Parkersburg South senior Gage Wright signed his national letter of intent Thursday to continue his wrestling career at Virginia Tech. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
PARKERSBURG — Gage Wright, the 40th Robert Dutton Award recipient and Mountain State Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award recipient, will commit to Virginia Tech at Parkersburg South High School on Thursday afternoon. An entrance ceremony was held.
“I’m sad to see it end.” Wright, a four-time state mat champion and two-time All-State honors on the Class AAA first team, acknowledged on the gridiron.
“It has gone by really quickly, but I’m looking forward to competing against the top players at the next level and showing everyone what I have and what I have to prove.”
Wright, the 25th four-time state champion in West Virginia history, last represented the Patriots at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic 50th Anniversary, helping the All-American All-Stars defeat the Pennsylvania All-Stars. Contributed.
“I had a lot of fun getting to interact with some of the top players in the country.” Mr. Wright said. “We were just playing our favorite sport, wrestling.
“It was a lot of fun because we had to practice together and stay in the same hotel and take the bus to the location and set up our own locker rooms and things like that.”
Although the Patriots did not advance in the local voting for the Schulz Award, they were ecstatic to receive the state honor.
“That was a little surprising.” he said about being selected. “West Virginia has a lot of great wrestlers, so it means a lot to win this award, and I’m just grateful for it.”
Besides the Hokies, Wright’s final selections also included Penn State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and North Carolina State.
Wright, who has a 3.2 GPA, said she must be on campus at the end of June and her first day of mandatory summer school is July 1.
“I’ll start with summer classes and property management, and then I’ll get into business.” Mr Wright added: “Probably sales or something like that.” When I was asked what I would do after college.
In addition to winning Ironman and Powerade titles, the Patriots became West Virginia’s 25th four-time state champion.
“I’m really looking forward to going to Virginia Tech.” Wright admitted. “It’s going to be pretty upsetting to not be able to be with my friends as much and go our separate ways. I’m pretty excited. They can come visit if they really want.”
The Hokies also wanted Wright to compete on the gridiron, but the wrestling program wanted Wright to stick to the mat.
“I wish I had tried it.” He said. “It must have been difficult to balance school and two sports, but if it were me, I would have definitely wanted to try it.The possibility of that happening is quite high (redshirt).
“They’re going to put me in there and see how good I can be while competing. I can play five tournaments and still redshirt.”
Now, Mr. Wright just lifts, fishes, and “I’m trying to spend more time with my family and friends.”
Patriot finished his career with 105 mat slappers. He went 49-1 in his final season and 149-8 overall.
“It went by really quickly, but we had a lot of fun together, like childhood friends who grew up wrestling together.” The Ohio Valley Athlete Conference’s Viacolutte Award winner and West Virginia OVAC Wrestler of the Year admitted: Many of us were in Edison, but if we weren’t in Edison, we were in Blennerhassett. Things we still need to talk about and things like that.
“We practiced at the Patriot Club, so we pretty much knew each other since we were about 9 or 10 years old. I think that helped a lot, athletically, too.” Soccer, especially. Just like in wrestling, you just know your teammates are rooting for each other no matter what. Basically, I just hang out with my friends. The year seems to go by so quickly, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Other than that it was really fun. ”
Wright, who holds the school record for 18 quick pins (within 10 seconds), was impressed by Blacksburg, where he will soon live.
“They actually got really, really nice freshman dorms.” He said. “All the freshmen players are there. It’s like a real apartment.
“It’s very nice. Everyone has their own bed. There’s a living room, as well as a kitchen, and everything is set up.”
Wright, a Kurt Warner Award runner-up as the state’s top running back, credited his success to all of his coaches, especially PSHS head Sean Smith.
“He helped me a lot, especially my freshman year.” Mr. Wright explained. “He pushed me a lot mentally and physically. He just made sure my head was in the right place all the time.
“I think it especially helped that I had some close races this year at things like Ironman. It helped me know that I’ve been in situations like this before in the mat room and everything will be fine. I learned that I could get through it and be completely okay.”
A member of two Class AAA state championship teams at Parkersburg South, the Patriots hope to have similar success at Virginia Tech.
“I want to run as a team.” He said. “We want to win a national title as a team and aim to become four-time NCAA champions.”
Regarding areas that need to be improved, he admitted, “Probably my cardiorespiratory function.” Only small things need to be fixed. Obviously, little things go a long way.
“I have a lot more under my feet. I can stay in a better position, get to the attack faster, get out of the bottom more smoothly, not be pinned down in riding time, and then attack. was able to come out on top.”
Wright also admitted to hanging cleats. “It was a good run.”
When asked what advice he would give to aspiring wrestlers, Patriot, who led his team to a state semi-final in football as a junior, replied:
“Anything in life is possible as long as you work toward your goals. As long as you put your mind to it and glorify God through it all, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com.
