Caldwell County put five wrestlers on the awards podium Saturday at the KHSAA State Wrestling Tournament and brought home the school’s best finish at state since 1997. The five medalists are the most at a single state tournament in program history.
Riley Johnson had Caldwell County’s best finish with a fourth-place showing in the 132-pound class. After two easy wins Friday to advance to the semifinals, the sledding was tougher Saturday where he dropped two of his three matches.
Johnson fell in the semifinals to Ryle’s Cole Thomas, who entered the tournament with a 51-1 record and is the defending state champion at 126. Johnson advanced to the third-place match with a 10-1 major decision over John Hardin’s Charlie Tucker, but fell to Paducah Tilghman’s Jayden Frazier 11-5 in the third place match.
Johnson finishes his senior season with a 54-6 record. Saturday was his third podium trip at state and was his best finish.
Collin Teutsch and Colin Walls both finished in sixth place for the Tigers. Teutsch was 2-1 Friday in the 120-pound class after a loss to Union County’s Hunter Jenkins. He won his first match Saturday against Madison Central’s Carson Herbst 8-0. He then defeated Fairdale’s Hunter Lutrell 2-0 to move into the fifth-place match. He lost to Ryle’s Rider Trumble in the fifth-place match.
Teutsch, who placed sixth in the 106-pound class at state last year, finishes the season with a 44-13 record.
Meanwhile, Walls was sent to the 175-pound consolation bracket by Trinity’s Lane Kiser, who finished third at 170 last year. Walls bounced back to beat Tates Creek’s Logan Julian with a pin in his first match Saturday. Next, he needed only 49 seconds to pin John Bronson of Frederick Douglass.
Walls fell in the consolation semifinal against Union County’s Paxton Ervin 3-1 and dropped the fifth-place match to St. Xavier’s Brady Allen 11-4. Walls was 50-13 on the mat this season after an eighth-place finish at 152 as a junior.
At 106, Logan Brown trailed 3-1 in the final seconds of his first Saturday match before forcing a tie and sending it to the tie-breaker round. Brown outscored Meade County’s Kentrell Mayfield 5-0 to get the 8-3 win and advance.
Brown was sent to the seventh-place match after a 3-0 loss to Johnson Central’s Ryan Smith. He finished eighth after losing by pin to LaRue County’s Brock Gross. Brown finished 40-11.
At 285, Cole Sherrill opened his Saturday matches with an 8-4 decision over Boyd County’s Skyeler Tallent. Next, he lost to Holmes’ Dashain Stevenson by pin to fall into the seventh-place match. Gabriel Keys claimed seventh place with a 10-3 win over Sherrill, who wraps up his sophomore season with a record of 44-17.
At 138, Timothy Nichols saw his tourney end in Saturday’s first-round to Johnson Central’s Jake Cain 10-1. Nichols’ two losses at the state tournament came to wrestlers who entered with a combined record of 87-9. Nichols’ record was 34-16.
Caldwell County finished in 12th place with 47 points. It’s the first time Caldwell County has finished inside the top 20 at state in consecutive years since 1990-97.
