state championship
LEXINGTON | Bolstered by a pair of individual state champions, Johnson Central posted its best-ever finish by placing second at the KHSAA State Wrestling Championships Friday and Saturday at the Alltech Arena.
Five Golden Eagles finished on the podium as the team scored 146.5 points. Union County won the meet with 227 points. St. Xavier was third (135.5), followed by Madison Central (117.5) and Scott (108.5). Ashland and Boyd County also sent representatives to the tournament. The Tomcats finished 35th with 28 points, while the Lions tied for 79th with two points.
“We had a nice tournament. We’ve had a fantastic year. We won the state team dual meet championship this year. And then we came in (this weekend) and had a shot to win it, but Union County wrestled terrific,” Johnson Central coach Jim Matney said. “We caught a few bad breaks. We had two No. 2 (state-ranked wrestlers in their weight classes) that drew the No. 1’s in their side of the bracket and got bumped out, but overall it was a great, great year.
“We only had four seniors. I think we started six freshmen this year and an eighth-grader, but I couldn’t more out of a team,” he added.
On Saturday, seniors Byron Pierce at 285 pounds and Matthew Horn at 195 pounds each capped off their high-school careers with an individual state title. Each finished the weekend 5-0.
The top-ranked Pierce became the first repeat state champion in the heavyweight class in 20 years as he captured a 5-0 decision over Moore’s Cody Melton in the semifinals and then defeated No. 2-ranked Jalin Benson of Franklin County by fall at 5:16 in the championship match.
“In the semis match, the kid ran a lot and there were a lot of stalling penalties,” Pierce said. “And then the finals match, I knew if I could just keep him from getting underhooks, locking up in a bear hug, I’d be fine. I was confident that if I was on top or bottom, I was a better wrestler than him and if he’d try and out-wrestle me I’d beat him.”
He opened the tournament by winning his first three matches taking a total of just seven minutes and 31 seconds to pin his opponents.
Horn finished in fourth place last year at 195 pounds and in fifth in 2018 at 182 pounds.
“(Last) night I really wrestled my semifinal match. He was the third-ranked kid in the state. He was a really tough opponent. Winning that match, I pretty much knew, hopefully, I’d make it to the finals,” the No. 2-ranked Horn said.
Horn followed up that win with a fall at 2:24 in the semifinals against Ben Bush of Central and then literally hung on to earn an upset win over top-ranked Ben Dearest in the finals.
He needed all three 2-minute rounds, plus what amounted to three extra periods totaling two minutes to win the championship match 3-2 in the ultimate tie breaker.
In the ultimate tie breaker, Horn held onto DePrest’s leg for 21 seconds as the St. Xavier wrestler drug him around the mat trying desperately to shake him free.
Holding on meant a state title.
“He was probably the best kid I’ve wrestled all year,” Horn said. “It was really the hardest-fought match I’ve ever wrestled in my entire life.
“I was just in a whole other world right there. I was just holding on for dear life. The only reason I knew it was over was my coaches were yelling,” he continued. “I ecstatic after that point.”
Horn’s twin brother, Alex, finished third last year in the 220-pound division, but was unable to make it out of the fourth consolation round on Saturday.
“My brother is my biggest supporter,” Matthew Horn said. “He was the first one I met off the mat. He hugged me and we all shared that great moment together, my first state title.”
On Friday, Matthew Horn needed just 57 seconds to pin his first two opponents and then defeated Walton-Verona's Braden Mulcahy by a 5-3 decision to advance to Saturday's semifinals.
Horn’s victory over DePrest also secured Johnson Central’s second-place finish dropping St. Xavier to third.
“They are just tough, tenacious (and) very coachable,” Matney said of Pierce and Horn. “They just wanted it. They’ve worked very hard since they were in grade school … . They just wrestled tenaciously the entire tournament and just refused to lose.”
