West Virginia
Kirn shines, trio of state natives homer in Mountaineers' 6-3 win against Utah – WV MetroNews
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia pitcher Griffin Kirn helped keep Utah at bay with a dominant start that included 14 strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.
A trio of Mountain State natives did their part to ensure Kirn’s effort didn’t go to waste.
Kyle West and Jace Rinehart connected for consecutive solo home runs in the third inning, and after the Utes rallied to tie the game, Grant Hussey blasted a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth that made all the difference for the Mountaineers in a 6-3 victory at Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
“Those three guys are all power hitters with great attitudes that want to see West Virginia win,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “Fun for me, fun for the fan base and fun for those kids.”
The result gives WVU (25-4, 5-3) a fifth consecutive win ahead of Saturday’s doubleheader against Utah (13-14, 2-8).
After Kirn surrendered a home run to Drake Digiorino in the second inning for the first run of the game, the southpaw was in cruise control for much of the remainder of his outing. He struck out the next two batters to give him three through two innings.
“It kind of irritated me,” Kirn said. “I’ve let up quite a few home runs this year. It got me over the edge and I was like, ‘it’s time to go.’ That’s not going to happen again.”
With WVU still trailing 1-0 in the home half of the third, West, a Hedgesville native, got the Mountaineers even with a home run to center.
Jace Rinehart, a former standout at North Marion High School, followed with a round-tripper to left and the Utes faced their first deficit.
“There’s nothing better than having people proud of this state and university have success, and guys that grew up here and know what it means to be a Mountaineer, but I don’t want to sell any of our guys short,” Sabins said.
Kirn overcame Tyler Quinn’s leadoff single in the fourth by striking out the next three batters, and he worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth with two more punch outs.
The two solo home runs marked WVU’s two hits through four innings off Utah starting pitcher Colter McAnelly, and Logan Sauve provided another one in the fifth, blasting a solo shot to center just after Armani Guzman was caught stealing third base.
Kirn struck out the side (all looking) in the sixth, but encountered trouble in the seventh as Digorino led off with a single and Jake Long followed with a double down the right-field line.
With two in scoring position and no outs, Kirn buckled down and struck out Derek Smith before inducing a weak fly ball off the bat of Santino Panaro.
With his team leading 3-1, Sabins elected to pull Kirn in favor of Chase Meyer.
“Chase has been dominant and I fully understood that,” said Kirn, while admitting he would’ve preferred to stay in. “He gave us the best opportunity to win.”
However, Meyer immediately hit pinch hitter Cameron Gurney and then surrendered a tying two-run single off the bat of leadoff hitter Austen Roellig.
“It wasn’t the right decision if you’re basing it off results,” Sabins said, “but we ended up winning the game.”
After Rinehart bounced out with the bases loaded to end the home half of the seventh, Meyer induced an inning-ending double play in the eighth that kept the game tied at 3.
The next time Meyer came out to pitch, he did so with a three-run cushion.
Skylar King hit a leadoff single in the eighth, and with one out, McAnelly was removed for relief pitcher Jackson Elder.
King immediately stole second and scored moments later when Hussey, a former standout at Parkersburg South, belted a two-run blast to center that was hardly visible off the bat due to excessive fog.
“It proves that there’s talent and West Virginia kids can compete with anybody,” Hussey said. “I can understand why they get looked down upon. There’s not a whole lot of resources around here, but it really shows what we can do as a whole.“
A Spencer Barnett double led to him scoring WVU’s sixth and final run later in the eighth on an error.
“Hussey was up against a reliever and it felt like when you take McAnelly out of the game, it doesn’t matter, anybody else is better to face than who we faced as a starter,” Sabins said.
Roellig stepped into the batter’s box in the form of the tying run in the ninth, but Meyer kept his cool and sealed the verdict with a strikeout.
In a no decision, Kirn was charged with three runs on six hits. He walked one.
“He threw 92 pitches,” Sabins said, “and damn near every one of them was quality.”
Meyer allowed one hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Both teams finished with seven hits and Roellig led all players with three.
McAnelly took the tough-luck loss after allowing four runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked four. McAnelly entered 2-1 with a 2.72 ERA and 51 strikeouts against 12 base-on-balls.
“He’s the definition of a guy with good stuff and not great stuff, but an elite competitor,” Sabins said. “He never backs down and throws all his pitches with conviction.”
Friday’s matchup marked the first meeting between WVU and Utah.
West Virginia
DNR Releases total deer whitetail numbers for 2025, down significantly from 2024 – WV MetroNews
DNR PRESS RELEASE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) today announced that hunters harvested 92,553 white-tailed deer during the 2025-2026 seasons, which is a 17 percent decrease from the 2024 deer harvest of 111,646 and 14 percent below the 5-year average of 107,434.
This year’s decreased harvest was caused by an increase in hard mast production, which often results in decreased harvests due to the difficulty of tracking and targeting game species spread out over a landscape. Several counties also experienced an outbreak of hemorrhagic disease, which likely impacted hunter success, especially in the western part of the state.
According to preliminary numbers collected through the WVDNR’s electronic game checking system, hunters harvested 33,823 bucks during the traditional buck firearm season, 25,453 antlerless deer during all antlerless firearm hunting opportunities, 29,654 deer during the urban and regular archery/crossbow seasons, 3,102 deer during the muzzleloader season and 501 deer during the Mountaineer Heritage season.
Click here to download county-by-county 2025-2026 deer harvest numbers.
Antlerless Deer Season
Hunters harvested 25,453 deer during the 2025 antlerless deer season, which includes the youth, class Q and Class XS deer season. The harvest was a 23 percent decrease compared to the 2024 harvest of 33,057 and 13 percent below the 5-year average of 29,303. The top ten counties for antlerless deer harvests were Preston (1,442), Upshur (907), Greenbrier (877), Monroe (876), Mason (841), Lewis (836), Hardy (775), Randolph (774), Barbour (695) and Braxton (680).
