St. Marys 157-pounder Shane DeWeese, left, registered a 12-2 major decision in the finals against Doddridge County's Noah Wekseth during Saturday's 13th annual Par Mar Stores Alumni Tournament. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

ST. MARYS — Here Saturday at the 13th annual Par Mar Stores Alumni Tournament host St. Marys had to settle for a runner-up finish to University, 198.5-170.5, while Doddridge County (149), Logan (138) and Roane County (132.5) rounded out the top five team scores.

The Blue Devils’ first chance at a title came at 132, but University’s Jacob Hensley secured a 16-1 technical fall victory versus Kyle Bullman.

SMHS 138-pound teammate Ayden Powell was scoreless with Bulldog Trey McDonough after the first period. However, McDonough took a 1-0 lead to open the second on a technical violation and then hit a reversal en route to posting a 6-1 decision.

The final chance for head coach Jay D. Smith’s program to secure a title on their own turf came at 157 with Shane DeWeese, who was matched up against Doddridge County’s Noah Wekseth. DeWeese got a takedown in the first and then used a reversal and four near fall points in the second to take control. The Bulldog got an escape late in the second, but DeWeese added a final takedown in the third for a 12-2 major decision.

“We had University’s B team here, who is phenomenal,” admitted coach Smith. “We had kids from all over the state who are really good. We knew it was great competition which is a credit to our county and our administration and the people who put all the work into this.

St. Marys 132-pounder Kyle Bullman, pictured here trying to escape from University's Jacob Hensley in the finals, suffered a 16-1 technical fall setback during Saturday's 13th annual Par Mar Stores Alumni Tournament. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“Our kids wrestled very well today. We worked their tails off this week getting them ready for this tournament and just hope it goes on into LKC and regional because it’s all practice until then. Thankfully the injury bug hasn’t got us and we’ll knock on wood that it doesn’t happen.”

Aside from DeWeese, the Little Kanawha Conference also had first-place efforts at 120 by Wirt County’s Matt Balis, at 144 by Clay County’s Blake Coleman and at 175 by Roane County’s Wyatt Nichols.

Balis gave up the initial takedown in his finals match versus Ritchie County’s Zayden Corderio, but stormed back for an 8-3 lead after one. He won by fall in 2:47. Coleman led 3-0 after one and although he gave up a reversal to Logan’s Noah Coombs in the second, the Panther won via pin in 2:38. The Raider Nichols went ahead for good with a takedown just 15 seconds into his match against Hurricane’s Robby Kyer, who lost via the mat slapper in 2:35.

Cameron’s Eli Tedrow, who was named Most Outstanding Wrestler, secured a 15-0 technical fall versus Weir’s Josh Defelice in the 165-pound championship match.

The Red Riders did have a champion and that came at 190 thanks to Ben Bryan, who edged Wheeling Central’s Wyatt Brady, 4-3. Brady led 3-0 after his takedown with 15 seconds left in the first and the Maroon Knight had the same advantage entering the third. However, Bryan got an escape and then his winning takedown with 1:35 remaining.

Doddridge County 138-pounder Trey McDonough registered a 6-1 decision in the finals against St. Marys' Ayden Powell during Saturday's 13th annual Par Mar Stores Alumni Tournament. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Cameron was the only team to have a trio of champions. Joining Tedrow atop the podium were 106-pounder Maverick Lilley and 150-pounder Marshall Crow, who had a 17-2 technical fall versus Red Rider Jonathan Rhodes.

Lilley squared off against Mountain State Athletic Conference MOW Jake Welsh of Hurricane, who trailed 7-0 before cutting the deficit to 8-7. Although the Redskins then allowed a takedown and three near fall points to fall behind 14-7, he rallied all the way back only to come up short 15-14 as he got his final takedown with 12 seconds remaining.

Wheeling Central had a pair of champions thanks to 113-pounder Tylique Marshall and heavyweight Dominic Paesani, who had an escape three ticks into the second period for the lone point of the 285-pound finale against Logan’s Jack Ball. Although Marshall allowed the first takedown against Doddridge County’s Jesse Cayton, the Maroon Knight secured his title via a 5-4 decision.

Also winning titles were University’s Cooper Chamberlain, who had a 15-4 major decision versus Bulldog Justin Skidmore as well as Logan 215-pounder Dakota Maynard, who pinned Roane County’s Mark Callow in 2:26.

A year ago, Mother Nature got the best of the invitational as it had to be cancelled.

“Everything has went very smooth,” added coach Smith, whose squad has senior night on Wednesday against Wirt County, South Harrison and Frontier. “Gina Houser, who runs our tournament for us, she does a fantastic job. Of course, her son Wiley was a state runner-up for us and obviously Cody was a state champion for us.

“We were able to have about 30 alumni here today to help run the tournament. It takes a lot of people to pull it off. That’s always special. We tell the kids this is a special event they will never forget. They are just making memories here today.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com