( Story by David Walsh, Photo gallery by Will Wotring)
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — University’s Nico Maisel hit a trifecta in high school wrestling Saturday night.
Maisel won an individual state title, beat the opponent from the team in hot pursuit of his and made dad quite proud in the process.
Maisel defeated Parkersburg’s Colston Skeen, 8-6, for the Division I 144-pound championship. The outcome helped the Hawks stretch out their team lead to a near insurmountable amount. And dad, coach Ken Maisel, got to celebrate the moment. Quite the contrast to 2025 when Maisel lost to Stephen Myers of Parkersburg in the finals at 132.
Maisel has a photo at home of Meyers celebrating the moment and him departing dejected. Talk about motivation.
“I got beat last year and it hurt,” Maisel said. “I’ve got eight papers in the house that read ’26 state champ. Been chasing this since I was 4.”
Coach Maisel was quite proud of his son’s accomplishment.
“It lived in his head for a year,” he said of that 2025 defeat. “It’s special for him.”
University, champion in Region 1, found itself in a battle with Parkersburg for state supremacy through the first two days in the 78th West Virginia State High School Wrestling Tournament at Mountain Health Network Arena.
The Hawks gained separation from the Big Reds in the consolation round Saturday morning. Jason Walker’s win by pin for the title at 150 locked up their third straight state crown. They finished with 246 points and Parkersburg 235. The Hawks had 11 placers overall.
“Every session, we had to have it,” coach Maisel said. “To win it with the people out of the lineup is really special. This morning was big. We got more points and we had the lead to finish.”
This is the first time since 2004 two Division I teams surpassed 200 points. That year, Parkersburg won with 224 points and Parkersburg South took second with 204.
“It shows our hard work pays off,” Maisel said. “We’ll continue to work and try to do it again next year. It feels like we’re creating a culture here. You want to be a state placer.”
As for Nico Maisel, he hung on in the final seconds to prevail and finish 44-5 as a sophomore.
“The longest 40 seconds of my life,” Maisel said. “This is what I worked for.”
University and Parkersburg each had six wrestlers in the championship round. The Hawks went 3-3. Jason Walker (150) and Maximus Fortier (175) joined Maisel as state champions. Fortier, a transfer from Fairmont Senior, has signed to wrestle at Virginia Tech.
Coach Maisel had hoped to take a break, but offseason wrestling will be important.
“It’s great for everyone,” he said. “I want to be happy, but I’m already thinking how to do this next year.”
Parkersburg, which has three seniors, went 4-2 in the finals. Winners were Aiden Linko, 103; Seth Drennen, 120; Stephen Meyers, 138; and Dominic Way, 157.
“Things didn’t go as good in the consolation round,” Parkersburg coach Matt Littleton said. “It was a hard-fought state tournament. We made the state interesting.”
Ripley had an easier time of it on the way to winning in Division II for the school’s first state wrestling title.
The Vikings had four in the finals and nine placers overall. Carter Price won at 150 and Carter Neal won by pin at heavyweight to give the Vikings 191.5 points.
Lars Cooper, a transfer from Parkersburg, got the ball rolling with a 12-10 overtime win over Jackson Swingle of Keyser at 138.
“I believe in cardio,” Cooper said regarding how he had the necessary energy for the long match. “Push the pace. Outwork him. It’s special to be on that first state winner. That’s what we wanted to accomplish.”
Ripley coach Matt Smith said the extra work put in by Viking wrestlers paid off.
“The first one’s special,” said Smith, who is in his 15th season. “When I came back we had a lot of things we had not done in the past. We worked to fix things and get where we are now.”
Ripley is in year two in Division II. The drop didn’t deter Smith.
“We compete regardless,” Smith said. “We schedule the best competition possible. We got this as a group.”
Williamstown finished second with 131.5 points.
Cameron won Division III with 130 points.
Washington won the Girls Division with 124 points. Washington’s one state champ is Oliva Kershisnik at 132.
This is the last year the girls and boys compete in the state together. Next year, the WVSSAC has sanctioned girls wrestling. That means regional and state competition a week earlier at a site TBD.
Coach and Outstanding Wrestler awards were handed out at the conclusion of action.
- Girls: Outstanding Wrestler, Justice Anthony, Parkersburg South. Coach of the Year, Dustin Anthony
- Division III: Outstanding Wrestler, Eli Tedrow, Cameron. Coach of the Year, Chad Burge, Cameron
- Division II: Outstanding Wrestler, Lars Cooper, Ripley. Coach of the Year, Matt Smith, Ripley
- Division I: Outstanding Wrestler, Jesse Adams, Parkersburg South. Coach of the Year, Ken Maisel, University