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Congrats to Buckman! Solid wrestler and very humble young man. Man, several upsets yesterday I see. Looking at the results I believe the biggest surprise of all was at 145 and 160. Both of the 2 seeds placed 5th. I know it had to be tough for Ryder being a senior as well. Surprising for sure. I did see McClain pulled out the close one on Regalado which most were expecting but I heard it was a battle. I have to say congratulations to Union on another Region championship in a very dominant fashion. I wish everyone the best next weekend and I hope Region 1 brings home all the state titles!

Falcon you are correct! If the administration would publicize the sport more like Football, basketball and Baseball it would possibly bring more athletes out. It is up to the coaches to get the news into the local papers!!

I spent some time last night doing my thoughts on the potential outcomes. I am sure Falconwrestling will bring some fire and brimstone with his objections to my predictions. Like always this is just to get the chatter started and bring excitement to the air once it all begins. The unfortunate part is, I will be working so I can't head down to Hoptown to watch it all unfold this year. By the way, it is a bit difficult researching through track wrestling and this forum trying to piece it all together. I try to stay up on it all by pinging folks I know in the areas but that does not always pan out for me. Anyway, I PRAY EVERYONE HAS A SAFE TOURNAMENT!! Best of luck to everyone!! 106 POUNDS 1. Zeke Escalera, Union Co., 8, 42-0 2. Keaton Elliott, Calloway Co., 8, 16-4 3. Gage Fowler, Christian Co., 8, 7-1 4. Dylan Walls, Caldwell Co., 7, 23-9 5. Ashur Jones-Powers, McCracken Co., 7, 9-4 I believe Fowler with pull out 3rd. We will find out off the rip if he can take out Jones-Powers and then see if he can take downs Walls for 3rd. I believe he is a bracket buster for 106! 113 POUNDS 1. Gabe Adams, Union Co., 9, 31-3 2. Daniel Knight, Christian Co., 12, 12-3 3. Jack Probus, Ohio Co., 9, 31-7 4. Ethan Futrell, Trigg Co., 8, 17-9 5. Eli Peyton, McCracken Co., 8, 12-9 I know Futrell won by fall over Probus at CCI in DEC but Probus has wrestled a more difficult opponents this season since that tournament and I believe he will pull out the win for 3rd. 120 POUNDS 1. Sam Bacon, Union Co., 10, 42-6 2. Devonta Turner, Trigg Co., 12, 22-6 3. Jakerion Merritt, Christian Co., 9, 28-9 4. Ray Hamilton, Paducah Tilghman, 10, 5-1 5. Ethan Wells, Univ. Heights, 9, 0-0 I agree this will play out with the seeding criteria. The difference with the 2&3 seeds will be who has the better cardio. Wells and Hamilton could go either way. 126 POUNDS 1. Payne Carr, Union Co., 8, 35-5 2. Nick Dickerson, Calloway Co., 11, 31-14 3. Dylan Martin, McCracken Co., 10, 23-7 4. Isaac Aguiar, Trigg Co., 9, 22-12 5. Shane Gray, Ohio Co., 10, 22-17 I know Martin dec Dickerson recently 6-5 but I believe Dickerson will turn that around this time out. 132 POUNDS 1. Saul Ervin, Union Co., 11, 46-1 2. Ishmael Griffie, Christian Co., 11, 24-12 3. David Conner, McCracken Co., 8, 14-10 4. Damien Crisp, Fort Campbell, 9, 11-21 5. Tristan Tinsley, Caldwell Co., 9, 12-18 I believe this one will play out with the seeding criteria. I was really sorry to hear about Dearmond. I wish that young man the best on his future endeavors! 138 POUNDS 1. Bryce Sheffer, Union Co., 12, 47-0 2. Kestin McClain, McCracken Co., 11, 16-6 3. Louie Regalado, Fort Campbell, 12, 36-3 4. Kaleb O`Campo, Caldwell Co., 10, 20-15 5. Joe Fernandez, Christian Co., 9, 15-16 I believe the rematch between McClain and Regalado will be a good one. I am sure Regalado will be coming with his jets on but I believe McClain will have the answer for him a second time. Sheffer will be waiting to collect his win after those two decide who gets to stand next to him on the podium. 