Wrestling In The Library at Wheeling Park High School | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo provided
Work continues on the wrestling room addition at Wheeling Park High School.

WHEELING — The school library will transform from a place for literature, Tolkien and Tolstoy to a spot for learning leg locks and takedowns as the media center at Wheeling Park High School soon becomes a temporary wrestling room.

Construction of a new wrestling room addition is presently taking place on the WPHS grounds, but it won’t be completed in time when wrestlers start practicing next week in preparation for a new season, according to Ohio County Schools Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones.

For now, a wrestling mat will be thrown down in the middle of the spacious media center, while classrooms on each side of the map inside the media center won’t be displaced, he said.

WPHS wrestlers still will have their matches in the gym once the season begins in December.

“They are going to have to (practice) in the media center, and that will be interesting to say the least,” Jones said.

“The hardest thing is going to be to get the mat up there. You need about 15-16 people to carry it — or a crane. We’re still looking at the best way to get it up there. At least there will be some light coming in, and it’s not a room with no windows.”

The new wrestling addition being constructed will have windows and many other amenities. It is expected to be completed by Christmas, according to Jones.

“What is done looks awesome,” he said. “The windows are formed, and they are way bigger than I thought.

“There will be windows instead of being a dark, dreary place. There will be natural light.”

There will be flat screen televisions in the space so the wrestlers can review past matches, a viewing area above the mat and practice area, and a place for exercise equipment.

All of the cleaning supplies needed to disinfect the mats also will be kept in the space and there won’t be a need to bring buckets of water in from elsewhere in the building, according to Jones.

“It is going to be really nice,” he said. “Our wrestling program is good and growing, and this should really help grow the wrestling program.”

The former wrestling room is slated to become the new home for strings and music education at WPHS.