Riley Earns Gamer of the Week Honors
Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc. and The Putnam Herald are pleased to present this week’s male Gamer of the Week to Daylan Riley of Buffalo High School Wrestling.
Daylan Riley of Buffalo High School Wrestling has put together an impressive senior campaign. Riley is currently 37-9 this season and earned his 100th career victory at the Single A Challenge in early February where he won the 285lb weight class. “My season has been going well, I have placed first or second in most of the tournaments I have competed in this year, and I got my 100th win,” said Riley. He won the St Mary’s Blue Devil Alumni Championship earlier this season, and had a strong showing at the WSAZ Invitational which combined all classes.
Riley is currently ranked 8th in the state in the 285lb weight class according to the West Virginia Coaches Association Poll. He attributes a lot of his success this season to his coaches and teammates who have pushed him, as well as a lot of the preparation during the offseason in which he continued to train and compete in open tournaments. “I like putting in the work at practice and then seeing it pay off on the mat. I think everyone should try wrestling, it’s a different environment than most sports and builds character,” said Riley.
Daylan started wrestling around 5 years old when his youth league coach got him interested in the sport. “I have had Daylan since he began wrestling in youth league. He has always been a hard worker as well as the talker of the group. Daylan has set a good example for the younger wrestlers to always push and battle to the whistle blows,” said Coach Marcum. In addition to wrestling, Riley is the Senior Class President at Buffalo.
Looking ahead, Riley is looking to improve on his previous state meet performances. He was defeated in the last round before the placement rounds, so he is eyeing a top-5 performance at this year’s state meet. Riley will take the first step towards his state meet goal this weekend during the Regional Tournament at the Jackson County Armory.
Please look for other local high school athletes to be named in next week’s male Gamer of the Week Sponsored by Teays Physical Therapy Center, Inc., and The Putnam Herald.