Published: March 24, 2008 12:24 pm            

Fell to revive wrestling career at West Virginia

Tailgate talk helped steer Ryan Fell to the West Virginia University wrestling mats next fall.

Fell, the 2007 Class AA-A 215-pound state wrestling champion while a senior at Oak Hill High School, had been out of wrestling since last summer. This past autumn, he played on special teams for the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcat football team. While he says he enjoyed that experience, all the while the call of the mats was loud.

And a conversation his older brother, Nathan, had with Greg Jones, the assistant coach of the WVU wrestling squad, led to Ryan deciding to transfer and walk on to take another crack at his favorite sport.

“Coach Jones tailgates with my brother at WVU games, and (the conversation led to wrestling),” said Ryan Fell. “I eventually called him up (to explore the possibility of wrestling for the Mountaineers).

“Football was fun here (Buckhannon), and I enjoyed it, but I just missed wrestling too much.”

Wesleyan doesn’t have a wrestling program.

Fell says he’s not expecting to make contributions right away for WVU, which hovers around the nation’s Top 25 programs and qualified seven competitors for this year’s national championship. But, he hopes to eventually make an impact. About 210 pounds right now, he expects to compete either at 197 pounds or 184 pounds. Getting back in wrestling shape is on his agenda for the coming months. “I’m doing a lot of stuff on my own right now, running and lifting.”

“I’m really excited about going up there,” added Fell, who is in pre-pharmacy. “I have realistic expectations.

“I’d like to eventually work my way into a starting spot, but there are no promises. I just have to get up there and work my butt off.”

Fell will take some classes at Mountain State University this summer before enrolling at WVU this fall.

— E-mail: skeenan@register-herald.com

        

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