The Christian County Colonels finished in third place at Saturday’s Region I Tournament and will send nine wrestlers to the state first round at Atherton High School in Louisville next Saturday.
The Colonels put three wrestlers into the championship match.
Ashton Smith fell to Union County’s Jake Ramsey in the 106-pound championship.
JaRi Campbell, the No 1 ranked wrestler in the state in the 113-pound class, lost a tight 3-2 decision to Union County’s Utah Heady.
Deameion Leavell was runner-up in the 150-pound class with a technical fall to Malachi Rider of Paducah Tilghman.
Three other Colonels finished in third place. Kevondre Young went 3-1 with a major decision over Calloway County’s Jacob Jones Hamilton in the third place match.
Kaleb Nenoff took a sudden-death win over McCracken County’s Logan Kissiar to take third place in the 132-pound class.
Omarion Wimberly won by fall over Apollo’s Tavious Walker to wrap up third place in the 190-pound class.
Also qualifying for the state first round following fourth place finishes at region were Holden Schneider in the 126-pound class, Tay Martinez in the 138-pound class, and Zach Eads at 157.
Haydon Merrick (144) and Andrew Barton (175) both finished in fifth place and will be alternates for the state first round.
As a team, Christian County finished in third place with 200 points. Union County won another region title with 323.5 points, and Paducah Tilghman was second with 256.5 points.
The KHSAA is using the state first round format for the third year. The top eight finishers in each weight class at the state first round will advance to a sixteen-person bracket for the state wrestling championships at George Rogers Clark High School on Feb. 24-25.
