photo by: Kim North

Wheeling Park’s Jameson Maynard, pictured, was selected as the 2025 Doug Huff Award Winner for “leadership, heart and hustle, and going the extra mile.”

WHEELING – The Doug Huff Award is presented by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association to a worthy candidate for their “leadership, heart and hustle, and going the extra mile.”

All three of those qualities speak highly of the 2025 honoree – Wheeling Park High School senior Jameson Maynard. The two-sport all-West Virginia standout – in both football (first team Class AAA) and wrestling (Class AAA state champion at 190 lbs.) – exemplifies those traits, both on and off the field or mat.

“It feels great. I think all three things describe me pretty well,” Maynard said of winning the award. “I pride myself on being a leader. I have a lot of heart, whether it be a team that we are playing or a guy I am wrestling against, I know I have more heart and will put everything on the line to win. As far as hustle, I am always doing to the best of my ability to compete. I always want to out-will and out-work the guy in front of me.”

Wheeling Park head football coach and athletic director Chris Daugherty felt privileged to coach an athlete like Maynard.

“It was like having an extra coach on the field all the time. He’s a very smart player, but it goes beyond that,” Daugherty said of the 6-2, 220-pound fullback/linebacker. “He just has a way about himself … the way he carries himself. It was leadership by example. He got other players corrected.

“With Jameson, you just knew you were going to get his best effort every single day, be it in practice or a game,” Daugherty continued. “He never took a day off and that says something about him during his four years. He never missed a game or a practice. That’s why he is going to the Naval Academy. That’s the life he has lived.

“I think it’s fitting that he wins this award. I couldn’t think of a better kid or anyone that I’ve ever coached that is more deserving of this award.”

Due to a couple of key transfers from the program over the summer, Wheeling Park started the 2024 football season with some uncertainties.

“It was tough at first because we were in a little bit of a hole to start the season,” Maynard explained about preseason football practice, “but all season our motto was ‘we’re still here and we’re still a team that can contend’ and I feel that we proved that. Through the senior leadership that we had and some other guys stepping up, I was proud of the effort we put in.”

During the winter, Maynard’s wrestling career got a late start due to some nagging injuries he sustained during a grueling football campaign, but he won his first 25 matches before falling in the West Virginia Class AAA Region I finals, 4-1, to Bridgeport sophomore Eli Knight. However, he earned a huge measure of revenge with a 10-8 triumph over Knight in the state championship match in Huntington.

“That was a dream come true,” he said with a huge smile across his face. “I’ve been dreaming about that since I was 5 years old. To finally accomplish that was an incredible feeling.”

A two-time OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament champion as a sophomore and senior and four-time placewinner, Maynard had placed second at the state tournament as a junior at 175 and fifth as a sophomore at 165. He was 118-12 his final three seasons.

“He was a great opponent, a great competitor,” he said of Knight. “I was very motivated coming into that match. We had wrestled a couple of times previously, but because of the loss he handed me in the regionals I worked extra hard the next couple of weeks heading into the state tournament to avenge that loss. I was very happy I was able to do it.”

Maynard will attend the United States Naval Academy. He will be leaving in June for “Plebe Camp.”

“I am going to wrestle,” he said about his future. “I’m very excited about my opportunity.”

When asked about the decision to play football or wrestle at the collegiate level, Maynard explained, “I’ve always kind of leaned towards wrestling. I love football and had some good offers there, but I’m very happy with my decision.”

He said he has made so many memories during his four years at Wheeling Park that he couldn’t name all of them.

“Probably the relationships I’ve made here,” he said. “I’ve had some really influential coaches in Coach Daugherty in football and Coach (Brian) Leggett and Coach (Danny) Doyle in wrestling. They really pushed me to succeed and they really helped me be able to do that. Also, the friendships I’ve made with classmates and teachers.”

The son of Jim Maynard and Abbie Talbert of Wheeling, he said his parents have been huge in his accomplishments with their support.

“They never missed a football game. Never missed a wrestling match. Never missed any kind of ceremony that was here,” he stressed. “I can’t thank them enough for pushing me to, and past, my limits.”

He will be honored at the 78th annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 4 at the Bridgeport Conference Center.