West Virginia
Kartsonas keys No. 24 West Virginia to 10-5 victory, series sweep of Cincinnati – WV MetroNews
GRANVILLE, W.Va. — During a four-year career at Kent State, pitcher Jack Kartsonas experienced success, but battled significant injury that prevented him from being able to contribute more.
Since arriving at West Virginia for his final season, Kartsonas has not only had better fortune with his health, but he’s also developed a sinker that’s leading to all sorts of success.
The latest example came Saturday afternoon when the right-hander threw seven scintillating innings against Cincinnati, limiting the Bearcats to one unearned run on one hit and keying the 24th-ranked Mountaineers to a 10-5 victory and a sweep of the three-game set at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
“Kartsonas is such a rock,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “You feel like you really know what you’re going to get — competes at the highest level, good velocity and a strike thrower. The offense really got going for the first time in maybe 10 days where we were able to put a team away.”
West Virginia (34-4, 13-3) has won 14 straight, including 11 consecutive games in Big 12 play.
A Landyn Vidourek single in the top of the third inning allowed UC (21-18, 8-10) to gain a 1-0 lead that stood until the Mountaineers got their bats going in the fourth.
That frame began with Logan Sauve’s leadoff double, while a Kyle West single put runners at the corners. After Bearcats’ starting pitcher Carson Marsh induced a pop up off the bat of Jace Rinheart for the first out, he was replaced by left-handed reliever Adam Mrakitsch.
Mrakitsch imnediately surrendered a tying single to Sam White and Chase Swain’s two-run double that put WVU in front to stay.
The Mountaineers made it 4-1 later in the fourth on Spencer Barnett’s groundout to first.
After allowing the lone run of his outing, Kartsonas retired eight straight — the second time in the matchup he had done so.
“The sinker’s really good the last two weeks. It’s been heavy sinker. I’m throwing it really well where I want to and that’s been huge,” Kartsonas said. “Getting ahead of guys and staying ahead of guys on the attack.”
Mrakitsch took the mound to start the fifth, but had a rough go of it that inning as well, surrendering four runs with two outs, starting with a Rinehart single that brought Sauve home.
Swain added a run-scoring double, and after Brandon Scheurer took over a pitcher, Barnett delivered a two-run single that left the Bearcats facing an 8-1 deficit.
Sauve’s solo home run — his second in as many games and team-high seventh this season — made it 9-1 in the sixth, which was the final inning for Kartsonas, who threw 67 of his 102 pitches for strikes.
The sinker was the primary cause for success.
“I trust it. I started throwing it here when I started throwing bullpens after surgery and right as I started throwing it, it was good,” he said. “It comes super naturally with my arm slot and repeating my mechanics helps a lot.”
With the Mountaineers leading 10-1 in the eighth, WVU relief pitchers Mac Stiffler and Ben McDougal encountered trouble, and the Bearcats brought four runs across in that inning on a Derrick Pitts single, Cal Sefcik double and Dawson Hokuf’s single that scored two to make it 10-5.
Tyler Hutson then took over for McDougal and retired all five batters he faced to prevent the Bearcats from posing a serious threat in the late stages.
Kartsonas struck out seven and walked three in his second start this season. His first came last Sunday at Houston when the Pittsburgh native threw seven scoreless frames and allowed two hits in an 11-4 victory.
“The health matched with the pitching plan has allowed him to make strides,” Sabins said. “A guy that needed multiple procedures this summer, he may have been healthy previously, but maybe not really. Meaning he might have been a little banged up, but a lot of these competitors like him get used to feeling poorly consistently until your arm blows. Having some of the things that needed done, combined with the resources here and some of the best coaches in the country, along with a kid who really wants it, that’s allowed him to take off.”
Sauve, Rinehart, White, Swain and Barnett had two hits apiece to lead the Mountaineers’ 13-hit attack.
“Today, we kind of got the bats rolling and a lot of things clicked at the right time,” Sauve said. “We were able to squeeze two 4-spots together and that was really big.”
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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