By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
When heavy snow forced the Kentucky state wrestling championships scheduled for Feb. 18-21 to be postponed for more than two weeks, it was both good news and bad news to Campbell County coach Mike Bankemper.
Moving the three-day tournament back to March 9-11 gives state qualifiers more time to overcome minor injuries and prepare for the big event, but it does create a problem that’s unique to the sport. Wrestling competition is divided into weight classes and any participant who exceeds the weight limit set for his class can be disqualified before he even sets foot on the mat for the state championships.
“The real difficulty will be for the kids cutting weight for two plus weeks, but that’s part of the sport so we accepted it,” Bankemper said.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association is allowing a “one-pound growth allowance” in each weight class due to the postponement. In a statement posted on the KHSAA website, commissioner Julian Tackett said the allowance was granted in regards to the “emphasis on safe weight management” in the sport.
The state championships will still be held in the Alltech Arena on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park, but the matches had to be scheduled on Monday through Wednesday because the KHSAA is managing the girls’ state basketball tournament in Bowling Green later that week. Bankemper expects the schedule change to hurt attendance at the state wrestling championships, which are normally held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
But he understands the reason behind it.
“There’s only one thing harder than hosting a major tournament and that’s rescheduling it,” Bankemper said. “I’m sure the KHSAA agonized over the decision and did what they thought was in the best interest of the wrestlers and Kentucky wrestling.”
With state qualifiers in 10 of the 14 weight classes, Campbell County is considered one of the leading contenders for the state team title. One of the seniors on the Campbell County team is Austin Myers, who is five wins away from becoming the first Kentucky wrestler to go undefeated through out his four-year high school career. Myers has a 51-0 record this season and a 177-0 career record with three consecutive state titles in the 220-pound weight class.
Beechwood senior Austin Haney has the fastest qualifying time in the boys’ 200-yard freestyle for the Kentucky swimming and diving state championship meet that begins Thursday at the University of Louisville’s Wright Natatorium. Haney won that event at the Region 4 qualifying meet two weeks ago with a time of 1:41.23, which was the fastest time recorded in any of the five regional meets held around the state.
The other local swimmers who posted top qualifying times are Covington Catholic junior Brendan Mayer in the boys’ 500 freestyle (4:30.18) and Notre Dame freshman Sophie Skinner in the girls’ 100 freestyle (51.23). Scott senior Nick Fox posted the best qualifying score in boys’ 1-meter diving (533.13).
Highlands senior Caryl Hill, the defending state champion in girls’ 1-meter diving, is seeded second based on regional scores. The championship finals of the state meet will be held on Saturday with the boys starting at 10 a.m. and the girls starting at 4:15 p.m.
Newport Central Catholic and Covington Catholic, the teams with the best records in 9th Region boys’ varsity basketball this season, appear to have bright futures ahead.
Last week, NewCath won the 9th Region junior varsity championship game and CovCath won the 9th Region freshman championship game with the talented younger players they have in their programs. The CovCath freshman team coached by Matt Stevens and Steve Sorrell defeated Highlands, 60-29, in the regional final to finish with a perfect 28-0 record.
The leading scorer for the Colonels was C.J. Fredrick with 15 points. Jake Walters had seven points and nine rebounds.
In the junior varsity regional final, NewCath defeated CovCath, 65-50. The winners were led by junior John Ludwig, who scored 16 points by making every one of his field goal and free throw attempts. CovCath freshman forward A.J. Mayer had 18 points and six rebounds.
The NewCath jayvee team coached by Jimmy Pangallo, Denny Schierer and Stephen Reckers finished the season with a 17-3 record.
Terry Boehmker, NKyTribune sports writer, is former sportswriter and editor for The Kentucky Post. He is an award-winning writer with extensive background in both print and digital. Reach him at terryboe@yahoo.com.