Johnson Central’s Nick Giompalo (106 pounds), Dalton Lawson (113 pounds), Jacob Cain (120 pounds), Jayden Webb (126 pounds), Reece Goss (138 pounds), Levid Rodriguez (182 pounds) and Alex Horn (220 pounds) all advanced to Saturday’s competition.
In the medal rounds, Lawson captured third after winning a decision over Christian County’s Gage Fowler 6-3. Jackson, a senior who missed the entire year 2018-19 with an injury, placed fifth with his 2-1 win by decision over Meade County’s Elijah McCune. Rodriguez took seventh place after needing just 37 seconds to pin Atherton’s Andrew Marchal.
Ashland’s John Stone, who did not qualify for last year’s state competition, claimed fifth after pinning Moore’s Melton in 4:48.
Scott High finished second in the Small School Division.
Five Golden Eagles finished on the podium as the team scored 146.5 points. Union County won the meet with 227 points. St. Xavier was third (135.5), followed by Madison Central (117.5) and Scott (108.5). Ashland and Boyd County also sent representatives to the tournament. The Tomcats finished 35th with 28 points, while the Lions tied for 79th with two points.
“We had a nice tournament. We’ve had a fantastic year. We won the state team dual meet championship this year. And then we came in (this weekend) and had a shot to win it, but Union County wrestled terrific,” Johnson Central coach Jim Matney said. “We caught a few bad breaks. We had two No. 2 (state-ranked wrestlers in their weight classes) that drew the No. 1’s in their side of the bracket and got bumped out, but overall it was a great, great year.
“We only had four seniors. I think we started six freshmen this year and an eighth-grader, but I couldn’t more out of a team,” he added.
On Saturday, seniors Byron Pierce at 285 pounds and Matthew Horn at 195 pounds each capped off their high-school careers with an individual state title. Each finished the weekend 5-0.
The top-ranked Pierce became the first repeat state champion in the heavyweight class in 20 years as he captured a 5-0 decision over Moore’s Cody Melton in the semifinals and then defeated No. 2-ranked Jalin Benson of Franklin County by fall at 5:16 in the championship match.
“In the semis match, the kid ran a lot and there were a lot of stalling penalties,” Pierce said. “And then the finals match, I knew if I could just keep him from getting underhooks, locking up in a bear hug, I’d be fine. I was confident that if I was on top or bottom, I was a better wrestler than him and if he’d try and out-wrestle me I’d beat him.”
He opened the tournament by winning his first three matches taking a total of just seven minutes and 31 seconds to pin his opponents.
Horn finished in fourth place last year at 195 pounds and in fifth in 2018 at 182 pounds.
“(Last) night I really wrestled my semifinal match. He was the third-ranked kid in the state. He was a really tough opponent. Winning that match, I pretty much knew, hopefully, I’d make it to the finals,” the No. 2-ranked Horn said.
Horn followed up that win with a fall at 2:24 in the semifinals against Ben Bush of Central and then literally hung on to earn an upset win over top-ranked Ben Dearest in the finals.
He needed all three 2-minute rounds, plus what amounted to three extra periods totaling two minutes to win the championship match 3-2 in the ultimate tie breaker.
In the ultimate tie breaker, Horn held onto DePrest’s leg for 21 seconds as the St. Xavier wrestler drug him around the mat trying desperately to shake him free.
Holding on meant a state title.
“He was probably the best kid I’ve wrestled all year,” Horn said. “It was really the hardest-fought match I’ve ever wrestled in my entire life.
“I was just in a whole other world right there. I was just holding on for dear life. The only reason I knew it was over was my coaches were yelling,” he continued. “I ecstatic after that point.”
Horn’s twin brother, Alex, finished third last year in the 220-pound division, but was unable to make it out of the fourth consolation round on Saturday.
“My brother is my biggest supporter,” Matthew Horn said. “He was the first one I met off the mat. He hugged me and we all shared that great moment together, my first state title.”
