On November 14th, as Wheeling Park beat Woodrow Wilson in Round One of the AAAA football playoffs, Wheeling Park’s Brennan Wack cemented his place as the number one running back in West Virginia, earning statewide recognition for his record-breaking performance and leadership on the field. As the game progressed, Wack rushed for more than 250 yards, surpassing Wheeling Park’s all-time rushing record with 4,133 career yards, breaking the previous record of 4,010 by Boogey Johnson. Alongside breaking Johnson’s record, Wack also managed to break the school’s all-time rushing touchdowns, as he added 4 more during the Woodrow game. This put him at a whopping 55 career rushing touchdowns overall.
“He’s an extremely hard worker, and that’s nice, so when you see his growth from freshman to sophomore year and then from then on all the way to his senior year you can see he got bigger, faster and stronger, and I think that’s the most important thing, and I think that’s why he had so much success, he never rested and he continued to try and get better,”said Head Coach Daugherty.
However, his admiration didn’t just come from his local audience.
Wack was named in December 2024 as the recipient of the Curt Warner Award by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association as the best running back in West Virginia. Now in the 2025 season, Wack has been ranked the best running back in the state of West Virginia for the past two years. First, being in his Junior year, and now, a year later, being in his Senior year. This award solidified what students and coaches already witnessed all season: Wack was proving he was the best running back in the state while also placing among the top 163 nationally. His leadership and consistency made him a statistical standout as well as a social one.
“You would think getting all of this attention and praise that he would let it get to his head, but he doesn’t; he remains very humble and supports all of us no matter what, he’s a good person on and off the field, which is important cause football can get heated and stressful, which is why I think everyone loves him,” said Lineman, Kameron Dietrich.
While being supportive of your teammates is a great trait to have, respecting and communicating with your coaches is also a plus. Asking how to improve while encouraging your team not only improves the team but also boosts the sport overall.
His achievement didn’t come easily, with being injured, dealing with the practices, Wack continued to show he was ready for the number 1 spot.
“It’s definitely been one of my goals for awhile and it’s a record that’s been standing for like 30 years so it’s definitely a big deal to me, i’ve been doing football since 2nd grade and I’ve just been working hard ever since, doing what I have to do on the field, in the weight room, and during practice in general,” said Wack.
With everyone seeing his athletic abilities, shedding light on his positive demeanor boosts his image all around.
“With him being self motivated we didn’t really have to motivate him, he’s a very humble, quiet person, you know we had to teach him how to do interviews because those things started to come for him, he always deflects the success back onto his teammates and his team, but you know it’s just good to be able to mentor that side of things and just help him now that he’s getting recruited, I remember his sophomore year at Saint Clairsville, he caught a pass and ran a kid over and then drug 2 kids into the end zone for a touchdown, and that’s when I knew he was going to be good, he was going to be something special, and so that very next year as a junior he was just as exceptional, and that first chance to see really what he was capable of at Saint Clairsville really showed me,” said Coach Daugherty.
“My next big goal is just to get into a good college, pick a good degree and just continue playing football, I’m still trying to narrow my options for college but when I do, I’ll let everyone know,” said Wack.
From the classroom to the endzone, Wack’s dedication as well as ability to perseverance helped him through it all. Looking ahead, Wack remains focused, not just on football, but on building a future, with football and school alike.