145 POUNDS 1. Chance Oxford, Union Co., 12, 44-3 2. Klemmer Nicodemus, Ohio Co., 9, 33-9 3. Rey Vela, Fort Campbell, 12, 32-8 4. Zlatko Skuljan, Hopkinsville, 9, 24-10 5. Neal Aldridge, Christian Co., 9, 20-11 I believe Oxford and Vela could "possibly" be a good match. Oxford has faced a tougher schedule this season so I give the upper hand to Oxford. Ohio Co will pull the string on Hoptown and then Vela will take the 3rd over Hoptown. The last time Vela and Skujian faced I believe it was 4-3 but looking at the schedule for each Vela has had the harder road and I give him the nod for 3rd. 152 POUNDS 1. Micah Ervin, Union Co., 9, 42-6 2. Colin Stevens, Trigg Co., 9, 25-8 3. Jack Hanes, Calloway Co., 12, 39-7 4. Seth Slayton, Caldwell Co., 8, 0-0 5. John Bowling, McCracken Co., 20-7 I think Ervin and Stevens will be a good match. It was a tight match at the region duals from my understanding. Union just rides a really difficult schedule and I believe Ervin can pull out a tough match. I do think the seeding criteria shows the overall results here as well. 160 POUNDS 1. Dylan Gray, Caldwell Co., 11, 36-3 2. Corbin Ryder, Fort Campbell, 12, 30-9 3. Antonio Abren, Christian Co., 10, 28-12 4. Trevor Tilley, McCracken Co., 11, 18-14 5. Malik Cunningham, Trigg Co., 12, 15-7 The finals should be Gray and Ryder. Ryder has the get through Abren again. Abren is not an opponent to take lightly but I believe Ryder will pull it out. It should turn out to be quite a storm between Gray and Ryder. They have met three times this season with Gray having the upper hand. Two of the matches were really close according to track wrestling. I saw the match at CCI which was a good one, decided by a late take down. I am sure Ryder will be coming hard with it all on the table right now for state. 170 POUNDS 1. Matthias Ervin, Union Co., 9, 40-8 2. Diion Leavell, Christian Co., 11, 25-1 3. Ethan Tomerlin, Fort Campbell, 8, 14-7 4. Logan Deasel, McCracken Co., 9, 25-7 5. Dylan Bell, Calloway Co., 10, 15-26 This is one everyone is waiting on. Can Tomerlin (the 8th grader) take down Mathias (the Freshman)? (Just trying to add some humor) Tomerlin just pulled out a Middle School State Championship but I believe he will find the varsity level will be a bit more challenging. He has some varsity experience this year but only the first half of the season looking at track wrestling. BUT!!! I do believe Ervin moves on and faces off with Leavell again. Ervin pulls the string on Leavell this time out. So be ready for some fireworks on this one folks. 182 POUNDS 1. Avery Buckman, Union Co., 12, 45-2 2. Katayvon Anthony, Hopkinsville, 12, 20-2 3. Niko Bussell, Christian Co., 9, 27-12 4. Colton Stoner, Trigg Co., 12, 21-8 5. Josh Efinger, Calloway Co., 12, 34-10 Buckman will walk away the champ but the real battle will be for 2nd. Last week Bussell pulled off a huge win against Anthony but I think Anthony will have the answer for Bussell this time out. 195 POUNDS 1. David Woods, Calloway Co., 11, 36-1 2. Ross Hicks, Union Co., 11, 30-13 3. Nick Owens, Hopkinsville, 12, 24-4 4. Dylan Lynn, Ohio Co., 11, 10-11 5. Dustin Montgomery, Christian Co., 11, 11-11 I believe the seeding criteria will hold up for the outcome as well. Woods will be at the top watching the battle for 2nd-5th here. 220 POUNDS 1. Colby Culver, Calloway Co., 12, 45-3 2. Jackson Fitzgerald, Paducah Tilghman, 12, 5-1 3. Markus Green, Christian Co., 10, 11-12 4. Deion Lane, Hopkinsville, 12, 19-10 5. Andrew Pottle, Ohio Co., 8, 8-13 I believe the seeding criteria will hold up for this one. Culver will have it on cruise for the day here. Culver could probably jump up and win heavy weight as well. Tough young man! 285 POUNDS 1. Payton Snyder, Union Co., 11, 33-14 2. David Nikolao, Fort Campbell, 12, 8-1 3. Gavynn Davis, McCracken Co., 11, 21-12 4. Keith Martin, Fulton City, 10, 8-2 5. Seth Riley, Christian Co., 10, 9-7 I am sure Falcon Wrestling will jump all over this one. He has expressed his high regards for Nikolao several times. In his earlier rankings I believe he stated the “KING IS BACK”. I believe the king will tumble in the finals this time out. Last time out Snyder lost 4-3 to Nikolao. From my understanding it was a "slip and fall" that won the match for Nikolao. Snyder has been wrestling all season and had some tough matches and Nikolao has wrestled once looking at track since their last encounter. I believe that will be the deciding factor for the outcome. Nikolao is a tough competitor but I believe his lack of wrestling this season is a big obstacle for him. Looking at track he has only wrestled 7 matches to Synder’s 47 matches. He does have the size on Snyder but I think he will require more than that this time out. Both are great young men and I believe it will be a tough match. I just feel that Snyder’s time on the mat this season will outweigh Nikolao’s.

