Christian County will send a half-dozen wrestlers to the KHSAA State Tournament next weekend following its third-place finish at Saturday’s Region 1 Tournament at Henderson County.
The Colonels scored 158 points to finish 55 points ahead of fourth-place Fort Campbell. Union County won its 23rd straight region title with 335 points, and Paducah Tilghman was second with 252 points.
Treshawn Crenshaw (26-8) had Christian County’s lone championship match appearance in the 285-pound class. He won a pair of matches by decision before falling to Union County’s Austin Cummings in the title match. He will be making a second straight trip to the state tourney.
DeAsian Harris (28-13) had one of the most dramatic finishes of the day, getting a reversal in the final seconds to defeat Henderson County’s Brock Crook with an 8-7 decision for third place at 190. It’s his second straight third-place finish at the region.
Deacon Harrison (25-6) will also make a return trip to state after claiming third place at 157. He took a 10-7 decision over Owensboro’s Kameryis Rodriguez Cline, who entered the day unbeaten for the season. Harrison lost to regional champion Thomas Brauer of Owensboro Catholic in the semifinals but responded with a pair of wins.
Dane Miller (30-5) was looking to repeat as region champion at 144 but dropped his semifinal to Paducah Tilghman’s Jaylin Bellamy by a 10-3 decision. Miller bounced back to claim third place and will make a second straight state tourney appearance.
Christian County had a pair of wrestlers finish fourth to claim a spot at state.
Brodie Smith (9-14) put together a strong day at 175, helped by a quarterfinal win over Apollo’s Micah Faulls, to finish in fourth.
Paul Abren (18-9) also claimed fourth place on the strength of a 3-2 day.
Anthony Velasco (29-6) finished fifth at 113 and will be an alternate for state.
Also taking fifth was Braylan Patla (20-12) at 132, while Cayden Hayden (3-13) was sixth at 215. Two other sixth-place finishes came from Malachi James (23-11) at 106 and Nathan Harrison (12-14) at 126.
Also wrestling for the Colonels at region were Hunter Jorgensen at 120, Marquis Hart at 138, and Josh Cohoon at 165.
The six Colonel wrestlers will take the mat on Thursday at the KHSAA State Tournament at Alltech Arena in Lexington.
