By Stephen Smoot
With wild weather whipping the region and shutting down a Wednesday night match at Moorefield, the Pendleton County High School wrestling squad opened in the same tournament as last year, the Keyser Kiwanis Invitational.
Just a year ago, the Wildcats extended their wrestling claws in the same tournament. This marked the first time in many years that a varsity wrestling team had sallied forth from Pendleton County. Jasper Hartman, head coach, noted one significant difference. He remarked, “We only won two the whole time last year. David Noble is two and two so far today.”
Match results were unavailable as of press time. The website that typically posts results stated on Dec 8 that it was having technical problems and had gotten backed up in posting from different tournaments across West Virginia.
Hartman also noted that the team faced a downside from football success. Just like both the boys and girls’ basketball squads, postseason play put off practice for key team members. “The football boys have only had five practices. We’re out of shape,” he said.
A single senior heads up the team, Garrett Hartman. Eight total wrestlers come from the 11th-and 10th-grade classes. The junior class includes Cain Nulph, Ronald Thompson, Noble, and Liam Simmons while Wyatt Hoyt, Broty Sites, Tanner Hedrick, and Connor Hartman round out the sophomores.
One familiar face from last year remains in place with the team, but in a different role. Coaches last year described Gabe Harvey, a senior for last year’s inaugural team, as basically another coach. This year Harvey volunteers on the sidelines as he takes classes to advance into an official role with the squad.
On this afternoon, he intently watched freshman wrestler Cayden Minor-Figueroa. The Wildcat put up a strong fight against a more experienced competitor from Maryland wrestling powerhouse Southern Garrett. After the match, Harvey quietly approached Minor-Figueroa at the side of the mat and used the match as a teaching moment, showing moves and explaining technique.
“Gabe is a motivator,” explained coach Hartman.
Bryce Propst serves as the other freshman on the team. Hartman shared that the middle school team, which includes some girls, has shown a lot of promise. “I’m excited about year three,” he shared.
In some ways, the youngest and oldest members of the squad have an important characteristic in common. Compared to almost everyone they take on, Wildcat wrestlers bring much more heart than actual experience onto the mat. “We still have only two years of experience versus six or seven years and it’s not always going to add up,” Hartman commented.
Hartman explained that the squad has not grown in numbers as they had hoped, which in some ways reflects the times. He said, “We need the work ethic. It’s not a team sport. You get out of it exactly what you put into it.”
Observing the Pendleton County wrestlers in action was current nationally ranked professional arm-wrestler, and former Keyser wrestler, Beau Horner, along with his family. Horner had wrestled against Hartman’s son and the two had stayed in touch during the years and praised the progress of the squad in that time.
The Keyser Kiwanis Tournament invited the usual area wrestling powerhouses. Along with host and eventual winner, Keyser, came Moorefield, East Hardy, Southern Garrett, Petersburg, and B squads from Morgantown and University.
“You want to learn wrestling,” said Hartman, “you just look at Keyser. Southern Garrett puts on a clinic, too.”
Coach Hartman shared that the learning of the day’s matches, win or lose, was “about the life lessons, staying humble, working a little harder.” He added that “next weekend, we go to Jefferson and compete in their big tournament.”
