Week 12: Regional Wins. State Tournament Brackets.
The opening Shot.
Week twelve of the 2025 – 2026 Greenbrier East Wrestling season is in the books. The team as a whole was successful, placing eleven wrestlers (8 men; 3 women) in the State Tournament, with an additional two alternates in the women’s division.
The Week in Review.
Men’s Division I Region III Qualifying Tournament. The men’s Division I, Region III Regional Qualifier matches wrestlers from ten teams to determine State Championship Tournament qualifiers. The top four finishers in each weight class earn the right to complete in the West Virginia Men’s State Championship Tournament. Eight Greenbrier East High School wrestlers placed in the top four in the region, earning the right to wrestle in the State Championship Tournament. Congratulations to the following wrestlers who earned berths in the West Virginia Men’s Championship Tournament: 113 lb. Gage Webb 4th place; 106 lb. Hunter Holcomb 3rd place; 120 lb. Sonny Herbert 3rd place; 150 lb. Carter Webb 3rd place; 157 lb. Kane Frank 3rd place; 285 lb. Harrison Smith 2nd place; 144 lb. Kaden Stone Region III Champion; 165 lb. Mason Miller Region III Champion. All of these young men have the well deserved distinction of wrestling for a state championship.
In the State Championship Tournament, the seeding and the brackets as a whole are dictated by a wrestler’s place finish at the regional tournaments. The brackets for Division I of the State Championship Tournament can be found on WV Mat at: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.wvmat.com/temp/26d1brk1.pdf
2026 WV Girls Wrestling South Regional Invitational Tournament.
The GEHS women wrestled in the state’s inaugural Women’s Regional Qualifying Tournament. The women competed in the Southern Region – but had to travel north to Parkersburg to wrestle. Who knew Parkersburg was in Southern West Virginia?
The SouthRegion as constituted consists of 55 schools, although only 33 of those schools had women competing in the regional qualifying tournament. On the WV Mat Girls Wrestling Forum, wrestling commentator Brent Sams posted a comment on the growth of women’s wrestling as compared to the growth of the men’s side. Here are some of the statistics he noted:
Year 7
BOYS 1954 at Parkersburg – 6 teams, 54 wrestlers
GIRLS 2026 at Huntington – 69 teams, 236 wrestlers (2 regionals)
……..
Year 5
BOYS 1952 at WVU – 7 teams, unknown
GIRLS 2024 at Huntington – 66 teams. 116 wrestlers
GEHS wrestler Maya Frank placed 3rd as a freshman in the 2024 Women’s State championship. She will wrestle in the tournament this year as the No. 2 wrestler in the top half of the state tournament bracket at 120 Lb. Izzy Blankenship also wrestled in the 2024 tournament. This year she will wrestle as the No. 2 wrestler in the top half of the Bracket at 138 lb.
The number of women wrestling in the State Tournament has doubled since Maya and Izzy were Freshman wrestling in the State Tournament! The competition is getting tougher each year. The South Region in the 120 lb. bracket is a perfect example. In this bracket there were multiple past state champions and state place winners competing for eight coveted births to the State Tournament. A number of these wrestlers have yet to have a head-to-head matchup, showing the geographic diversity of top end wrestlers in the bracket. The same can be said for 138 lb. and 185 lb. brackets. (Makaylee Bennett,
Regional Champion 185, Izzy Blankenship, Regional Runner-up 138) Thanks to Brent for publishing some very eye opening statistics.
Congratulations to South Region 185 lb. Champion Makaylee Bennett. Makaylee has earned a number 1 seed in the State Tournament bracket, wrestling hard against top opponents. Izzy Blankenship took second place at 138 pounds and is well placed for a championship run. The 138 lb. weight class is incredibly competitive including the North Region Champion who is ranked as the pound-for-pound best wrestler in West Virginia. Izzy is up for the challenge and has been looking forward to competing against the best. Maya Frank earned second place at 120 pounds, getting the win against the defending 120 pound state champion. (winning 8 – 3 at time of injury default), Maya’ only loss in the regional tournament was against last year’s second place State Championship Tournament finisher.
In addition to the eight regional place winners, a limited number of alternates are named in the event injury, illness, or failure to make weight precludes a seeded wrestler from participating. This year in the 132 lb. weight class Hannah Gill earned the second alternate position, and Ava Taylor earned the third alternate position. They will be ready to go if called upon on the day of the tournament.
As a team, the GEHS women placed seventh out of the 33 teams sending wrestlers to the 2026 WV Girls Wrestling South Regional Invitational Tournament.
Each of our wrestlers – men and women – have tough brackets leading to the state championship, but all are up to the challenge.
The State Tournament will be held March 5-7 Mountain Health Arena, Huntington, WV. The men start on Thursday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. Friday wrestling starts at 11:30 a.m. The women’s tournament and men’s final round begins on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Come out and support our wrestlers.
The SSAC has published a web page with all of the information, details, and schedule of the State Tournament. It can be found at:
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Next Week.
Next week’s article will report on the team’s preparation for the State Tournament and give information on how to further support our team. As always, we welcome sponsors and donors to our program. If you wish to sponsor or donate, please feel free to reach out to me at (719) 322-3985, or email me at rob@rjflaw.com.
Live Stream. GEHS wrestling matches are now livestreamed and posted on the Greenbrier East Spartan Wrestling Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1400059887620954. If you cannot join us live, please join us online.
