West Virginia Army National Guard Duals: Young Red Devils off to solid start

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When it comes to high school sports, this will go down as a prime week for the City of Summersville.

The Winter Classic, a basketball event that has grown exponentially in a short amount of time, just completed its third run. This weekend, another big event more deeply seated will make its yearly return.

The 18th annual West Virginia Army National Guard Duals wrestling tournament is set for Friday and Saturday at the Summersville Arena and Conference Center. Wrestling will begin at noon on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Twenty-six teams from West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky will be divided into five pools on the first day. The teams will be repooled for Saturday based on first-round results.

Participating teams will be Ravenswood, Rockbridge, Va., Lincoln, Richlands, Va., Lewis County, Ashland Paul Blazer, Ky., Herbert Hoover Red, Herbert Hoover Blue, Winfield, Roane County, Gilmer County, Doddridge County, Webster County, Clay County, Greenbrier West, Princeton, Liberty, Shady Spring, Meadow Bridge, Richwood, Oak Hill, Nicholas County, Braxton County, Greenbrier East, Calhoun County and Johnson Central, Ky.

Johnson Central, which has wrestled in every Guard Duals tournament since it started, was actually and eleventh hour addition. The Eagles were scheduled for another tournament but it was canceled.

Conspicuous by their absence are Woodrow Wilson, which will compete in the Mountain State Athletic Conference Tournament in Parkersburg on Saturday, and Independence, which will be at the Jim Potts Memorial hosted by reigning Class A state champion Cameron.

The tournament is held in honor of former Richwood coach Lee Parlier, who got it started in 2008. Parlier passed away in 2016.

“We’re expecting a smooth tournament with some good competition,” said David Vincent, tournament director and Oak Hill head coach.

Vincent’s Red Devils are young but are having a strong season so far. They are 10-2 in duals, including a 4-0 showing at Greenbrier West’s Lindsey Raines Memorial Duals last Saturday.

“We don’t have a senior in the starting lineup,” Vincent said. “They don’t quit. They’ve got a lot of tenacity, and it’s been fun to watch. It’s been fun to coach.”

Oak Hill has several freshmen, led by Evan Ulrich. The 132-pounder had a big 2025, from his WSAZ Invitational 128-pound middle school championship to representing the United States at the ISF U15 Gymnasiade in Serbia.

Ulrich carries a 10-1 record into the Guard Duals. He went 3-0 at Lindsey Raines, then went to the prestigious and demanding Powerade Tournament in Pennsylvania and lost a 15-U final by one point in the final three seconds.

“He’s having a fantastic start to his high school career,” Vincent said.

Other freshmen who have figured into big roles are Riley Biggs (9-3), Tanner Johns (9-3), Kohlson Coleman (7-4) and Charles Adkins.

“All those kids are showing up and they’re going after it,” Vincent said.

Among the sophomores are Woodrow Wilson transfer Tyler Gilkerson (10-2), Payton Holstein, Chase Sizemore, Seth Adkins and A.J. Robinson (11-1). Also, Eli Kirk is back after not wrestling as a freshman. He finished fifth at 171 as a seventh-grader at WSAZ.

Junior Landon Dunlap, a transfer from Independence, is also 11-1. He was the Region 3 157-pound champion last year for the Patriots. Isaac Davis, another junior, is 10-2.

One setback for the Red Devils has been losing sophomore Soloman Truman, who blew out his knee during football season. Truman was the state runner-up at 157 pounds last season.

Vincent is operating as if Truman will be unable to return, but would gladly welcome a big surprise.

“We’re all keeping our fingers crossed,” Vincent said. “He’s exceeding expectations on his recovery right now. I was initially thinking that we wouldn’t have him back till next year, but with the way the procedure went and the way he’s progressing, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see him back this year.

“He’s saying he’ll be back.”

The Red Devils also have a strong girls team with a program-best 10 wrestlers. Leading the way, of course, is senior 120-pounder Kirclyn Coleman. She is coming off a state championship, the second of her career.

Coleman was set to enter Powerade as a second seed but sat out with an injury.

Junior Kirra Robinson was sixth in the state at 114 last season. The two of them, along with Sawyer Robinson and Avery Fell, were among those who got the word out about the program.

“It’s exciting to see (girls wrestling) grow,” Vincent said.

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