Trigg County and Fort Campbell will send wrestlers to the Fifth Annual Kentucky Wrestling Coaches Association State Tournament in Lexington on Saturday.
Trigg County freshman MaKenna Hendricks (5-12) moves up to the 152-pound class after she finished second in the 138-pound class to Simon Kenton sophomore Gabriella Ocasio. Hendricks defeated Ocasio to win last year’s 126-pound class at the state tournament.
Ocasio will be wrestling at 145 this year.
Hendricks is the No. 1 wrestler in her class and received a first-round bye. The top seed in the weight class is Harrison County senior Jenny Fortner (13-1) who is ranked No. 3 at 145.
Meanwhile, Fort Campbell is sending 10 wrestlers to the state tournament.
Favorites for a high finish include Savannah Ziegler (23-3) in the 120-pound class and Maddie Hebert (19-4) in the 100-pound class.
Hebert, a sophomore and second-ranked wrestler in her class, will open against Montgomery County 7th grader Bailey Duh.
Ziegler, a senior, is one of the top four seeds in her class and received a first-round bye. However, her class is one of the tougher ones in the state as evidenced by her No. 5 ranking.
Both wrestlers finished fourth in their respective weight classes at last year’s state tournament where Fort Campbell brought home a top-10 team finish.
Sophomore Lillianah DeWitt (17-10) will wrestle Harrison County 8th grader Lilly Nelson (5-3) in the 107-pound class opener. DeWitt is in the same bracket with top seed Catherin Head (14-1) of Bardstown.
Eighth-grader Kayla Maslonka (22-13) will face Henderson County’s Kennedy Sohne (0-2) in the 114-pound class opener.
Junior Thea Bober-McDonald (20-11) will square off against Boyle County eighth grader Skylar Ziesmer (2-2) in her opener of the 126-pound class
Freshman Cyri Reed (2-11) will face Union County senior Jessie Lutrell in her 132-pound class opener.
Eighth-grader Cassidy Harrington (18-12) wrestles in the 138-pound class and will face Henderson County seventh-grader Kaizley Dunn.
In the 145-pound class, Hailey Hendrickson (4-7) will open against Danville sophomore Ella Sadler.
Elizabeth Allen (10-8) will open against Raceland’s Taygen Marushi in the 152-pound class
Freshman Brooke Arbic (9-4) will take on Corbin senior Abriella Sizemore in her 165-pound class opener.
The state tournament will be hosted by Tates Creek High School. Wrestling coaches across the state are hoping the Kentucky High School Athletic Association takes action this month to sanction girls’ wrestling, which is one of the fastest-growing high school sports in the state.
Despite more participation in girls’ wrestling statewide, the KHSAA tried to sanction field hockey last year but a vote failed to pass. The KHSAA was expected to consider adding girls’ wrestling at its board of control meeting last month but pushed it to this month.
