Story Composed and Submitted by Brittany Mandeville:
Saturday started the journey for many young men and women across the state.
What started for the Region 3 teams at the brand-new facility of Herbert Hoover High School was one to remember.
Greenbrier West, Indepence, Midland Trail, Herbert Hoover, Liberty-Raleigh, Meadow Bridge, Richwood, Riverview, Nicholas County, Pikeview, Shady Spring, and Webster County all joined together to compete it out in the battle of the region.
So many wrestlers dream of the day to be able to wrestle in the State Wrestling tournament in Huntington WV at the Marshall Health Arena, but only a few will ever say that they qualified, and Greenbrier West had several today–seven to be exact–make that dream come true.
106: Matthew Kesterson 1st Sophomore
120: Auston McKenzie 2nd Senior
126: Kameron Parker 2nd Junior
132: Jacob Mooney 3rd Sophomore
144: Jon Painter 5th Senior
150: Ty Pate 4th Sophomore
157: Dominic Mandeville 3rd Sophomore
215: Colton Caruthers 4th Freshman
A couple of these wrestlers are no stranger to the big lights as Kesterson and Mckenzie have qualified in previous years.
Auston McKenzie is a 4-Time Qualifier for the Cavaliers.
Mckenzie has been an outstanding wrestler for Greenbrier West. He began his wrestling career at the young age of seven being no stranger to Tincher as a freshman. Fast forward to his Senior year, he has had ups and downs both on and off the mat battling couple mild illnesses and the loss of his Nana, Miss Patty. That weekend, Auston said at the A challenge held at Ritchie Co earlier this year, “This one will be for Patty, my Nana”. Ladies and Gentlemen, that he did. He went undefeated that day and brought home his fourth A Championship.
Fast forward to Feb 22nd, Auston fell to Jr Hunter Hughart of Herbert Hoover in the Championship to bring home 2nd place in the 120 Weight Class.
First time qualifiers are Kameron Parker, Jacob Mooney, Ty Pate, Dominic Mandeville and Colton Caruthers. Jon Painter placed as an alternate and only the top 4 of each weight class advance to the Marshall Health Arena.
The remaining Cavaliers travel to Huntington on March 6th for the West Virginia State High School Wrestling tournament hosted by the WVSSAC. Stay tuned for further information about the state tournament. Final results for teams and individual weights are as follows:
AA/A Region 3 Championship Herbert Hoover High School 2/22/25
1 284.00 Independence
2 269.50 Herbert Hoover
3 134.50 Shady Spring
4 129.50 Greenbrier West
5 106.00 Liberty-Raleigh
6 97.00 Midland Trail
7 47.00 Nicholas County
8 40.50 Riverview
9 30.00 Webster County
10 27.50 Pikeview
11 13.00 Meadow Bridge
12 10.00 Richwood
Weight: 106 1st: Matthew Kesterson, Greenbrier West Soph 43- 4 2nd: Orion Taylor, Herbert Hoover Sr 33- 7 3rd: Theo Bell, Midland Trail Fr 27- 18 4th: Carter Dickens, Independence FR 12- 19 5th: Ridge Meador, Shady Spring Fr 20- 15 6th: Avery Brewster, Nicholas County Fr 30- 21
Weight: 113 1st: Josh Bostic, Herbert Hoover Fr 28- 3 2nd: JJ Scarafino, Independence Jr 22- 8 3rd: Brandon Johnson, Riverview Soph 7- 3 4th: Braydon Sweeney, Shady Spring Fr 11- 25 Weight: 120 1st: Hunter Hughart, Herbert Hoover Jr 45- 4 2nd: Austin McKenzie, Greenbrier West Sr 41- 3 3rd: Tyler Varney, Independence FR 40- 12 4th: Wrye Lucas, Nicholas County Fr 6- 5 5th: Joshua Lambert, Riverview Fr 7- 5