I did not realize the numbers across the state were down that much. It is still hard to believe how many wrestlers have quit at this point of the season.

I had not heard of anyone quitting this late in the season. That is horrible to hear! It is sad to hear that a young man walks out on his team mates after this deep into the season. They should not let a coach or team member deter them from something they enjoy if that is the case. I remember when I first started wrestling many moons ago now and I was not truly bought in the first year. Once I started seeing success, it was game on and if I did not like the coach I would have wrestled him to see who would leave the team, HAHA! As for injuries, those are expected but unfortunate for anyone. I have not seen anything on the brackets for Region 1 yet but I did hear the numbers were disappointing though.

It is sad to hear that the numbers are down this year. I hope that over the next couple of years it will pick back up. It is hard to believe just a few years ago that each bracket was almost full. From what I was told there are a couple weight classes if the guys just show up basically they will be going to state. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Sounds like Region 1 will be dominated by Union in most of the weights as usual. With the exception of 160, 170, 195 and 220. I am sure Union will have placers at those weights as well. Winning 10 of 14 weight classes in your region is impressive. I believe Christian County will be a distant second behind Union for the team race. Best of luck to all the wrestlers!! Speaking with a few folks up north, it sounds like 138 is going to be quite a showdown at state. Hard to believe so many guys are moving to 138 but it is good for the sport though. Everyone wants to test the water with Sheffer I guess. At the state tourney it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Sheffer will leave region 1 undefeated but can he hold them top dogs off at state which will be interesting.

Is it true that Ohio County's 145 picked up wins on Hoptown and Fort Campbell yesterday? Will the Regional tournament be two days or one? I know most of the weights are not full but the five-match rule could hit one or two of the weights maybe?

Sounds like there were some great matchups at the duals yesterday. Would have liked to have seen Sheffer and Johnson go at it. I believe we all knew Union was going to take the state title again and not surprised they dismantled everyone in the process doing it. It will be interesting to see how the team score ends up at State. Best of luck to everyone at regions and state. God bless all the young men and ladies as the real fight begins for that state title.

#17 Kestin McClain (McCracken) major decision #4 Louie Regalado (Fort Campbell) last night.

BIG UPSET last night I heard!!! Spoke to my McCracken folks this morning and it looks like #17 Kestin McClain major decision #4 Louie Regalado last night. I guess McClain will get some deserved respect now.

Finally got to watch the finals from the Father Ryan tournament. It is obvious why Union dominates where ever they go. Bradley Central edged them out but not without a fight. It would be fun to see Bradley Central and Union head to head. Escalera is fun to watch! The young guns for Union are already showing what the future holds for the team. Then you have Sheffer, Buckman and Saul leading them to the finish lines of their high school career. Sheffer made the finals look way to easy. With so many teams dropping out I am sure many of the final matches would have been more exciting. The teams from KY made a good showing on the day which was great to hear.

My prayers go out to the Travers family, the team members and community. God bless them all in this unfortunate situation.

Spoke with some folks from Caldwell and Union today, who were there yesterday. Nikolao barely pulled off a win against Snyder from Union. So a healthy Nikolao may be lucky to get a Region title. If he places at state it will be a surprise. If his knee is that bad he might want to stay off the mat. The top guys in the state are not going to concern themselves with his obvious injury. From what I saw at the Christian County Tournament he uses his size to win not much technique. When he matches up with someone his size that knee will become the stumbling block. Sounds like a great young man but with that knee issue this may be another season the stay off the mat. Watched him last year prior to his injury and then he did have a legitimate shot at a title. I wish him the best and pray no further damage falls upon the young man this season.

Wow, just looked at the brackets and they dropped several teams. There will still be some good matches. 106, 138 should be good finals. 113 could be Adams but not sure Hall can come out to meet him in the finals. Bacon and Carr for Union could make 120 and 126 interesting. Would like to see Micah pull a win over King at 152. 160 semifinals should be good with Gray and Ryder going at it again. That was the best match at the CCI last weekend I thought. I think Leavell and Ervin meet in the finals at 170. Avery takes 182 most likely. I think Tennessee side takes 195-285. Kentucky over all should run the table with Union most likely pulling out the overall win. I am still not going to make it down for the tournament tomorrow. Hope someone shoots out some updates as the day goes by. It does stink knowing the five match rule will hit some guys.

I wish that I was able to make it down to Father Ryan for the Johnny Drennan Classic. There will be some great matches on day 2 but I know day one will provide some excitement as well. I am sure our Region 1 guys will go and show the TN folks what KY wrestling is all about. Best of luck to all our teams!