The first round of the KHSAA State Wrestling Tournament will commence Saturday morning at Atherton High School and Ryle High School. The top four finishers in Regions 1-4 will wrestle at Atherton in Louisville starting at 9:30.
The top eight finishers in each class will advance to a seeded slot in the state championships next weekend at George Rogers Clark High School.
Here is a breakdown of some of the opening-round matches with class rankings by Kentuckywrestling.com in parenthesis.
106-pound class
Christian County’s Ashton Smith (#7) will face Jacob Cowan (#21) of Trinity in the first round.
Caldwell County’s Justin Klidzejs (#13) will open against the top wrestler in the class, Central Hardin’s Roman Valera.
113-pound class
Christian County’s JaRi Campbell fell in a close decision to Union County’s Utah Heady in the region title match last week. The loss dropped Campbell to third in the class and vaulted Heady in the top spot with Ryle’s Landon Evans sandwiched between.
Campbell will face St. Xavier’s Henry Bueter (#27) in the opening round. He was placed in the opposite bracket as Heady which could precipitate a rematch for the state title.
Caldwell County’s Andre Carter (#22) will open with Fairdale’s Blake Luttrell (#21) in his opening match.
Hopkinsville’s Juan Cannon (#26) will square off against Shayne Stilts of DeSales (#18) in his opener.
120-pound class
Logan Brown (#11) of Caldwell County will face off against Ohio County’s Mason Taylor (#29) in the opening match.
Kevondre Young (#19) will open against Meade County’s Payton Durbin (#16) in his first match of the day.
Region champion Jayden Rainey is the favorite to win the state title in this class.
126-pound class
Caldwell County senior Colin Teutsch (#7) will begin his day against Meade County’s Nolan Link.
Christian County Holden Schneider (#14) will open against LaRue County’s Brock Gross (#13).
Union County freshman Jordyn Raney, like his brother, is the favorite to win his class and advance to the state championships.
132-pound class
Caldwell County’s Cofy Walls (#6) lost a heartbreaker in the region championship match. He looks to gain a berth in the state championships with an opener against Male’s Korrey Mattingly (#14).
Christian County’s Kaleb Nenoff will open against Trinity’s Matthew Goatley (#13).
138-pound class
Tay Martinez of Christian County will open against Oldham County’s Miller Brown (#2).
John Montalvo (#27), one of four Fort Campbell wrestlers to advance to state first round, will meet Woodford County’s Isaac Johns (#3) in his opener.
144-pound class
Caldwell County’s Timothy Nichols (#8) will face off against LaRue County’s Westin Brown (#11) in his first match of the day.
150-pound class
Christian County freshman Deameion Leavell (#12), who was region runner-up a week ago, will open against Fern Creek’s Berechiah Hatchett in his first match.
Paducah Tilghman’s Malachi Rider is the top-ranked wrestler in the class.
157-pound class
Christian County’s Zach Eads will open against St. Xavier’s Justin Krebs, the seventh-ranked wrestler in the class.
165-pound class
Keshawn Dixon (#27) of Fort Campbell will open his day against John Hardin’s Maurice Green.
175-pound class
Fort Campbell’s T.J. Dixon will face LaRue County’s Conner Lambert (#3) in his opening match of the day.
190-pound class
Omarion Wimberly (#9) of Christian County will begin his day with a match against Greenwood’s Erik Gavitt.
215-pound class
Cole Sherrill of Caldwell County (#8) will face off against Oldham County’s Trey Cranfill (#4) in his opening match.
Region champion J.T. Adams (#3) of Paducah Tilghman will open against Moore’s Michael Williams (#24).
285-pound class
Andrew Hendricks (#13) is Trigg County’s lone representative at the state first round. He aggravated a knee injury at last week’s region tourney and finished in fourth place. he will open his day against LaRue County’s Jake Heady (#14).
