Big Reds’ Connor Gribble headed to West Liberty

Regardless of the pain involved, Connor Gribble felt breaking his foot following his junior year of soccer was a pivotal moment for the long haul of his athletic career. “I think breaking my foot was probably the best thing that could have happened it made me realize how much I needed soccer,” said Gribble, who signed his National Letter of Intent with Division II West Liberty University during Wednesday afternoon’s ceremony inside Parkersburg High School Memorial Fieldhouse gymnasium. As the starting center midfielder for PHS, Gribble closed out his high school career with 30 goals and 43 assists, including a team-high 15 assists during a senior year that resulted in first-team, all-state recognition.

 He figures to play the same position at West Liberty where he plans to major in sports physiology. “I went and visited other places – I made my first visit to West Liberty in the winter and it just felt right being with the coaches, the players and seeing the campus,” Gribble said. “I wanted to go somewhere where they push their players, and after the coach gave me their work schedule West Liberty was it.”Gribble remembers playing soccer in third grade and knowing at that young age playing at the college level was his dream. His father (Joe Gribble) coached his son and Another future Big Red in Brayden Tingler in travel soccer. 

“My dad never played soccer – he put me into it to get me some exercise and I just loved it so much,” Gribble said. “My dad actually studied the sport himself and that’s how he became such a great coach.” Connor Gribble made sure to thank all of his coaches, family and the throng of teammates from soccer, basketball, track and football who attended the signing ceremony. “I had always dreamed of getting a big dunk in front of our student section – on senior night against Ripley, with a packed house, I got a big two-handed dunk and the place went crazy,” Gribble said. 

“I also decided to run track this year. I had been doing the high jump for four days before our first meet in Huntington and got second place against some great jumpers. I’ve been working on clearing 6-5, and hope to stamp a ticket to states if I can.” Standing 6-foot-6 enables Gribble to have ideal vision of the soccer field in front of him. Derek Manner, who served as the Big Reds’ head coach this past season and has spent several years on staff as an assistant, knew this senior class was special from the moment they arrived as freshmen.

 “Connor is one of the most skilled and complete players I have seen,” Manner said. “He just came in every day and worked super hard. His game IQ has improved every year. His ability to see the entire field while controlling a ball at his feet really helped us pick apart defenses. “He could pretty much score from anywhere on the field. He scored eight goals from more than 20 yards out and three of those were about 40 yards. After soccer practice, he would head to football practice and kick field goals. I’m sure that helped.” Wednesday’s ceremony also included Brayden Tingler making his decision official to play for Muskingum University. “This senior class, Brayden and Connor were two of the leaders,” Manner said. “They are going to be extremely hard to replace.” Read More About Big Reds’ Connor Gribble headed to West Liberty

Jake Paul vs Woodley live stream

If there has been an Achilles' heel to Charlo's well-rounded and explosive skill set, it has long been his inability to throw enough punches as a dangerous counter puncher who is often too selective in his output. Charlo typically uses the threat of his power to disarm his opponents as he stalks closer and waits for the perfect opening to strike like coiled cobra stalking its prey. Yes, to Castaño's credit, he barely made any of those mistakes that typically produce a Charlo finish and an addition to his personal highlight reel. But Charlo's willingness Jake Paul vs Woodley live online  to abandon his jab so often while working with his back to the ropes only hurt his chances of winning throughout the fight.

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 It's a fighting style both Canelo Alvarez and Gervonta Davis have recently pulled off to huge success and P4P recognition.  Charlo has the skills to join that group but has yet to figure out how to maximize those strengths inside the ring the same way as his contemporaries. Even worse, he has failed to acquire the urgency needed to know whether a fight is potentially slipping away before it's too late.  Many experts felt a fight against Castaño for all four 154-pound world titles would serve as a career defining one for Charlo, offering him a chance to declare, once and for all, that he's the best junior middleweight fighter in the world. Instead, the fallout offers Jake Paul vs Woodley live streaming  him a different kind of defining question. Can Charlo use the scare against Castaño and the favorable decision to go back to the laboratory with trainer Derrick James and fix what's wrong before the end of his physical prime? Or will the fact that Charlo came close to becoming the undisputed champion After years of demands he step up his level of competition to match his elite-level skills, Terence "Bud" Crawford may finally have lined up an opponent who clears the bar set by so many fans and media members. The World Boxing Organization has ordered that Crawford defend his welterweight title against former champion Shawn Porter. The ball is now in the court of Top Rank, which promotes Crawford, and Premier Boxing Champions, which promotes Porter. 

Jake Paul vs Woodley live

Social media superstar Jake Paul will look to climb a bit closer to being viewed as a legitimate boxer this August. Paul is set to face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a Showtime pay-per-view headliner in Cleveland on Sunday, Aug. 29. Woodley and Paul will come face-to-face at a press conference at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon. Paul is coming off a knockout win over another former UFC fighter, stopping Ben Askren in less than one round in April. That win ran Paul's pro record to 3-0, all three wins coming by knockout. Paul also has stoppage wins over fellow YouTube star AnEsonGib and former NBA star Nate Robinson. A win over Woodley would be the most meaningful win of Paul's career as he's the most accomplished striker Paul will have ever stood across the ring from. Woodley's UFC career came to an end after a four-fight losing skid. Prior to that bad run, Woodley established himself as one Jake Paul vs Woodley live  of the UFC's greatest welterweights ever, with a nearly three-year championship reign. Woodley's MMA record is 19-7-1 with seven knockout wins. It was a rare undisputed championship bout with potential pound-for-pound ramifications. But for 154-pound titleholders Jermell Charlo and Brian Castaño, there would be no four-belt champion crowned when they met last Saturday in San Antonio.

Instead, this exciting, tense and highly skilled It was a result made much more controversial upon the reveal of Nelson Vasquez's 117-111 scorecard in favor of Charlo following a close fight in which many felt Castaño had done enough to win.  Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs), the 31-year-old native of Houston who retained his WBA, WBC and IBF titles, certainly deserves praise for a late rally that saw him sweep the final three rounds on each of the judges' Jake Paul vs Woodley live stream  scorecards. However, there was a feeling -- at least until the scorecards were read -- that it was too little, too late.  Much of the credit for Charlo being unable to commandeer the undisputed crown and parachute into the top 10 of the P4P rankings for sure belongs to Castaño (17-0-2, 12 KOs), the WBO champion from Argentina whose defense, toughness and fight IQ all exceeded expectations in what felt like a star-making performance. But Castaño doesn't deserve all of the praise for Charlo failing to cash in as the betting favorite.