Region 7 champs settled as high school wrestling sends dozens on to state
Lafayette’s Brayden Giannone will get a chance to add to his wrestling trophy case after winning the 160-pound class at the Region 7 Championships and advancing along with 20 other city wrestlers to the KHSAA State Championships that begin Saturday.
Wrestling a weight division higher from his state title-winning effort last year, Gianonne defeated Danville’s Jerome Johnson at 160 pounds for first place at the regional meet held last Friday and Saturday at Madison Central in Richmond.
Other Lexington champions at the regional meet were Frederick Douglass’s Jackson Gonzales at 138, Lafayette’s Azariah Saunier at 170 and Sayre’s Bill Bradley at 285. Lexington wrestlers joining them at the state championships are highlighted in the results below.
Boyle County edged Madison Central for the Region 7 team title. Boyle advanced four wrestlers to the state meet. Madison Central will send six.
The top four individual finishers at each regional across the state advance to the first round of the state meet, which is split into multiple sessions this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Region 7’s qualifiers will wrestle against Region 8’s qualifiers this Saturday at Martin County for a chance to advance to the final round to be held at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester on March 27.
The state championships’ first rounds will also be held at Apollo in Owensboro for Regions 1 and 2, Waggener in Louisville for Regions 3 and 4 and Ryle in Union for Regions 5 and 6.
The top two first-round finishers in each class advance to the final round in Winchester. All first-round team points carry over to the final round.
Region 7 Wrestling Championships
(Held March 12-13 at Madison Central)
TEAM RESULTS
1. Boyle County 167.0; 2. Madison Central 166.5; 3. Wayne County 164.0; 4. McCreary Central 158.5; 5. Lafayette 157.0; 6. Frederick Douglass 112.5; 7. Madison Southern 102.0; 8. Bryan Station 92.0; 9. Danville 65.0; 10. Knox Central 50.0.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Top four places advance to state meet. Bold = Lexington wrestlers advancing.
106 — 1. Colin Tucker, Wayne County; 2. Brandon Bruner, Bryan Station; 3. Moses Navarro, McCreary Central; 4. Anthony Condi, Frederick Douglass; 5. Vidit Risailey, Madison Central; 6. Micah Thompson, Boyle County.
113 — 1. Jeremiah Baird, McCreary Central; 2. Aidan Cook, Lafayette; 3. Steven Smith, Frederick Douglass; 4. Dakota Phillips, Boyle County; 5. Riley Hunter, Henry Clay; 6. Charlie Blevins, Danville.
120 — 1. Elijah Baird, McCreary Central; 2. Braeden Kelley, Madison Southern; 3. Colton Kilburn, Wayne County; 4. Keaton Shott, Paul Laurence Dunbar; 5. Kaleb Wilcher, Danville; 6. Elliot Pope, West Jessamine.
126 — 1. Evan Browning, Boyle County; 2. Keelan Dick, Wayne County; 3. Landon Crafton, Madison Central; 4. Chase Bowlin, McCreary Central; 5. John Alden, West Jessamine; 6. Caleb Brown, Whitley County.
132 — 1. Robert Nardelli, Madison Central; 2. Chris Begley, Madison Southern; 3. Justin Kubwimana, Lafayette; 4. Xavier Tello, Wayne County; 5. Diego Montoya, Boyle County; 6. Taylor Ware, Frederick Douglass.
138 — 1. Jackson Gonzales, Frederick Douglass; 2. Lucas Hutchison, Madison Central; 3. Dakota Karr, Wayne County; 4. Matthew Embry, Henry Clay; 5. Jacob U`Wren, West Jessamine; 6. Jaimen Carey, Boyle County
145 — 1. Zac Cowan, Madison Central; 2. Julian Cruz, McCreary Central; 3. Luke Chapman, Lafayette; 4. Ethan Montgomery, Boyle County; 5. Wilson Davis, West Jessamine; 6. Canaan Lowe, Danville.
152 — 1. Jeffrey Kinley, Madison Central; 2. Blake Botts, McCreary Central; 3. Jackson Burger, Boyle County; 4. Christian Floyd, Wayne County; 5. Grant Hovden, Bryan Station; 6. Holden McKnight, Danville.
160 — 1. Brayden Giannone, Lafayette; 2. Jerome Johnson, Danville; 3. Marcus Hutchison, Madison Central; 4. Jaris Bloom-Doyle, Paul Laurence Dunbar; 5. Jacob Wolfe, Frederick Douglass; 6. Ethan Wheeler, Boyle County.
170 — 1. Azariah Saunier, Lafayette; 2. Curtis Karr, Wayne County; 3. Melvin Call, East Jessamine; 4. Kenguruka Promesse, Bryan Station; 5. Jyace Crowe, Boyle County; 6. Connor Reeves, Paul Laurence Dunbar.
182 — 1. Ben Rush, Boyle County; 2. Thomas Haggan, Lafayette; 3. Stephen Whitehead, Madison Southern; 4. John Bronson, Frederick Douglass; 5. Steven Partin, Knox Central; 6. Keandre Giglio, McCreary Central.
195 — 1. Rocky Whitehead, Madison Southern; 2. Kylon Williams, McCreary Central; 3. Jahvon Fraizer, Bryan Station; 4. Evan Wheeler, Boyle County; 5. Max McCain, Madison Central; 6. Cardale Wright, Tates Creek.
220 — 1. Devin Sanders, Wayne County; 2. Kodi Reeder, East Jessamine; 3. Tanner Morris, Knox Central; 4. Macario Ramirez, Bryan Station; 5. Caleb Stone, Madison Southern; 6. Diego Pelletier, Madison Central.
285 — 1. Bill Bradley, Sayre; 2. Israel Tshiunza, Frederick Douglass; 3. Zac Stray, Lafayette; 4. Nick Green, Wayne County; 5. Kyran Jackson, Madison Central; 6. Hunter Messer, Knox Central.
Complete results via KHSAA online at: https://bit.ly/3rUqQeS
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 2:43 PM.
