Brenton Pannell signs with WV Wesleyan...

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

The kid is an outstanding football player, but an even better student. I wish him the best of luck in the future.

 

 

Pannell signs with W.Va. Wesleyan

Posted: Friday, Jun 04, 2004 - 11:05:51 pm EDT

By TOM BONE

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

 

Brenton Pannell (seated, center) participates in a signing ceremony on Friday at Bluefield High School. He is flanked by his parents, Fannie and Cliff Pannell. Stand-ing, from left, are BHS Principal Joseph Turner; Head Foot-ball Coach Fred Simon; and Athletic Director Mark Godfrey. (Staff photo by Eric DiNovo)

 

BLUEFIELD - Brenton Pannell has decided to pick up the ball and run with it - all the way to Buckhannon.

 

After toiling for the last couple of years as a lineman for Bluefield High School's Class AA football runners-up, Pannell announced on Friday afternoon that he will enroll at West Virginia Wesleyan College this fall, to embark on a medical career and to play fullback on the Bobcats football team.

 

The press conference at BHS was a brief stopover for the Pannell family prior to Friday evening's graduation. As usual, Pannell had done his homework.

 

"It's a good school," Pannell said of Wesleyan, "and they offered me a financial package which was affordable for my family and me. They have a really good biology program, and they graduate 94 percent of their (pre-professional) students to graduate school."

 

The Bobcats have also won the last two straight West Virginia Conference football titles.

 

Cliff Pannell said that his son "was accepted at nine very good schools. He does want to pursue a career in medicine. We laid all (of the options) out and let him make a decision."

 

"... Where he'd be happy," said Brenton Pannell's mother Fannie.

 

Cliff Pannell said, "Wesleyan is a very prestigious school ... and he gets to play a sport he loves. It seems as though he's got the best of both worlds."

 

The family was grateful for local support as well. Fannie Pannell said, "The scholarships he was offered were really overwhelming. ... We're just so thankful and happy."

 

Among Brenton's honors were Outstanding Youth of the Year, presented by the Mountain State Bar Association, and scholarships awarded by the Ethel N. Bowen Foundation and by the Lions Club of Bluefield.

 

He is also recipient of the Jay Sims Memorial Scholarship. Fannie Pannell said, "That award meant so much to us. Our daughter went to school with Jay."

 

The new Bobcat reports to preseason camp on Aug. 4. In the meantime, he said that Wesleyan Coach Bill Struble has sent a thick workout schedule. Brenton Pannell said, "It's a book. ... It's pretty tough. It's a lot of running and conditioning."

 

Pannell addressed his time playing for the Bluefield Beavers. "It's given me a strong work ethic, because we do work a lot at Bluefield High School. It's a lot of strength conditioning and also there's a lot of running involved in our practice schedule. ...

 

"If I do what I've been doing for the last four years, and continue to do what they have for me to do on their schedule, I think I should be fine."

 

He said he was excited about playing fullback. "I played it a couple of years. I think I'll be all right going back to it. They pretty much saw where I would fit pretty good at that position, also."

 

Football Coach Fred Simon said, "He's worked very hard - academically and physically. He's been a very good team player. Sometimes, in high school ball, you've got to put people in (different) positions, even though they like one position better than another, for the good of the team. Brenton did that."

 

Simon said that because Wesleyan is "up north," he was not as familiar with it as closer schools. He added, "He's going to the team that's on top in the conference, and there's nothing wrong with that."

 

http://www.bdtonline.com/articles/2004/06/05/sports/03fripannell.txt

[GMan 3,569]

Congrats to Brenton! He is a heck of a player and was a very important part of Bluefield's run last season. Good luck to him at WVW!

[footballfreak 10]

congrats to Brenton he is an outstanding player. best of luck. he was by far the best defensive tackle in A, AA, and AAA in the state of west virginia. i think he will fit in well at FB. does neone kno what his 40 time was and GPA?