HEADED TO STATE

 The Whitley County Colonels took third in the Region 8 Wrestling Tournament Saturday at Wayne County High School. The Colonels will send 10 wrestlers to state. It is the first time since reviving the program that Whitley County has placed in the top three of the region.

“It’s our highest finish ever,” said Whitley County Coach Dusty Brown. “I was pleased that we finished third, but disappointed that we didn’t take second. We had a couple of matches that didn’t go our way that I thought would.”

Johnson Central won the region with a score of 230 with Wayne County taking second with 170 points. The Colonels finished the day with 159.

Whitley County came away from the afternoon with one regional champion and three runner-ups. Four wrestlers took third place and one was fourth. The tenth, Corrigan Newsome added a fifth place spot.

Junior Aaron Back won his 152-pound division, defeating Todd Sites of Johnson Central in the finals. “Aaron got a decent draw in the state but will eventually have to face Conner Coyle, the number one wrestler from Ryle,” said Brown. Back improved his unbeaten record to 37-0.

Jeff Couch, who hasn’t wrestled since January because of an injury made it to the championship game. “We let him forfeit instead of take the risk of getting injured,” Brown said. Couch was the runner-up in the 125-class.

Junior Steven Back lost in the finals to Jimmy Preston of Johnson Central, 8-6. Also taking the number two spot was Solomon Vanover in the 171-class. He lost to Sheldon Clark’s Austin Stepp, 6-4.

Zack Bray lost in the semifinals, but came back to beat Brandon Butcher in the 103-class to take third place in a fall at the 3:14 mark. Whitley County’s JT Siler lost 12-9 in the consolation match to Nathaniel Clark, 12-9.

Duncan Caddell, one of the state’s top wrestlers, lost in the semifinals, but came back to take third place with a fall against McCreary Central wrestler Larry Summons in the 140-class.

In the 145-pound class, Charles Partin of Whitley County won a forfeit from Wayne County’s Zach Troxell. Samuel Vanover was third in the 215-pound class after beating Johnson Central’s Shane Auxier.

Ean Griffith finished sixth in the 130-pound class after losing to Perry Central’s Robert Williams.

In this week’s state tournament at the Frankfort Convention Center, Bray will take on Lafayette’s Luke Rearic in the first-round while Siler will meet TeAndre Taylor of Jeffersontown. Couch will get Scott’s Drew Miller in the first-round and Steven Back will take on Manuel junior Ben Schardein.

Caddell will meet Jeffersontown’s Dair Sharipov in the first-round of the 140-poind class while Partin takes on Ryle’s Zack Bolog.

Aaron Back, the number one wrestler in the lower half of the 32-player bracket, will open the tournament against Bishop Brossart’s Colton Boesch. Freshman Samuel Vanover will take on North Hardin senior Stephen House in the first-round of the 215-class. Brother Soloman Vanover will meet University Heights wrestler Brandon Borneman in the 171-division.

Brown is happy to be sending 10 wrestlers to the KHSAA State Wrestling Tournament but would like to have seen more wrestlers win their weight classes at the region tournament. “I thought everyone did a good job in the region,” Brown said. “We are doing better each year and that is a positive thing.”