By Allen Hamrick
The Panther wrestling team went 4-2 for the week; the mats were so hot you could smell the rubber burning a mile off. The CCHS Panther wrestling team, with a tough core of returning wrestlers and some new to the mats, was in the house delivering pain and taking names. Anytime the Panthers come into a match this year, most every team represented wants to beat the Clay team. As they soon find out, it’s not easy and never will be. The bottom line is that it’s a different kind of season this year, and a wrestler skilled enough to beat one of the Panthers does so by taking a considerable beating.
There was plenty of Kleenex this past week to go around for those that got beat. With the team in full throttle, they look like they will be a shoe in for the states. It is a team effort this year as individual champions are a thing of the past, at least for now. So, as a team, the Panthers look like they are well on their way to putting wrestlers in the state competition. They were on the road in Nicholas County on Tuesday evening to take on Nicholas, Liberty-Raleigh and Greenbrier East. When the mats were laid to rest, the Panthers thrashed Nicholas and Liberty-Raleigh but came up short against Greenbrier East. On Saturday, the Panthers hosted their only home matchup this year against Lewis County, St. Mary’s and Shady Spring. The Panthers beat Lewis and Shady Spring but once again came up short against St. Mary’s.
It was a good week for the Panthers as they honored this year’s Seniors, two who have consistently put CCHS wrestling on the mat and are considered among the finest wrestlers to represent CCHS – Colton Casto and Riley Perkins, and a wrestler who came to the mats for the first time this year and has definitely made an impact – Bradley Case. Colton Casto and Noah Casto also received their belated LKC Champion plaques for becoming last year’s LKC Champions.
The Panthers will hit the mats once again on the road this week on Tuesday at Poca and again Saturday at Doddridge. It should be a good line up of wrestling, so plan on being a fan in the stands. CCHS wrestlers are a team bent on 100 percent effort. Go Panthers!