On Friday, Matthew Horn needed just 57 seconds to pin his first two opponents and then defeated Walton-Verona's Braden Mulcahy by a 5-3 decision to advance to Saturday's semifinals.
Horn’s victory over DePrest also secured Johnson Central’s second-place finish dropping St. Xavier to third.
“They are just tough, tenacious (and) very coachable,” Matney said of Pierce and Horn. “They just wanted it. They’ve worked very hard since they were in grade school … . They just wrestled tenaciously the entire tournament and just refused to lose.”
Johnson Central’s Nick Giompalo (106 pounds), Dalton Lawson (113 pounds), Jacob Cain (120 pounds), Jayden Webb (126 pounds), Reece Goss (138 pounds), Levid Rodriguez (182 pounds) and Alex Horn (220 pounds) all advanced to Saturday’s competition.
In the medal rounds, Lawson captured third after winning a decision over Christian County’s Gage Fowler 6-3. Jackson, a senior who missed the entire year 2018-19 with an injury, placed fifth with his 2-1 win by decision over Meade County’s Elijah McCune. Rodriguez took seventh place after needing just 37 seconds to pin Atherton’s Andrew Marchal.
Ashland’s John Stone, who did not qualify for last year’s state competition, claimed fifth after pinning Moore’s Melton in 4:48.
Scott High finished second in the Small School Division.
PRE-TOURNAMENT NOTES:
individual resultsDay 2
Pl. Name Team Scores 106 Cons. Round 3 – Nolan Banfield (Montgomery County) 9-2 won by fall over Gabe Fortier (LaRue County) 43-9 (Fall 0:46) 113 Cons. Round 3 – Connor Helgeson (St. Xavier) 21-13 won by decision over Andrew Vogeler (Sheldon Clark) 32-11 (Dec 4-1)120 126 Cons. Round 3 – Jayden Webb (Johnson Central) 37-13 won by major decision over Jalen Polin (DeSales) 35-17 (MD 13-1) 126 Cons. Round 3 – Victor Zamora (Whitley County) 25-5 won by major decision over Jarett Sanders (Ashland Blazer) 39-4 (MD 12-2) 132 Cons. Round 3 – Layne Seibert (Scott) 30-9 won by decision over Ethan Futrell (Trigg County) 13-5 (Dec 6-3) 138 Cons. Round 3 – Justin Chavez (Lafayette) 37-9 won by decision over Reece Goss (Johnson Central) 44-12 (Dec 12-7) 145 Cons. Round 3 – Brent Hudgins (Harrison County) 35-10 won by decision over Diontae Rone (Holmes) 42-7 (Dec 4-2) 152 Cons. Round 3 – James Kraeszig (St. Xavier) 23-10 won by fall over Kyle Mardis (Newport) 5-3 (Fall 2:18) 160 Cons. Round 3 – Cameron Coleman (Christian County) 33-8 won by major decision over Will Baber (Bourbon County) 38-7 (MD 14-6) 170 Cons. Round 3 – Jared Kelsay (Scott) 36-8 won by major decision over Collin McGlone (Boyle County) 36-12 (MD 14-6) 182 Cons. Round 3 – Mason Hall (South Oldham) 43-8 won by decision over Brandon Richmond (Campbell County) 30-14 (Dec 9-4) 195 Cons. Round 3 – Dakota Brooksbank (Simon Kenton) 37-22 won by decision over Michael Leicht (Campbell County) 37-17 (Dec 3-1) 195 Cons. Round 3 – Marcos Cardenas (Moore) 34-17 won by fall over Jacob Thompson (Scott) 34-16 (Fall 