Photo by Kim North Cameron’s Anthony Bellanco, right, battles Caldwell’s Asie Polland during their 138-pound match Wednesday night in the OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 1A/2A Dual Meet Championship match inside the Wellness Center at Brooke High School. Bellanco won by a pin and the Dragons cruised to the title, 53-18.

WELLSBURG — The last month-and-a-half has been a trying time for members of the Cameron wrestling program. Two beloved members of the Dragons family — former head coach Jim Potts and 4-time W.Va. Class A/AA state champion R.C. Anderson — passed away.

In honor of their memory, Cameron has put forth an outstanding season on the mats thus far as it captured the Class 1A/2A team title at the recent 71st annual OVAC Ron Mauck Championships with 132.5 points, which was also good enough for seventh place overall. The Dragons continued their winning ways Wednesday night inside the Wellness Center at Brooke High School by winning the OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 1A/2A Dual Meet Championships by defeating Toronto (59-6) in the semifinals and Caldwell (53-18) in the finals.

“The kids know about those two legends,” first-year Cameron head coach Chad Burge said of Potts and Anderson. “Those are big shoes to fill, whether it’s on the coaching side or the wrestling side. We’re doing the best we can to honor them. We’re trying to do something to make those two guys proud. They left their legacy and we’re trying to duplicate that. Hopefully, we can get there.”

Burge wrestled for Potts for his entire high school career.

“I was lucky enough to be part of four OVAC Class 1A/2A champions,” Burge noted. “You can’t help but feel that type of pressure trying to follow coaches like Jim Potts and Ronnie Trowbridge. They are two Hall of Famers. I’m not trying to fill their shoes, I just want to try them on and wear them around.”

Four Dragons won two contested matches each, those being Talen Brown (144/150), Eli Tedrow (157/165), Griffen Miller (165/175) and Marshall Holland (215). Tedrow and Miller had a pair of pins each, while Brown won by technical fall and pin.

Slaton Pettit (150/157), an OVAC Ron Mauck runner up, was awarded a forfeit and then recorded a pin, as did Anthony Bellanco (132). Maverick Lilley (106) and Atley Bonar (138) each received two forfeits, while Ava Lemasters had a pin.

“The kids are getting more confidence by the day,” Burge said. “By the last week of December we knew our schedule was going to be tough, but we set it up this way for the last part of the season.”

I’m sure on the mats above that Potts and Anderson are smiling down on the Dragons.

Caldwell advanced to the finals with a 39-30 decision over Southern Local. The Indians then took down the Red Knights, 42-23 for third place.