Students Bring New Tradition to Winter Rivalry Week

Emma Casto, Editor in Chief • January 7, 2026

Junior Austin Craven puts tape over the S’s on the scoreboard in the visitor student section in the Fieldhouse Jan. 5.

As Winter Rivalry Week against Parkersburg South begins, students might notice little pieces of tape blocking all of the S’s throughout the school. This is part of a new tradition that sophomore Nick Romine has started with the help of history and sports teacher Sam Vincent’s classes. Romine got this idea after hearing about a similar tradition at Ohio State University during their rivalry week against the University of Michigan. Their tradition is that during the week of the game, the Ohio State students go around the campus and mark out all of the M’s.

“I like history and tradition, stuff like that,” Romine said. “So I just wanted to start something new for just the fun of it.”

Romine has a personal connection to Rivalry Week because he plays on the JV and varsity basketball teams. He took on this project of starting a new tradition because he wanted to get students excited about Rivalry Week and encourage them to come to the games that start tonight. Here are the dates of all upcoming Rivalry Week match ups:

Girls Wrestling – Wednesday, Jan. 7 at home starting at 6:30 p.m.

Boys Wrestling – Wednesday, Jan. 7 at home starting at 7 p.m.

Swim – Thursday, Jan. 8 at the Parkersburg Boys and Girls Club.

JV Girls Basketball – Friday, Jan. 9 at Parkersburg South starting at 5:30 p.m.

Varsity Girls Basketball – Friday, Jan. 9 at Parkersburg South starting at 7 p.m.

JV Boys Basketball – Saturday, Jan. 10 at home starting at 5:30 p.m.

Varsity Boys Basketball – Saturday, Jan. 10 at home starting at 7 p.m.

“I would say the tradition (Winter Rivalry Week) kind of reminds me of the rivalry with Ohio State and Michigan,” Romine said. “They don’t like each other at all and we don’t like South, so… Just finding something fun to do, something to get people excited, get them to come to games.”

About the Contributors

Emma Casto, Editor in Chief

Senior Emma Casto is a third-year staff member and the editor-in-chief of The Journal. She is also involved in NHS, NEHS and Senior Women’s Club. When she’s not at school she is probably reading a book, hanging out with her family or doing community service with her 4-H club. She is a lifelong Taylor Swift fan and is always listening to her music and counting down the days till her new album. She is very excited for this year and cannot wait to write fun and informative stories and to get to know all of the new staff members.

Brooklyn Miller, Managing Editor

Brooklyn Miller is a senior and the managing editor for The Journal along with being the editor-in-chief for the Parhischan and helping with the PHS Media instagram page. She enjoys taking pictures of school events, writing and most importantly, editing. Outside of her time spent in journalism Brooklyn also is a Red Wing and participates in Student Council, Senior Women’s Club, NHS, DSU and is a member of Quill and Scroll. The very little amount of free time she gets goes to hanging out with her friends and her mom. Brooklyn recently attended the National High School Journalism Convention in Nashville a long with visiting Orlando over the summer to attend Yearbookpalooza and the 2024 National High School Journalism Convention. She is excited to see where journalism will take her in her life, as she plans to attend college and major in journalism with a specialty in advertising.