Woodford County High School was favored to win its 13th wrestling
state title this season. But the season hasn't started well for the
Yellowjackets.
Coach Rusty Parks said the defending state champs have been
hampered the first few weeks of the season by injuries and other
problems.
"Right now, we're kind of
banged up," Parks said. "On paper, we should have a real strong team
but we have to stay healthy. I guess I would rather have the
injuries now than to have them in February."
The Yellowjackets were forced to forfeit two weight classes in
the final of last week's Oldham County Duals against LaRue County.
The Hawks won the title 36-30.
Woodford County had a wrestler ranked among the top 10 in eight
of the 14 weight classes in the coaches' preseason polls. The
Yellowjackets had two No. 1s.
Defending 189-pound champion Richard Starks is ranked No. 1 in
that weight class and Parks said he's much stronger this year.
Harrison Courtney was No. 1 at 130 and is wrestling now at 145.
Will Starks was No. 2 at 160 and is going at 171 and heavyweight
Kyle Goodwrich is ranked No. 2. Other top wrestlers returning are
Rusty Parks -- no relation to the coach -- at 125 and his brother,
Shane, at 103.
Matt Byrd is No. 2 at 215 but will be sidelined about another
month after breaking his arm in a car wreck over the summer. Coty
Lewis, who was ranked No. 2 at 112, is being disciplined and will be
back in a few weeks.
Here's a closer look at other top teams:
No. 2 South Oldham is "going to be really tough," Parks
said. The Dragons return several key starters, including two state
champions.
Taylor Scherer has won the 215 title two years in a row and is
97-0 the past two seasons, while Derek Scott is the defending 125
champ.
Ben Greco is ranked No. 4 at 145, while Nathan Lovewell is No. 2
at 152 and Cody Lasseigne is No. 6 at 160.
No. 3 LaRue County was the state runner-up last season and
returns 10 starters, including five who placed at state a year ago.
Senior Stacy Miller was the runner-up at 119 and will wrestle at
125, while senior Ozzy Parker will go at 130 after being the
runner-up at 125. Pat Banks is also back at 145 after placing third
at 135.
No. 4 Ryle lost 119-pound state champion Kyle Ruschell but has
seven returnees. Rob Aylor is the defending state champion at 140,
while Bryan Peace (130) and Greg Ashworth (189) were also state
placers.
No. 5 Fern Creek has eight good sophomores. The Tigers will be
led by defending 112 champion Caleb Wood, a junior. Junior Malcolm
Jackson, who was seventh at 119, and sophomore John Wolsiefer,
fourth at 145, are also back.
No. 6 Oldham County has Ben Warner, No. 2 at 119, and Alex
Wenninger, No. 2 at 189, leading the way. Daniel Martinko is ranked
fourth at 171.
Brandon Howard is ranked No. 2 at 135 and leads No. 7 Sheldon
Clark, while No. 8 Harrison County has six wrestlers ranked in the
top 10.
No. 9 Campbell County is always good and will be a contender
again this season, despite losing seven starters. Ben Rust and Bryon
Wilson are returning state placers.
No. 10 North Hardin has five returnees. Sophomore Mark Jones is
ranked No. 1 at 171 and eighth-grader Josh Johnson is a two-time
middle school champion and qualified for the state meet last season.
No. 11 Eastern will be one of the best in Jefferson County. The
Eagles have several key returnees, including Ben Rupp who was fifth
at state and ranked No. 1 at 160. Joaquin Luna is fifth at 103, Paul
Marks eighth at 125 and Aaron Wise fourth at 215.
No. 13 Trinity had two state champions last season and returns
heavyweight titlist Mike Clark, who is ranked 26th nationally by USA
Wrestling. Seniors Grant Laswell (189), Alan Tomassetti (152) and
Alex Shearer (130) all return.
No. 19 Seneca will be another top team from Jefferson County,
with several key returnees.
Other returning individual champions are Wayne County's Travis
Sullivan (103) and Joey Sanders (130) and Lawrence County's Jacob
Murton (135).
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