BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — Frankfort’s Ana Mendoza won a championship at 100 pounds in the North Regional wrestling competition Sunday at Buckhannon-Upshur High, and 18 locals qualified for the state tournament.
Sunday marked the first time West Virginia held regionals for girls wrestling, with a corresponding South Region event at Parkersburg High School taking place the same day.
The girls state tournament will be held at Marshall Health Network Arena on March 7.
West Virginia has held a girls state championship since 2020, though it has been unsanctioned and not run by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC).
Last week, the WVSSAC Board of Directors voted to approve girls wrestling as a preliminary sanctioned sport beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
More than 300 girls wrestlers participated this year, hailing from 86 schools across the state.
At Sunday’s North Regional tournament, Mendoza was Frankfort’s lone state qualifier and the lone wrestler from an area school to win a regional championship.
The top eight performers in each weight class qualified for states.
Moorefield, which was fourth in the team competition, had seven top-eight finishes. Two took third place in Lee Anne Coon (100 pounds) and Kailyn Penkov (185), two were fourth in Annie Barr (126) and Grace Simmons (132), two ended fifth in Jalee Lender (152) and Kourtney Smith (235) and Morgan Malone placed eighth at 138 pounds.
Keyser finished sixth as a team and had five state qualifiers: Morgan Jones (126 pounds, second place), Mya Burgess (132, second), Kandice Dixon (107, third), Libby Delsignore (114, 5th) and Khloe Cosner (152, eighth).
East Hardy’s Morganne Miller was the runner-up in the 145-pound class, Madilyn Funk was sixth at 120 pounds, and Chloe D’Amico placed eighth at 132.
Petersburg’s Kaitlin Booth was seventh at 114 pounds, and Hampshire’s Avery Steinmetz placed eighth at 120.
Md. Regionals Friday at Garrett College
MCHENRY — The two-day Maryland Class 2A/1A West Region wrestling tournament begins Friday at Garrett College.
Competition begins with the girls individual tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
The co-ed region tournament on Saturday begins at 9:30 a.m.
Admission is $12 and is free for ages 6 and under. Tickets can be purchased on the GoFan website or app. There will be no on-site ticket sales.