Archery and Crossbow Deer Seasons
Hunters harvested 29,654 deer during the 2025 archery and crossbow season. The 2025 harvest was an 8 percent decrease over the 2024 harvest of 32,240 and 5 percent below the 5-year average of 31,139. The proportion of the archery harvest taken using a crossbow has stabilized and was greater than deer reportedly taken by a bow.
The archery and crossbow harvest does not include the 29 deer taken with recurve or longbows during the Mountaineer Heritage season. The top ten counties for archery and crossbow deer harvests were Preston (1,573), Raleigh (1,378), Wyoming (1,224), Kanawha (1,045), Fayette (1,032), Mercer (892), Nicholas (889), McDowell (876), Randolph (860) and Monongalia (842).
Muzzleloader Deer Season
Hunters harvested 3,102 deer during the 2025 muzzleloader season, which was 26 percent less than the 2024 harvest of 4,173 and 22 percent below the 5-year average of 3,979. The muzzleloader deer season harvest does not include the 472 deer taken with side lock and flintlock muzzleloaders during the Mountaineer Heritage season. The top ten counties for muzzleloader deer harvests were Nicholas (186), Preston (179), Randolph (158), Greenbrier (131), Upshur (115), Fayette (111), Raleigh (95), Mason (93), Barbour (90) and Kanawha (88).
— Story by David Walsh, Photo gallery by Will Wotring
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Divisions I and II are going as expected after Thursday night’s opening round in the 78th West Virginia High School State Wrestling Tournament at Mountain Health Network Arena. University, seeking a third straight large school title, and Parkersburg found themselves in the top two in the standings on a night dominated by pins as No. 1 seeds would beat up on No. 4 seeds.
University started the event minus two competitors. One did not make weight and the other, who won a state title a year ago, is not competing as he’s recovering from a football injury.
One competitor delivering big for the Hawks is Maximus Fortier, a junior who transferred in from Fairmont Senior. While there, he won the state title as a freshman at 144 with a final record of 41-1. He competes at 165 now and is 36-2 after winning with a first-round pin Thursday night.
“Come down, support the team and try to win,” Fortier said of his battle plan. “Wrestle the way we know how.”
Fortier and the Hawks won the Ron Mauck OVAC title, the WSAZ Invitational and West Virginia Duals during the season. He competed in two major tournaments as well. He went 2-2 in the Ironman and won his weight class in the Powerade Tournament which attracts the top teams in the nation.
“Wasn’t ready,” he said about the Ironman. “Did my thing at Powerade. It was big.”
Fortier said support at his new school grows every day.
“They treat me like family,” he said.
Strategy for the State Tournament is simple.
“Wrestle the way we know how to wrestle,” Fortier said.
University capitalized on a strong finish in the heavier weights and leads with 47 points. Parkersburg, which finished second here last year, trails with 39.5. Cabell Midland is third with 37.5 and Huntington fourth with 32.5.
Ripley is in year two in Division II. The Vikings placed sixth a year ago. They came to town as the Region 4 winner and qualified 11 with nine taking first and the other two second. Ripley leads after Thursday with 38 points thanks to wins by pin or major fall. Independence is second with 27 and Keyser third with 25.5. Cameron is the leader in Division III with 16 points.
The tournament continues Friday with sessions at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the girls have their state with action starting at 8 a.m. The boys begin at 10:30.
Championship finals are Saturday night at 6:30. Wrestlers are now seeded prior to the tournament and the pill breaks deadlocks.
During the season, Ripley won the West Virginia Duals, beat Herbert Hoover twice, Point Pleasant and also got wins over Parkersburg South and Huntington.
Losing to Kansas State wiped away all hope for West Virginia to make the NCAA Tournament. That seems to be the clear consensus in the Mountain State, but is there actually still a chance? Well, I guess so.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi still has West Virginia listed as a team to consider, the second team outside of the “next four out” grouping.
Lunardi’s current NCAA Tournament bubble
Last Four Byes: Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas, Ohio State
Last Four In: SMU, Santa Clara, New Mexico, Indiana
First Four Out: VCU, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati
Next Four Out: San Diego State, USC, California, Seton Hall
Next: Stanford, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona State
How is this even possible?
Short answer? I don’t really know.
My best guess as to why? Two things: the respect for the Big 12 and the opportunities left on the table, and two, an incredibly weak bubble.
Should West Virginia beat UCF on Friday, it will give the Mountaineers a 9-9 record in Big 12 play. That’s not as much of a guarantee to make the dance as having a winning record, but still, it’s an impressive mark, especially when, in this instance, they would have wins over Kansas, BYU, and sweeps over Cincinnati and UCF.
If you ask me, they still have too many bad losses for it to matter. I mean, even if they got red-hot out of nowhere and made it to the Big 12 championship game next week, is that enough? Potentially, but that’s a big IF.
The one thing WVU does have on its side is the number of Quad 1 wins, which they have five of. Virtually every other team in college basketball that has a minimum of five Quad 1 victories is expected to make the tournament. In that previously mentioned scenario, they would add at least one more Quad 1 win in the conference tournament, giving the committee something to think about.
The bubble is just incredibly weak, though. Like, how in the world is Auburn, who is 16-14 currently, the second team out of the field? Cincinnati, which WVU swept and has the same record as, is the fourth team in the “first four out” grouping.
At this point, the only path I see is for the Mountaineers to cut down the nets in Kansas City — good luck with that. We could be having a very different conversation if they didn’t lallygag their way through the first 30 minutes of the games against Utah and Kansas State.
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