It's been a slow climb, but Richard Harper and his staff have finally brought competitive wrestling to The Hill.

Harper, in his fourth year at the helm at George Washington, has guided the Patriots to a top-10 state ranking - something unheard of for a program that has not finished higher than 22nd at the state meet in the past decade. GW currently sits ninth in the state coaches association poll.

Harper is hoping for another strong showing at this weekend's Pat Vance Invitational at Nitro. GW entered the event with two grapplers seeded No. 1 - sophomore Dakota VanBibber at 103 pounds and senior Ryan Shank at 160. All but four of the Patriots received opening-round byes.

"We're in pretty good shape," said Harper. "If we wrestle well, we'll probably get a top-3, top-4 finish. That would be the best ever here for GW."

It's been a season of firsts so far for the Patriots. GW won the BNI Tournament at Shady Spring and the Indian Classic at Dobyns-Bennett (Tenn.), a prestigious event that drew teams from seven states. At the Sissonville Duals Dec. 30, the Patriots finished ahead of a pair of state-ranked squads, Riverside and Class AA Independence.

At the Pat Vance meet, Harper was anxious to see how his squad stacked up against the likes of seventh-ranked North Marion and Mountain State Athletic Conference rivals Cabell Midland and Riverside, which both sit just outside the top 10.

 "Are we good enough to compete [at the state level]?" pondered Harper. "We'll have to step up or get lost in the shuffle. Both [Shank and VanBibber] are on the right path. They'll place high at the state tournament."

For Harper, the road to putting the Patriots on the map began at John Adams Middle School, where he coached wrestling in the past and continues to coach football. Many of the wrestlers on the Patriots roster competed under Harper at John Adams. That continuity has been invaluable.

It's been a slow climb, but Richard Harper and his staff have finally brought competitive wrestling to The Hill.

Harper, in his fourth year at the helm at George Washington, has guided the Patriots to a top-10 state ranking - something unheard of for a program that has not finished higher than 22nd at the state meet in the past decade. GW currently sits ninth in the state coaches association poll.

Harper is hoping for another strong showing at this weekend's Pat Vance Invitational at Nitro. GW entered the event with two grapplers seeded No. 1 - sophomore Dakota VanBibber at 103 pounds and senior Ryan Shank at 160. All but four of the Patriots received opening-round byes.

"We're in pretty good shape," said Harper. "If we wrestle well, we'll probably get a top-3, top-4 finish. That would be the best ever here for GW."

It's been a season of firsts so far for the Patriots. GW won the BNI Tournament at Shady Spring and the Indian Classic at Dobyns-Bennett (Tenn.), a prestigious event that drew teams from seven states. At the Sissonville Duals Dec. 30, the Patriots finished ahead of a pair of state-ranked squads, Riverside and Class AA Independence.

At the Pat Vance meet, Harper was anxious to see how his squad stacked up against the likes of seventh-ranked North Marion and Mountain State Athletic Conference rivals Cabell Midland and Riverside, which both sit just outside the top 10.

 "Are we good enough to compete [at the state level]?" pondered Harper. "We'll have to step up or get lost in the shuffle. Both [Shank and VanBibber] are on the right path. They'll place high at the state tournament."

For Harper, the road to putting the Patriots on the map began at John Adams Middle School, where he coached wrestling in the past and continues to coach football. Many of the wrestlers on the Patriots roster competed under Harper at John Adams. That continuity has been invaluable.

"Any time you build a program, it takes time," he said. "We built up the middle school kids and finally they've worked their way up to high school. We only have five seniors and two juniors. The rest are freshmen and sophomores."

While VanBibber and Shank have been GW's most consistent grapplers - both entered this weekend's meet with unblemished records - they are not alone in the individual state rankings. They are joined by teammates Jeremy Westfall (12-2, fifth at 112), Zach Walker (12-4, seventh at 125), Jerrith Witt (12-3, sixth at 171) and Hampton Cokeley (9-1, eighth at 189).

"We have high expectations for ourselves," said Harper. "I hope this is the year we break through."

Competition continues at the Pat Vance Invitational today with championship quarterfinals beginning at 9:30 a.m. After a lunch break, the championship semifinals and consolation quarters are expected to hit the mat at 1:25 p.m. Championship finals are likely to begin around 7:30.

Following this weekend's festivities, the next big meet on most teams' radar is the annual WSAZ event in Huntington Jan. 23-24 at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. Regional meets are slated for the weekend of Feb. 21, with the state tournament back in Huntington Feb. 26-28.

Reach Jeff Rider at 304-348-5122 or jri...@wvgazette.com.