Wheeling Park’s Isaac Sands had a grip on Steubenville’s Ethan Llewellyn during their 165-pound bout during the OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 5A Dual Meet Championships Thursday night inside the John Marshall Field House in Moundsville. Sands posted a 16-9 decision, but Big Red won the title, 53-23. Photo by Kim North

MOUNDSVILLE — Steubenville made it back-to-back OVAC Bill Hinegardner Class 5A Dual Meet Championships Thursday night.

Big Red, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 3 John Marshall, 46-20, in the semifinals before taking down top-seeded Wheeling Park, 53-23, in the championship match. Steubenville also downed Wheeling Park in last year’s final.

“It feels good to go back-to-back. I’m proud of our team,” Steubenville head coach Lucas Huffman said. “We’ve been battling some injuries and sickness this week. Our kids battled through some adversity and I’m very proud of them for that.”

In the championship dual, Steubenville bolted to an 18-0 lead on the strength of a pin by Monte Guntrum (106) and back-to-back forfeits awarded to Cole Harvey (113) and Rowan Burnett (120).

The Patriots’ Carrington Polus (126) ended up pinning Kasyn Berkey in a back-and-forth bout to get Wheeling Park on the board, but Camden Greiner (132) and Cooper Smith (144) sandwiched forfeit victories around an overtime decision by the Patriots’ Jacob Carman (138) for a 30-9 advantage.

The forfeits were part of five that Wheeling Park had in its injury-depleted lineup.

“I am very pleased with our performance,” Wheeling Park head coach Danny Doyle said. “It’s the same story as our entire season. We were short-handed but we did have a couple of come-from-behind wins. That was good.

“We had some kids step in the line up and some kids step up tonight, but, overall, I’m happy with the way we wrestled as a team,” Huffman added. “I think tonight can help us make another run in the OHSWCA State Duals which begin on Saturday at our place.”

Jack Lowe (150) kept the Patriots hopes alive with a technical fall but Steubenville responded with a technical fall by Purdue University-bound Brody Saccoccia as the margin remained at 35-14.

Wheeling Park’s Isaac Sands (165) earned a 16-9 decision to make it 35-17 but the fourth forfeit to Landon Crosier (175) sealed the deal.

Jameson Maynard (190) recorded a first-period pin but victories from Nolan Blackburn (215) and Beau Hudson (285) put the finishing touches on.

Wheeling Park defeated Brooke, 46-20, in the semifinals. The Bruins fell to the Monarchs, 44-23, in the third-place match.