Deameion Leavell reached the state wrestling podium for the first time with a seventh-place finish Saturday at the KHSAA State Wrestling Tournament in Winchester.
Leavell was one of three Colonel wrestlers to advance past the semi-state round but the only one to finish in the top eight.
The Colonel freshman entered the weekend as the No. 8 wrestler in the 150-pound class by KentuckyWrestling.com. He began Friday with a 12-0 major decision over No. 14 Kayne Garrett of Scott County.
In the second round, Leavell dropped a 6-5 decision to No. 3 Rilen Pinkston of Highlands. He came back to advance to the medal round with a pin of No. 10 Caeleb Jarvis of Fairdale in the second round of his match.
A 4-3 loss to No. 6 Max Speaker of St. Xavier sent Leavell to the seventh-place match where he controlled the contest for the final four minutes and earned a 10-3 victory over No. 7 Matthew Ball of LaRue County for a podium finish.
Leavell finishes his season with a 30-13 record.
Two other Colonel wrestlers lost heartbreakers that ended their senior seasons just shy of the medal rounds.
JaRi Campbell came into the tournament as the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the 113-pound class after a semi-state win last week in Louisville. Campbell opened Friday with a 20-5 win over No. 14 Carson Webster of Grant County.
However, Campbell saw his hopes for a state title end in the second round when No. 7 Ryan Smith of Johnson Central scored a 5-4 victory.
His day ended Saturday with a 6-4 loss to No. 9 Aiden Marquis of Conner. Campbell produced a 32-7 record this season.
For the second straight year, Omarion Wimberly fell one round short of advancing to the medal round. He began the weekend ranked No. 7 in the 190-pound class and opened with a pin of No. 19 Jaden Hackney of Henry Clay on Friday.
He was dropped to the consolation round with a loss to third-ranked Zack McCoart of Johnson Central.
His third match went to overtime but he lost a 3-1 sudden death decision to fifth-ranked Marcus James of Taylor County.
Wimberly finished the season with a 25-11 record.
