Inns in Wheeling send fans reeling

DAILY MAIL STAFF

With a chance to see players J.R. House, Chris Yura and QuincyWilson in Wheeling this weekend, fans of West Virginia high schoolfootball hit the Super Six jackpot.

Sort of.While the top three candidates for the Kennedy Award - the Heismantrophy of West Virginia - have their sights set on statechampionships and the prestigious player of the year award, faithfulfootball fans flocking to Wheeling have their sights set on findingahotel room within an hour of the football field.A Best Western reservations agent said Monday that the closestroom available is in Weirton, about a 30-minute drive from Wheeling.The Hampton Inns in Wheeling and in St. Clairsville, Ohio, arebooked.In fact, local fans of the DuPont Panthers and the Nitro Wildcatsprobably will hear laughter at the other end of the phone line ifthey try getting a room near Wheeling now.Although teams in this weekend's championship games weren't pickeduntil last weekend, hotels in Wheeling and nearby St. Clairsvillehave been full for weeks.The Wheeling Festival of Lights and a Ricky Van Shelton concertSaturday night are giving hotel-seeking fans of the Super Sixchampionship tough competition.Thirty rooms at the 106-room Days Inn Wheeling East opened upFriday, said manager David Stiles, because hopeful fans madereservations before their teams made it to the championship."But by Saturday, the rooms were gone, gone, gone," Stiles said."People are taking blocks of 10 at a time."But if you don't have a room yet, keep trying, Stiles said."Some people (whose teams lost) just haven't gotten over the shellshock and canceled yet," he said.As of Monday, Laura Stewart of the Wheeling Convention andVisitors Bureau said she hadn't received any calls from desperatehotel seekers, "but that's not to say they won't start within a fewminutes."And Sam Mumley, co-director of the Super Six, hasn't heard anycomplaints either."But today's Monday," he said. "Come Thursday, we could have aproblem."Stiles, the Days Inn manager, expects this year's crowd to breakattendance records.The trio of Kennedy hopefuls and the final game for DuPont, whichis scheduled to merge with East Bank next year to form RiversideHigh, will undoubtedly draw people to Wheeling."If the pride of West Virginia is ever going to be the very best,this is the year," Mumley said. "This year we hit the jackpot."Writer Kristen Young can be reached at 348-4810.