Last year as a freshman, J.J. Bailes etched his named in the Woodrow Wilson wrestling history books with an individual state championship title at 113 pounds.
Bailes became the first state champion from Beckley since 1999 when Matt Callahan brought home the title at 140 pounds for the Flying Eagles.
Oddly enough, the two champions know each and were able to share their experiences.
“It felt really good,” Bailes said about winning the championship. “(Matt) goes to my church. He came in the last week before states, so he could see how things were going. We talked some after the match about how it felt to win the state title. It was pretty cool.”
While Bailes became the 26th wrestler from Woodrow Wilson to capture a state title, now he has a chance to join an even smaller group of Beckley elites.
Only three wrestlers from Beckley have won back-to-back titles with one other grappler having captured two titles in his high school career.
Dave Friley was the first Beckley wrestler to go back-to-back winning in 1948 and 1949. Tom Slater won in 1953 and 1954, while John Summers was a state champion in 1954 and 1955. Mike Techak won his titles in 1950 and 1952.
Bailes (56-5) admitted it would be a great feat to win two in a row, but he also knows he has a tough road ahead to win another state title.
“I have been working on it all year because I knew I would have (Matthew) McAfee (St. Albans) this year,” Bailes said. “I will likely have Jack Lowe (Wheeling Park) in my second match. I wrestled him once and pinned him in the second period, but he is a pretty solid wrestler.”
McAfee (46-2) won the state title at 126 last year as a sophomore and enters the tournament at the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 132 pounds. He defeated Bailes 1-0 for the AAA Region 3 title and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the regional event.
“McAfee is a really tough wrestler and I have faced him twice this year. It is good competition, but he has beat me both times. I keep getting closer, so I feel like I can beat him this year,” Bailes said. “I knew (the regional match) would be really close. He is really hard to take down and I don’t think he can take me down anymore. I have been working on that.”
Bailes is one of several Beckley wrestlers that have a strong chance of stepping to the top of the podium Saturday night.
Senior Ethan Osborne was runner-up last year, dropping the title match, 1-0 to Patrick Jackson from Spring Mills.
“He had already beat me twice before that. He was just a tough opponent and it was really hard scoring on him,” Osborne said. “The difference was getting off bottom. I couldn’t get up from the bottom.”
Coming ever so close to the title, Osborne (55-2) says he learned a lot from his junior year that he has carried over to his success during his senior season.
“Definitely last year has motivated me. Last year showed me how good I could really be,” Osborne said. “Wrestling so strong against a guy like that who is a DI commit, I knew I could compete on that level and it really opened me up. Right after states, I finished 5th at the Virginia Beach Nationals.”
The Virginia Beach Nationals are billed as the premier wrestling tournament in the country where wrestlers from across the United Sates go the compete to become All-Americans.
Osborne is the No. 1 ranked wrestler going into the state tournament followed by Dom Parker (45-1) from University.
“The top two guys have been really dominant in our weight class,” Osborne said. “He is one of my losses this year. He beat me at the WSAZ Tournament in overtime. Then at the state duals I came back and ended up beating him there.”
While Osborne and Parker appear to be on a collision course for the finals, nothing is a given this time of year.
“You have to take it one match at a time and just go out there and wrestle. There is not too much of a game plan really. You do what you have been practicing here for months,” Osborne said. “I learned last year that I just have to open up and wrestle how I can. I can’t go in there being cautious and let things come, I have to go make them.”
Woodrow Wilson sophomore Garrett Johnson is the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 106 pounds, while Tyler Roark and Troy Harris are ranked third at 126 and 138, respectively. Jay Jones is ranked fourth at 175.
