Ryker Kramer produced Fort Campbell’s best state tournament finish in 11 years on Friday, placing fourth at the KHSAA State Wrestling Championship in Lexington.
The Falcon senior advanced to the semifinals with three straight wins to begin his journey in the 106-pound class. His second-round victory was over previously unbeaten Mason Brooks of Somerset.
He lost his semifinal match to Highlands’ Parker Wilkens (44-5) by a 12-5 decision as he was kept off balance for most of the match.
He rebounded to defeat Christian Prietto-Bottoms of Paducah Tilghman 1-0 to advance to the third-place match, where he faced off against Cody Blevins of Simon Kenton. Blevins got out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first round and won 11-2.
Kramer is the first Fort Campbell semifinalist since Gino Haywood in 2015.
Kramer, who picked up career win 150 with Thursday’s quarterfinal win, finished the season 43-10 and a two-year record of 91-17.
Eithan Cassell advanced to the third consolation round in the 138-pound class. He dropped his opening match but came back to win two straight.
His season ended with an 18-2 loss to Brock Fernandez of St. Xavier. Cassell finished the season at 44-15.
Fort Campbell had three other wrestlers go 0-2 in their respective divisions — Jayden Perry (42-15) at 132, Ethan Gillmore (27-23) at 120, and Jaeden Carolina (34-25) at 215.
As a team, Fort Campbell finished in 43rd place with 21 points.
