and Kennedy Wolfe is a versatile spark plug.
Veigel and Wolfe are also softball standouts.
Gabe Martin was the leading tackler as a sophomore for one of the best defenses in BHS football history and he figures to have a bigger role on offense in the fall.
As a sophomore, Gavin Williams asserted himself as one of the best kickers in the state and he could also see an expanded role on offense as a junior. He’s also part of arguably the best young backcourt in the state along with fellow sophomore point guard Anderson McDougal.
Emma Ahmed emerged as a state champion caliber swimmer as a freshman.
That’s just a handful of the talented young athletes that will be back for the Indians in 2025-26.
3. Carter Zuliani just wrapped up the most successful senior season I’ve ever witnessed by a high school athlete.
Anybody who was familiar with Zuliani during his time at Buckhannon-Upshur before he moved to Bridgeport, knew he was going to help but nobody could have guessed just how much.
He was a first-team all-state defensive lineman for the state champion football team and will continue his career at WVU.
He was a second-team all-stater for the state champion boys basketball team.
He was part of a record-setting state champion relay team at the state meet and part of the boys swim team state title.
He then capped it by winning the state championship in the discus at the state track and field meet.
2. I’ve attended 20 letter of intent signing ceremonies for BHS athletes this school year. There may be a couple more to come and there are a handful of others who have solidified plans for the next level but chose not to have a signing ceremony. If you throw in boys basketball first-team all-stater Phoenix Sickles, who will be attending one of the premier prep schools in the country, Fork Union, and reclassify for next year, we may be looking at 30 or more recent BHS graduates that will be college athletes.
Signing ceremonies I attended were for:
Girls Soccer – Bria Smell, Bryanna Fisher, Elisa Dinaldo
Volleyball – Myleigh Smell
Baseball – Carson Currey, Jacob Stavrakis, Michael Romano, Steven Lee
Football – Alex Moses, Donovan Williams, Carter Zuliani, Wes Brown Jr.,
Track and Field/Cross Country – Quentin Collier, Alahna Sparks, Bear Metheney, Sara Rexroad
Swimming – Amelia Romano
Girls Basketball – Danika Prescott
Softball – Kyleigh Anderson
Boys Soccer – Jackson Cogar
1. No list of BHS athletic achievements would be complete without talking about state championships.
Volleyball, football, boys swimming, girls swimming, boys basketball. I was fortunate enough to be present for all five. I can’t rate any one of them any higher than the others. They were all the crowning achievement for a bunch of dedicated athletes and coaches.
Additionally, Noah Kintz won the state championship in the pole vault. Audrey Kerr won the WVSSAC Girls Golf Invitational. Owen Guthrie won two open event state titles at the state swim meet and was part of two record-setting relay teams. Joining Guthrie and Zuliani on the record-setting 200 free team were James Hadjis and Nate Dodson.
Guthrie, Dodson, Hadjis and Oren Sutphin comprised the record-setting 400 free relay team.
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