By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Campbell County senior Austin Myers finished his high school wrestling career with a perfect 182-0 record and won his fourth consecutive state title in the 220-pound weight class at the state championship finals on Wednesday at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Myers defeated Brandon Reed of Louisville Iroquois, 15-4, in the title match to finish his remarkable career and was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler. He’s the first high school wrestler in Kentucky to go undefeated for four years.
Myers posted a 61-0 record during his senior season with most of his victories coming on pins.
The University of West Virginia recruit has also achieved success on the national level. Each spring, high school wrestling champions from across the country compete in four grade levels at a national tournament. Myers won the 220-pound title as a freshman and sophomore and placed second as a junior.
The other Northern Kentucky wrestlers who won state titles in their weight class on Wednesday were Ryle juniors Logan Erdman (126) and Johnny Meiman (160) and Dixie Heights senior Brandon Johnson (285).
Local wrestlers made it to the championship bracket semifinals in nine of 14 weight classes. The second-place finishers included Campbell County sophomores Tanner Yenter (106) and Brady Wells (113) and Simon Kenton senior Elijah Miller (195).
Louisville Fern Creek won the team title with 158.5 total points. Campbell County placed fourth with 130.5 and Ryle was seventh with 101.5.
Staff members from the Bank of Kentucky Center and Northern Kentucky University are attending the girls’ state basketball tournament this week in Bowling Green to take notes on what they’ll need to do next year when they host the event.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association selected the arena on the campus of NKU as the site for the 2016 and 2017 girls’ state basketball tournaments. Following the two-year period, the KHSAA Board of Control will evaluate the event’s success compared to past tournaments and determine a direction for the future.
Matt Merchant, marketing and booking manager for the Bank of Kentucky Center, and Andy Meeks, director of business operations for NKU, came to Bowling Green this week to see for themselves how the KHSAA runs the event at Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
“We’ve done it all at our arena so it’s nothing we can’t handle,” Merchant said. “We just want to make it as easy a transition for them as possible.”
The 9th Region boys’ and girls’ basketball tournaments have been played at the Bank of Kentucky Center for the last seven years and the facility hosted the semifinals and finals of the NCAA Division II men’s basketball championship in 2012.
But Merchant wanted to learn about the policies and procedures involved with the girls’ state tournament by asking questions about such things as ticket sales, parking, security, motel assignments and hospitality suites. Meeks has been talking with WKU officials about how the tournament affects normal operations on their campus.
“There’s a lot of pieces that you have to take care of,” Meeks said. “So we’re here the whole week to take it all in.”
Houchens Industries of Bowling Green has been the title sponsor of the girls’ state tournament for several years, but its unlikely that the company will renew that contract since the tournament is moving to Northern Kentucky.
“We’re not anticipating them doing that so we’ll try to find a title sponsor for the event,” said Merchant.
Northern Kentucky could put together a pretty impressive freshman all-star team in girls’ basketball based on statistics posted this season.
Simon Kenton freshman guard Ally Niece would head the list. She was averaging a team-high 16.3 points and shooting 49 percent (170 of 347) for the 8th Region champions going into the state tournament.
Campbell County freshman guard Taylor Clos finished the season with a 14.8 scoring average after netting 33 points in her team’s season-ending loss to Mason County in the 10th Region semifinals. Scott also reached the 10th Region semifinals with a lineup that included freshman Anna Clephane, who averaged 13.7 points.
In the 9th Region, two teams had leading scorers who are freshmen. Lexi Held averaged 15.1 points for Cooper and ShaMaya Behannan averaged 12.6 points for Lloyd. Holmes also had a talented freshman in its starting lineup. Tyrah McClendon-Englemon averaged 8.3 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Ryan Woolf, the leading tackler in Northern Kentucky high school football last season, received the That’s My Boy Award last week at the annual banquet hosted by the Greater Cincinnati chapter of the National Football Federation.
The Ryle senior won the award based on a system that rewards points for athletic and academic accomplishments. Woolf was a first-team selection on the Northern Kentucky Football Coaches Association all-star team after making 152 tackles last season.
He ranks among the top five percent in his class with a 4.3 grade-point average. He will attend Georgetown College on a football scholarship.
The other finalists for this years award were Highlands quarterback Beau Hoge, Dixie Heights lineman Branden Johnson, Covington Catholic lineman Sam Murrer and Beechwood defensive back Joe Studer.
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.