4:05) 220 Cons. Round 3 – Casey Rauch (Campbell County) 45-11 won by fall over Tyler Edwards (Southern) 34-8 (Fall 3:49) 285 Cons. Round 3 – John Stone (Ashland Blazer) 43-5 won by decision over Briar Roberts (Trinity (Whitesville)) 36-7 (Dec 10-4) 106 Cons. Round 4 – Trayce Eckman (Union County) 46-6 won by decision over Nick Giompalo (Johnson Central) 33-7 (Dec 9-2) 106 Cons. Round 4 – Nolan Banfield (Montgomery County) 10-2 won by decision over David Griffith (Meade County) 39-7 (Dec 7-3) 113 Cons. Round 4 – Dalton Lawson (Johnson Central) 27-4 won by decision over Ashur Jones (McCracken County) 5-3 (Dec 7-1) 120 Cons. Round 4 – Devon Herron (North Hardin) 37-5 won by decision over Jacob Cain (Johnson Central) 45-10 (Dec 6-2) 126 Cons. Round 4 – Eli Peyton (McCracken County) 6-2 won by fall over Micah Bowers (Campbell County) 41-15 (Fall 1:38) 126 Cons. Round 4 – Migdoel Ocasio (Simon Kenton) 33-6 won by fall over Jayden Webb (Johnson Central) 37-14 (Fall 4:14) 126 Cons. Round 4 – Seth Lutes (Scott) 28-6 won by major decision over Victor Zamora (Whitley County) 25-6 (MD 15-5) 132 Cons. Round 4 – Layne Seibert (Scott) 31-9 won by decision over Marquelle McDaniel (Central) 36-11 (Dec 3-2) 132 Cons. Round 4 – Agali Radjapov (Moore) 26-12 won by decision over Sheridan Willoughby (Bourbon County) 35-7 (Dec 8-6) 145 Cons. Round 4 – Brent Hudgins (Harrison County) 36-10 won by decision over Simon Powell (Fairdale) 15-5 (Dec 7-5) 152 Cons. Round 4 – Tyler Hudgins (Harrison County) 36-5 won by fall over Keagan Hoffman (Fern Creek) 23-7 (Fall 3:42) 160 Cons. Round 4 – Ron Shackelford (Campbell County) 46-12 won by decision over Cody Foster (Ryle) 35-19 (Dec 4-1) 170 Cons. Round 4 – Jared Kelsay (Scott) 37-8 won by major decision over Andrew Sanders (Wayne County) 20-6 (MD 18-7) 182 Cons. Round 4 – Levid Rodriguez (Johnson Central) 46-6 won by fall over Randall West (Belfry) 50-6 (Fall 3:58) 220 Cons. Round 4 – Nathan Watson (Scott) 35-10 won by fall over Colby Stratman (DeSales) 24-4 (Fall 1:30) 220 Cons. Round 4 – Casey Rauch (Campbell County) 46-11 won by decision over Allen Anderson (Moore) 29-13 (Dec 8-2) 220 Cons. Round 4 – Bryan Pratt (Meade County) 37-5 won by fall over Alex Horn (Johnson Central) 29-3 (Fall 1:34) 285 Cons. Round 4 – John Stone (Ashland Blazer) 44-5 won by fall over Markus Green (Christian County) 29-13 (Fall 1:53) 113 Semifinal – Brenden Pye (Scott) 29-0 won by fall over Gage Fowler (Christian County) 33-4 (Fall 4:44) 145 Semifinal – Nathan Wheeler (St. Xavier) 33-3 won by decision over Daylon Stafford (Sheldon Clark) 39-3 (Dec 8-1) 152 Semifinal – Dalton Russelburg (Union County) 46-2 won by decision over Thomas Ketchen-Carter (Campbell County) 57-1 (Dec 7-3) 170 Semifinal – Micah Ervin (Union County) 44-2 won by decision over Joe Jackson (Johnson Central) 27-5 (Dec 5-2) 182 Semifinal – Colin Stevens (Trigg County) 51-2 won by decision over Chase Blanton (Harrison County) 40-2 (Dec 3-0) 195 Semifinal – Ben DePrest (St. Xavier) 35-1 won by decision over Branson Smith (Sheldon Clark) 39-7 (Dec 6-0) 195 Semifinal – Matthew Horn (Johnson Central) 44-2 won by fall over Ben Bush (Central) 31-10 (Fall 2:24) 285 Semifinal – Byron Pierce (Johnson Central) 47-2 won by decision over Cody Melton (Moore) 34-14 (Dec 5-0) 106 Cons. Round 5 – Trayce Eckman (Union County) 47-6 won by decision over Nolan Banfield (Montgomery County) 10-3 (Dec 4-2) 113 Cons. Round 5 – Dalton Lawson (Johnson Central) 28-4 won by major decision over Morgan Sallee (Danville) 39-6 (MD 8-0) 126 Cons. Round 5 – Seth Lutes (Scott) 29-6 won by decision over Thomas Hoppes (LaRue County) 50-8 (Dec 3-2) 132 Cons. Round 5 – Layne Seibert (Scott) 32-9 won by fall over Agali Radjapov (Moore) 26-13 (Fall 4:01) 145 Cons. Round 5 – Landon Lenhart (Trinity (Louisville)) 35-17 won by decision over Brent Hudgins (Harrison County) 36-11 (Dec 4-0) 152 Cons. Round 5 – Tyler Hudgins (Harrison County) 37-5 won by decision over Griffin Hall (Taylor County) 24-5 (Dec 6-5) 160 Cons. Round 5 – Ron Shackelford (Campbell County) 47-12 won by decision over Charlie Hancock (Franklin County) 28-9 (Dec 7-0) 170 Cons. Round 5 – Jared Kelsay (Scott) 38-8 won by decision over Jackson Deckard (Oldham County) 45-15 (Dec 9-2) 182 Cons. Round 5 – Mason Hall (South Oldham) 45-8 won by decision over Levid Rodriguez (Johnson Central) 46-7 (Dec 7-6) 220 Cons. Round 5 – Casey Rauch (Campbell County) 47-11 won by decision over Nathan Watson (Scott) 35-11 (Dec 9-4) 285 Cons. Round 5 – John Stone (Ashland Blazer) 45-5 won by decision over Esmond Morris (McCracken County) 6-3 (Dec 5-3) 113 Cons. Semi – Dalton Lawson (Johnson Central) 29-4 won by major decision over Jeffrey Kinley (Madison Central) 38-6 (MD 10-2) 126 Cons. Semi – Seth Lutes (Scott) 30-6 won by major decision over Ryan Bellucci (St. Xavier) 20-13 (MD 9-1) 132 Cons. Semi – Layne Seibert (Scott) 33-9 won by forfeit over Chase Yost (Woodford County) 22-2 (For.) 145 Cons. Semi – Daylon Stafford (Sheldon Clark) 40-3 won by decision over Landon Lenhart (Trinity (Louisville)) 35-18 (Dec 2-0) 152 Cons. Semi – Thomas Ketchen-Carter (Campbell County) 58-1 won by tech fall over Tyler Hudgins (Harrison County) 37-6 (TF-1.5 0:00 (15-0)) 160 Cons. Semi – Everett Marret (St. Xavier) 27-12 won by decision over Ron Shackelford (Campbell County) 47-13 (Dec 5-1) 170 Cons. Semi – Jared Kelsay (Scott) 39-8 won by decision over Joe Jackson (Johnson Central) 27-6 (Dec 8-7) 182 Cons. Semi – Chase Blanton (Harrison County) 41-2 won by decision over Mason Hall (South Oldham) 45-9 (Dec 3-1) 195 Cons. Semi – Braden Mulcahy (Walton-Verona) 50-5 won by decision over Branson Smith (Sheldon Clark) 39-8 (Dec 6-0) 220 Cons. Semi – Casey Rauch (Campbell County) 48-11 won by fall over Jonathan Gregory (Wayne County) 23-6 (Fall 3:27) 285 Cons. Semi – Tucker Shelton (LaRue County) 50-1 won by decision over John Stone (Ashland Blazer) 45-6 (Dec 7-4) 106 7th Place Match – Nolan Banfield (Montgomery County) 11-3 won by decision over Riley Johnson (Caldwell County) 33-9 (Dec 7-2) 113 1st Place Match – Brenden Pye (Scott) 30-0 won by fall over Isaac Thornton (Grant County) 38-7 (Fall 2:43) 113 3rd Place Match – Dalton Lawson (Johnson Central) 30-4 won by decision over Gage Fowler (Christian County) 34-5 (Dec 6-3) 126 3rd Place Match – Migdoel Ocasio (Simon Kenton) 36-6 won by decision over Seth Lutes (Scott) 30-7 (Dec 9-4) 132 3rd Place Match – Jacob Grandstaff (Conner) 42-4 won by decision over Layne Seibert (Scott) 33-10 (Dec 5-1) 145 3rd Place Match – Payne Carr (Union County) 41-6 won by decision over Daylon Stafford (Sheldon Clark) 40-4 (Dec 8-2) 145 7th Place Match – Brent Hudgins (Harrison County) 37-11 won by decision over Gabe Jacobs (Oldham County) 44-11 (Dec 10-8) 152 3rd Place Match – Thomas Ketchen-Carter (Campbell County) 59-1 won by decision over Isaiah Newberry (Moore) 30-4 (Dec 7-4) 152 5th Place Match – Tyler Hudgins (Harrison County) 38-6 won by forfeit over Wyatt Andreoni (Woodford County) 31-6 (For.) 160 5th Place Match – Damien Calderon (Oldham County) 47-13 won by decision over Ron Shackelford (Campbell County) 47-14 (Dec 4-1) 170 3rd Place Match – Jared Kelsay (Scott) 40-8 won by decision over Jack Fuller (Apollo) 47-7 (Dec 10-5) 170 5th Place Match – Joe Jackson (Johnson Central) 28-6 won by decision over Elijah McCune (Meade County) 41-8 (Dec 2-1) 182 3rd Place Match – Daulton Mayer (Walton-Verona) 47-4 won by decision over Chase Blanton (Harrison County) 41-3 (Dec 2-1) 182 7th Place Match – Levid Rodriguez (Johnson Central) 47-7 won by fall over Andrew Marchal (Atherton) 26-4 (Fall 0:37) 195 1st Place Match – Matthew Horn (Johnson Central) 45-2 won in the ultimate tie breaker over Ben DePrest (St. Xavier) 35-2 (UTB 3-2) 195 5th Place Match – Branson Smith (Sheldon Clark) 40-8 won by decision over Brandon Vera (Bryan Station) 27-3 (Dec 6-1) 220 3rd Place Match – Bryan Pratt (Meade County) 40-5 won by fall over Casey Rauch (Campbell County) 48-12 (Fall 1:49) 220 7th Place Match – Nathan Watson (Scott) 36-11 won by fall over Joseph Fisher (Letcher County Central) 30-7 (Fall 0:32) 285 1st Place Match – Byron Pierce (Johnson Central) 48-2 won by fall over Jalin Benson (Franklin County) 11-2 (Fall 5:16) 285 5th Place Match – John Stone (Ashland Blazer) 46-6 won by fall over Cody Melton (Moore) 34-16 (Fall 4:48) |
individual resultsDay 1
Pl. Name Team Scores |
FINAL TEAM resultsPl. Name Team Scores
1. Union County (227 points) 2. Johnson Central (146.5) 3. St. Xavier (135.5) 4. Madison Central (117.5) 5. Scott (108.5) 12. Campbell County (72.5) 24. Harrison County (54) 28. Sheldon Clark (43) 35. Ashland Blazer (28) T48. Montgomery County (13) T55. Bourbon County (9) 59. Newport (8) T79. Boyd County (2) |
DAY 1 TEAM resultsPl. Name Team Scores
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