THE WCHS WRESTLING TEAMS placed ninth at the state duals in Corbin Feb. 7. (Photo by Jennifer Lyddane)
The Woodford County boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams spent Saturday at the state duals meet in Corbin. When the dust settled and after three duals apiece, the WCHS girls’ and boys’ teams both finished ninth against the state’s best teams. Don’t let the results fool you; the ninth-place finishes, especially for the girls, is strictly a numbers problem. The Lady Jackets were dominant on the mat, but because they didn’t have wrestlers in half the weight classes, Woodford was forced to forfeit many matches, putting them in a tough spot, despite wrestling well.
The Lady Jackets bounced back from a narrow loss to Bell County with tight wins over Taylor County and Fort Campbell, while the boys recovered from an opening setback against Conner by edging Henry Clay in a one-point thriller before finishing the day with a solid victory over Fern Creek. Along the way, Woodford relied on a steady stream of pins and bonus-point wins from Braylen Livingston, Elijah Huff, Maxx Escaloni, Genevieve Cox, Ana Tierney and Mariya Reed; and wins via decision and technical falls from others.
The Woodford County girls dropped their opening dual to Bell County, 36-33, despite winning six contested matches. Victories for the Lady Jackets came from Bijou Brown (100 pounds) over Novalee Goins by fall, Genevieve Cox (107) over Keira Good by fall, Ana Tierney (114) by forfeit, Jacey Lyddane (120) over Annalee Good by fall, London Mosley (126) over Kennedy Slusher by decision, and Mariya Reed (235) over Elisabeth Lewis by fall. Woodford forfeited matches at 138, 145, 152, 165 and 185 pounds, which proved decisive in the narrow loss.
The Lady Jackets rebounded in the consolation semifinals with a 32-30 victory over Taylor County. Wins were recorded by Cox (107) over Rialee Boyd by technical fall, Tierney (114) over Piper Patterson by fall, Lyddane (120) over Zeliah Cooper by fall, Mosley (126) over Sophia Wise by fall, Lyla Pitzer (132) over McKenna Pace by fall, and Reed (235) over Addysen Dotson by decision. Woodford again surrendered forfeits at 138, 145, 152 and 165, while the 185-pound bout ended in a double forfeit, but the six victories secured the dual win.
The Lady Jackets closed the day with a 40-30 win over Fort Campbell in the ninth-place match. Individual victories came from Brown (100) over Emily Herrera by fall, Cox (107) over Zemirah Witt by fall, Tierney (114) over Delaney Perry by fall, Lyddane (120) over Tristin Caldwell by fall, Mosley (126) over Liz Porter by major decision, Pitzer (132) by forfeit, and Reed (235) over Corey Dalmida by fall. The Lady Jackets forfeited 138-, 145-, 152-, 165- and 185-pound matches, but seven mat wins sealed the team result.
The Woodford County boys fell to Conner High School 53-21 in the opening round despite four individual victories. Wins for the Yellow Jackets came from Jacob Brown (144) over Luke Peace by decision, Braylen Livingston (190) over Blake Johnson by fall, Elijah Huff (215) over Tucker Elliott by fall and Maxx Escaloni (285) over Bryce Sizemore by fall. Woodford also surrendered a forfeit at 175 pounds, contributing to the team’s defeat.
The Jackets rebounded in the consolation semifinals with a dramatic 43-42 victory over Henry Clay, advancing on criteria after splitting bouts. Individual wins were recorded by Leland Markwell (106) over Camila Anaya by fall, Brycen Gray (120) by forfeit, Isaac Richards (138) over Dennis Frimpong by fall, Brown (144) by forfeit, Livingston (190) over Mason Nord-Hodges by fall, Huff (215) over Haris Fazlic by fall and Escaloni (285) over Jackson Kincer by fall. Woodford forfeited 175 pounds, but the seven victories secured the narrow dual win on tiebreak criteria.
Woodford closed the tournament with a 46-36 win over Fern Creek in the ninth-place match. Victories came from Markwell (106) over Aaliyah Bronger by fall, Gray (120) over Aramis Cortez-Ramos by fall, Eli Watts (126) over Connor Holmes by fall, Bryer Rogers (132) over Matthew Morgan by fall, Brown (144) over Kamal Kotolov by fall, Caden Allen (150) over Robbie Ellis by fall, Huff (215) over Payton Carr by fall and Escaloni (285) over Trent Woodford by major decision. Woodford again forfeited 175 pounds, but eight wins on the mat sealed the team result.