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Postseason for winter sports means spring sports time is near
Posted On 11 Feb 2022
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The fans at Charles Lawson Gymnasium last Wednesday witnessed something epic that is one of the things that makes amateur wrestling so intriguing.
In the 144-pound match, Corbin’s Koryon Smith tossed Whitley County’s Andrew Meadors every which way for most of the match to build a 9-1 points lead.
As the match neared time, Meadors was able to make one final push and win the match by pinning Smith.
The crowd, that included the University of the Cumberlands Men’s Wrestling team, went crazy as did the Whitley County bench.
This is not meant as a slight on Smith who had done everything right throughout the match to pick up the victory.
It is to show some of what wrestling has to offer.
Corbin and Whitley County have now had two great events in consecutive weeks. The crowds have been pretty good.
Yes, there are a lot of intricacies to wrestling that will take time to learn, just as the wrestlers must learn.
One of Wednesday night’s matches ended in a disqualification of the Corbin wrestler. Chalk it up to the learning curve as, with just a few exceptions, none of the Wrestling Redhounds had even been on a wrestling mat prior to December.
The post season begins Saturday for the boys as the Seventh Region Tournament will be held at McCreary Central. Other schools participating include: Barbourville, Bell County, Knox Central, Somerset, Wayne County, Danville, Boyle County, Green County, Harlan County, Madison Central, Madison Southern, and Taylor County. Who is up for a drive through Daniel Boone National Forest to Stearns to support our local student athletes?
First match will begin at 9:30 a.m.
We are just a over a week from the end of the basketball regular season and the start of district tournaments.
Corbin will host the 50th District tournaments, which will begin Feb. 21.
South Laurel will go into the boys’ tournament as the top seed with Corbin second.
Whitley County’s big upset win over South Laurel last week brought the first-round matchups down to the Tuesday night’s final district game between the Colonels and Williamsburg. Both teams went into the game with 1-4 district records, so the winner gets the third seed and will play Corbin, while the loser draws the Cardinals.
The first-round district games are win-or-go-home as the district champion and runner up advance to the 13th Region Tournament set to begin March 28 at The Arena in Corbin. Red Bird Christian School, out of the 49th District, is this year’s host.
The Arena is about as close as you can get to the middle of the 13th Region that stretches from Jackson and Clay County down to Whitley, Bell and Harlan County.
While some people may see it as a home court advantage for Corbin, it definitely benefits the schools that elect to play the tournament there as opposed to in their home gym. Larger facility, better location and amenities means a better gate and more money to support the school’s athletics.
On the girls’ side, Corbin and South are the top seeds, with Whitley County and Williamsburg coming in at three and four, respectively.
A drawing will be held to determine whether the Lady Redhounds or Lady Cardinals go in as the top seed.
I’ll just add this to the list of things that, in my opinion, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association has gotten wrong.
There are several more places in the standings page on the KHSAA website that could be used to break the tie including: Overall record, region record, and, when in doubt, go with good ole RPI AKA who played the tougher schedule.
One, or all of the above, is better than drawing numbers.
Do the Lady Colonels or Lady Jackets have an upset in them to keep their season going?
As ESPN’s Chris Berman has repeatedly said, “That’s why they play the game.”
Hopefully, the weather is going to cooperate over the next month as spring sports gets ready to start. In addition to baseball and softball, high school athletes will be taking to the tennis courts, track and Corbin’s Reeling Redhounds will be hitting the lake for the bass fishing season.
Whitley County Baseball was the big story in 2021 with the run to Elite Eight at Legends Field in Lexington, Corbin Tennis sent 11 players to the state tournament and Corbin, Whitley County and Williamsburg Track sent multiple competitors to state.
If you have a chance, get out, get some sun, and support the spring sports teams.
