Staff Report

GALLIPOLIS - Cross-river rival Point Pleasant captured the 25th annual Gallipolis Rotary Wrestling Invitational championship Thursday with a slim two-point victory over Belpre (94-92) in the 11-team field at Gallia Academy High School.

Of the 14 weight classes, the Big Blacks had 11 wrestlers place in the top-four, and the quartet of James Casto, Eric Veith, Brandon Warner and Heath Shirley all captured individual crowns.

PPHS also had runner-up finishes from Jared Searls, Derek Mitchell and Justin Veith in the triumph. Brent Hereford made the finals of the 171-pound weight class, but was disqualified and was awarded no team points.

The Golden Eagles tied Point with four individual titles and had nine wrestlers finish in the top-four, but three consolation titles allowed the Black and Red to pull away from the rest of the field.

The host Devils had 10 wrestlers place in the top-four en route to a third place finish with 78 points, including a pair of championships from Justin Saunders and Dustin Winters.

Winters' title match was extra special, as the senior eclipsed the century mark in career wins.

“It feels good to get it out of the way and move on,” he said. “It worked out perfectly in front of the home crowd.”

Winters is 15-0 now, all by pinfall.

GAHS coach Craig Wright spoke about Winters' magnificent accomplish afterward.

“His 100th win is a attributed to his work ethic team leadership,” he commented. “It's very meaningful to me to see him achieve those wins. I think it says a lot about the direction we're headed as a wrestling program.”

Jackson finished fourth with 50 points and the duo of Stephen Ferris and Alex Stepp both claimed individual championships for the Ironmen.

Chesapeake rounded out the top five with 42 points.

Fairland, with a total of 32, edged out Meigs for sixth by one point. Nelsonville-York was eighth with 21, River Valley was ninth with 17 and Wellston completed the top 10 with 14 points.

Wahama, with only three wrestlers on the roster, did not score a team point and finished 11th.