WHEELING — Oh what a difference 36 hours can make.

On Tuesday morning, the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights needed two wins to advance to the state tournament in Beckley. On Wednesday evening, in a steady, cold rain, the Maroon had punched their ticket.

After defeating Wood County Christian on Tuesday in a Class A-AA Region I semifinal, Wheeling Central returned to 16th Street Field in East Wheeling and prevailed over Williamstown 5-0 to clinch a regional championship and advance down state after a one-year absence.

“We played all year for this,” Wheeling Central head coach Brian Komorowski said. “The schedule was built to get to Beckley. I mean, we played a very hard schedule to play hard opponents, to get down there. We executed what we wanted to do.”

Luke Magruder scored twice in the

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