Success leads to state duals expansion
Feb. 1—When Brian Miluk got the West Virginia Dual Team State Championships running in 2020, he probably wasn't sure what to expect. The vision was there, but would it take off?
Suffice to say, it did.
After three years as an eight-team event, the state duals will expand to 16 this weekend at the State Fairgrounds.
Class AA/A will get things started on Friday, followed by Class AAA on Saturday. Wrestling will begin at noon in the West Virginia Building both days.
For the first time, two teams from each of the four qualifiers in each class have advanced.
The tournament survived the pandemic and has been received well enough to warrant expansion.
"The biggest reason we are expanding is because of the success the first three years," said Miluk, the tournament director and former head coach at Greenbrier East. "And the support and endorsement of Wayne Ryan and Bernie Dolan with the WVSSAC. They see it. They think it's tremendous.
"They have to have a minimum of 16 teams in order to qualify something to where the state will take it over. and now we have the 16 teams and they are getting more involved. They're bringing the awards for the champion and runner-up for Friday and Saturday."
Four mats will be used for each of the day's three sessions, starting with the four quarterfinal matches. Round two will have the semifinals and consolation rounds starting at 1:30 p.m.
The team championship and placement matches will be wrestled at 3 p.m.
In Class AA/A, Independence will make its first state duals appearance and face Fairmont.
In the other quarterfinals, Braxton County takes on Winfield, Herbert Hoover gets Oak Glen and Point Pleasant will wrestle Lewis County.
In Class AAA, Woodrow Wilson will make its second straight appearance and will get a rematch with University. The Hawks defeated the Flying Eagles in last year's first round.
The other matches pit Wheeling Park against St. Albans, Spring Mills against Cabell Midland and Parkersburg South against Washington.
All 16 teams are ranked in the latest top 10. In Class AA/A, Point Pleasant, Fairmont, Braxton County and Independence are the top four. Oak Glen is sixth, Herbert Hoover seventh, Winfield eighth and Lewis County ninth.
In Class AAA, University, Parkersburg South, Wheeling Park, Spring Mills, Woodrow Wilson and St. Albans are one through six. Washington is eighth and Cabell Midland ninth.
That makes setting the matchups tricky.
"What we do is we pull a pill, because I'm telling you right now, if you start seeding teams it gets tough," Miluk said. "Wheeling Park beats University. University turns around and beats Wheeling Park. and all of a sudden Parkersburg South turns around and beats University.
"And teams shuffle. They shuffle their lineups; they bump a kid up. Or the kid doesn't get pinned. So dual meets, there's a lot more going into it. It's exciting. Fans will love following a team. Dual team state championships are a lot more fan friendly, and that's what I'd like the sport to be."
Sixteen is a good place to be, but Miluk sees potential for even more expansion.
"I would love to see that happen," he said. "You never want to take an opportunity for greatness away from anybody. I want everybody to have that opportunity to be great. We can offer it to even more teams. Have that full eight-team region qualifier.
"That would be beyond great, and I think we're going that route."
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5
