ATHENS - The competition was tough, but the Chesapeake Panthers met it head-on.

Despite a strong field of competitors, the Panthers had nine wrestlers place Saturday in the annual Athens John Deno Classic.

Nelsonville-York had 160 points to take first place. Point Pleasant was second with 142 points followed by River Valley with 103.

Chesapeake was ninth with 57 points in the 16-team field.

"It was tough," Chesapeake coach Phil Davis said. "We had a couple of close matches we could have won and got beat at the end, and the two guys who were second could have won."

The top two place finishers for the Panthers were Bryan Eldred at 189-pounds and Eric McWhorter in the 215 division. Both finished second.

Brad Eldred was sixth in the 171 division. Finishing seventh were Thomas Lewis at 112 and Joey Stallo at 140 while eighth place went to Tyler Cravens at 119 and Marcus Stallo in the 145 division.

Chesapeake will host Fairland and River Valley at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Ohio Valley Conference tri-match.

Athens John Deno Classic

Team Scores

1. Nelsonville-York, 2. Point Pleasant, W.Va. 142, 3. River Valley 103, 4. Logan 102, 5. Gallipolis 99, 6. Fairfield Union 96, 7. Jackson 92, 8. Vincent Warren 88, 9. Chesapeake 57, 10. Vinton County 55, 11. Trimble 46, 12. Athens 44, 13. Col. Bishop Hartley 34, 14. Col. Bishop Watterson 30, 15. Meigs 28, 16. Col. Harvest Prep 18