Weight: 126 1st: Casey Siders, Herbert Hoover Fr 28- 15 2nd: Kameron Parker, Greenbrier West Jr 34- 16 3rd: Luke Mullins, Independence Jr 27- 21 4th: Gary Cogar, Webster County Soph 15- 15 5th: Bentley Aurednik, Liberty-Raleigh Fr 7- 37 6th: Jaxson Martin, Riverview Sr 5- 3
Weight: 132 1st: Brayden McKinney, Independence Fr 38- 20 2nd: Dalton Myers, Herbert Hoover Jr 27- 19 3rd: Jacob Mooney, Greenbrier West Soph 24- 21 4th: Caleb Phillips, Pikeview Fr 24- 14 5th: Jonathan Miller, Liberty-Raleigh Fr 24- 21 6th: Melvin Perdue, Riverview Soph 5- 6
Weight: 138 1st: David Steele, Independence Fr 36- 17 2nd: Matthew Meadows, Shady Spring Soph 21- 10 3rd: Lathan Chandler, Herbert Hoover Sr 30- 19 4th: Brayden Moore, Midland Trail Jr 27- 22 5th: Eli Newman, Liberty-Raleigh Fr 32- 22 6th: Levi Maddox, Pikeview Jr 28- 14
Weight: 144 1st: Hunter Whittaker, Independence Jr 36- 11 2nd: Noah Hines, Nicholas County Sr 40- 10 3rd: Ryder Laws, Shady Spring Sr 3- 1 4th: Sam Snyder, Herbert Hoover Fr 21- 24 5th: Jon Painter, Greenbrier West Sr 32- 22 6th: Max Newman, Liberty-Raleigh Jr 32- 21
Weight: 150 1st: Talen Adkins, Independence Soph 27- 8 2nd: Kolton Fields, Herbert Hoover Sr 33- 14 3rd: Isaac Williams, Liberty-Raleigh Jr 41- 9 4th: Ty Pate, Greenbrier West Soph 19- 22 5th: Andrew Franco, Shady Spring Jr 21- 20 6th: Cory Clay, Webster County Soph 0- 3
Weight: 157 1st: Landon Dunlap, Independence Soph 37- 16 2nd: Dameon Forney, Herbert Hoover Soph 27- 22 3rd: Dominic Mandeville, Greenbrier West Soph 31- 24 4th: Gabe Hunter, Richwood Jr 2- 2 5th: Hunter Stanley, Liberty-Raleigh Jr 15- 21 6th: Hunter Reed, Riverview Fr 1- 3
Weight: 165 1st: Jake Edens, Herbert Hoover Sr 42- 9 2nd: Brayden Hart, Independence Soph 36- 11 3rd: Kaden Lephew, Midland Trail Sr 36- 7 4th: Damien Simmons, Shady Spring Soph 32- 16 5th: Jackie Ferguson, Webster County Sr 30- 9 6th: Gabe Cantrell, Pikeview Jr 27- 15
Weight: 175 1st: Kaiden Helmer, Shady Spring Jr 36- 12 2nd: Tyson McGinnis, Independence Jr 25- 13 3rd: Matthew Hill, Liberty-Raleigh Sr 33- 18 4th: Ethan Deal, Herbert Hoover Jr 22- 22 5th: Dakota Bennett, Midland Trail Jr 17- 23 6th: Connor Gibson, Nicholas County Fr 13- 22
Weight: 190 1st: Jesse Adams, Independence Jr 48- 1 2nd: Gabe Knoblet, Shady Spring Sr 37- 8 3rd: Tristin Shaffer, Herbert Hoover Fr 25- 15 4th: Cruz Tompkins, Midland Trail Jr 39- 9 5th: Josiah Pilkington, Liberty-Raleigh Jr 39- 17 6th: Waylon Rhodes, Meadow Bridge Fr 5- 21
Weight: 215 1st: Jayden Roop, Midland Trail Jr 39- 7 2nd: Joey Cowger, Shady Spring Jr 38- 9 3rd: Jacob Varney, Independence Fr 30- 20 4th: Colton Cruthers, Greenbrier West Fr 28- 25 5th: Cody Collins, Herbert Hoover Jr 27- 19 6th: Ralph Hammons, Nicholas County Fr 1- 13
Weight: 285 1st: Connor Facemire, Herbert Hoover Sr 44- 5 2nd: Landon Burleson, Independence Jr 24- 23 3rd: Connor Acord, Liberty-Raleigh Jr 36- 11 4th: Ashton Davis, Meadow Bridge Sr 17- 9 5th: Travis Bailey, Riverview Sr 7- 8 6th: Kenneth Kronenburg, Webster County Jr 11- 26
