02-18-2012, 03:22 AM
LEXINGTON â Kevin Cooper borrowed a pair of wrestling shoes for the KHSAA state meet and the teal footwear made the Simon Kenton junior stand out even more than usual Friday.
"I actually just got 'em from a friend," he said. "My other shoes, they're the ones that I won state in, were blown out."
Competing at 145 pounds, Cooper pinned both of his opponents Friday at Alltech Arena and will wrestle McCreary Central senior Josh Phillips in today's quarterfinals.
"I've just got to keep my mind focused on the next ones," he said. "The first two are easy, the rest are hard."
Cooper added to his family's legacy last year by winning a state title at 135 pounds, and said this is his fifth consecutive appearance at the state meet.
He is undefeated in 65 matches this season and holds the No. 1 ranking in his weight class.
"What he's doing right now has never been done at Simon Kenton," assistant coach Stephen Kaiser said. "If he can finish this thing off and win this tournament, he'll be 68-0. The Simon Kenton record was 59-0."
The Pioneers advanced four other wrestlers to the quarterfinals â freshman Elijah Owens (106), juniors Joey Parrott (120) and Hiero Chamblee (170), and sophomore Derek Hicks (182) - and enter the meet's decisive day in fourth place in the overall team standings.
Campbell County and defending state champion Union County are tied for first with Trinity in third.
Campbell County, which last won a team title in 2004, has six wrestlers still in contention for an individual championship. One of them is Garth Yenter, who is undefeated at 120 pounds. The senior won a championship last year at 103 pounds.
"We're doing pretty good so far as a team," Yenter said after winning his second-round bout. "We've really been trying to go for the extra points.
"It's going to be a tight team race this year and we've got a shot at winning it. We're all doing our best â go for those pins, go for those techs and go for those majors â to put our team in a better position to win it all."
Kaiser said the Pioneers' goal entering this season was a top-five performance at the state meet. The team finished 10th last year.
Kaiser challenged Cooper earlier this season to step up his game, and the prodding worked.
"He was kind of coasting a little bit," Kaiser said. "It's not just win matches and beat people, but beat guys by a convincing margin and focus on going undefeated, not slipping up. Because it's hard to do. It really is. It's easy to slip up once."
If Cooper defeats Phillips, he could face Christian County junior Kory Polley in the semis. Polley is ranked second in the state at 145 pounds and faces No. 10 Clayton Smith, a junior at Trinity.
For a wrestler whose older brothers won a combined five state wrestling titles while at Simon Kenton, anything short of a championship would be unacceptable for Cooper.
"Another two," he said. "I'm only a junior."
"I actually just got 'em from a friend," he said. "My other shoes, they're the ones that I won state in, were blown out."
Competing at 145 pounds, Cooper pinned both of his opponents Friday at Alltech Arena and will wrestle McCreary Central senior Josh Phillips in today's quarterfinals.
"I've just got to keep my mind focused on the next ones," he said. "The first two are easy, the rest are hard."
Cooper added to his family's legacy last year by winning a state title at 135 pounds, and said this is his fifth consecutive appearance at the state meet.
He is undefeated in 65 matches this season and holds the No. 1 ranking in his weight class.
"What he's doing right now has never been done at Simon Kenton," assistant coach Stephen Kaiser said. "If he can finish this thing off and win this tournament, he'll be 68-0. The Simon Kenton record was 59-0."
The Pioneers advanced four other wrestlers to the quarterfinals â freshman Elijah Owens (106), juniors Joey Parrott (120) and Hiero Chamblee (170), and sophomore Derek Hicks (182) - and enter the meet's decisive day in fourth place in the overall team standings.
Campbell County and defending state champion Union County are tied for first with Trinity in third.
Campbell County, which last won a team title in 2004, has six wrestlers still in contention for an individual championship. One of them is Garth Yenter, who is undefeated at 120 pounds. The senior won a championship last year at 103 pounds.
"We're doing pretty good so far as a team," Yenter said after winning his second-round bout. "We've really been trying to go for the extra points.
"It's going to be a tight team race this year and we've got a shot at winning it. We're all doing our best â go for those pins, go for those techs and go for those majors â to put our team in a better position to win it all."
Kaiser said the Pioneers' goal entering this season was a top-five performance at the state meet. The team finished 10th last year.
Kaiser challenged Cooper earlier this season to step up his game, and the prodding worked.
"He was kind of coasting a little bit," Kaiser said. "It's not just win matches and beat people, but beat guys by a convincing margin and focus on going undefeated, not slipping up. Because it's hard to do. It really is. It's easy to slip up once."
If Cooper defeats Phillips, he could face Christian County junior Kory Polley in the semis. Polley is ranked second in the state at 145 pounds and faces No. 10 Clayton Smith, a junior at Trinity.
For a wrestler whose older brothers won a combined five state wrestling titles while at Simon Kenton, anything short of a championship would be unacceptable for Cooper.
"Another two," he said. "I'm only a junior."