Bluegrassrivals

113 Tanner Mouser 1-2

120 Nick Paden 4-1

132 Raymundo Perez 4-3

145 Mason Ray 0-2

160 Shawn Hull 5-1

170 Caleb Canter 4-2

182 Bernard Ray 4-0

195 BJ Carman 5-1

220 Drew Newberry 4-0

285 Eli Meredith 1-2

LEXINGTON — Bernard Ray stood up with 2 seconds left, realizing he finally had achieved his dream of winning a state title.


Jill Pickett
LaRue County's Nick Paden tries to block a take-down attempt by Campbell County's Garth Yenter during the 120-pound championship match Saturday in the 2012 KHSAA State Wrestling Championships at Alltech Arena in Lexington.
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It was the only title the once-favored LaRue County Hawks would win on this night.

Ray, a senior, beat Johnson Central senior John Conley, 10-6 to win the 182-pound championship in the finals of Saturday’s KHSAA State Wrestling Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena.

“I kind of anticipated I was going to win,” Ray said. “I jumped up with 2 seconds left and did kind of a half-victory lap and came back to the center.”

Ray provided the Hawks their only reason for celebration.

Seniors Nick Paden and Drew Newberry lost title matches, and LaRue County – which was considered a heavy favorite to win its first team title – slipped to fourth behind champion Campbell County and runner-up Union County, Louisville Trinity, which finished 1.5 points ahead of the Hawks.

LaRue County coach Gary Canter didn’t hold anything back when talking about Campbell County’s run to the title. The Camels benefitted greatly from the controversial transfers of the Myers brothers – Stephen and Austin. Both won titles.

“I’m proud of everything that we’ve accomplished,” Canter said. “We did it the right way. Everyone else is ... I don’t care to say it: I don’t like how they got to the top. We’re going to do it the way you’re supposed to: with people that come from your school and your county, and we’re going to be the best we are. If that’s the way it’s going to be, then we took first place.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” he added. “We didn’t have the most favorable draws, but we made the best of it. We wrestled our butts off. We had six kids get to the semis. When you get six kids to the semis, you’re set up to win the tournament. But that’s part of it. That’s part of sports. You wrestle to win and sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t.”

The Hawks experienced both ends of the spectrum Saturday night.

Ray (47-2) took an 8-3 lead going to the third period. Conley scored on an escape and was given one point when Ray was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“He was ticking me off,” Ray said. “He wasn’t doing anything. He was being stiff and kind of stalling, and I’m not used to that.”

Ray, however, scored another takedown for a 10-5 lead. Conley still had a chance, and went for a takedown late in the third. But Ray rolled through and was able to hold off Conley.

“I’ve only given up one takedown all year,” Ray said. “That was my last chance to do something like that. I was never worried. I’m pretty strong on the bottom and I knew he couldn’t hold me down for long. That’s a thing of pride for me.”

Paden (42-6) fell behind Campbell County senior Garth Yenter (65-0) 4-1 after the first period. After a Paden escape, Yenter had a takedown to extend his lead to 6-2. Yenter put the match away with another takedown late in the third.

Paden, a five-time region tournament champion, was far from upset with how his career ended.

“I’m not disappointed at all. I’m happy with my career,” he said. “I’m happy for the family that I’ve formed on this team, and I’m happy with everything I’ve done. Everything I’ve done has been a success. It would have been nice to top it off with the cherry on top, but I’ve got plenty of whipped cream. And I’m fine with that.”

Paden said Yenter beat him at what he does best – wrestling on his feet.

“He’s good at everything,” Paden said. “He beat me at my own game, and that’s on my feet. But I’ve gotta give it to him; he’s a great wrestler. He deserves every bit of the state championship. His shot’s amazing. You just can’t score on him, and that’s why he won.”

The match was stopped four times because Paden suffered a bloody nose. Canter acknowledged it was hard for either wrestler to get into much of a groove because of all the down time.

“The blood and all the stoppages kind of put us at a disadvantage,” he said. “Garth is just a strong kid. Nick was just overwhelmed. But I think he held has own. As the match wore on, I think his conditioning went away. It’s just unfortunate he only had 6 minutes.”

And then there’s Newberry, who entered State ranked No. 1 at 220 pounds.

Austin Myers completely controlled the match from the outset, holding Newberry scoreless as he won, 4-0. Myers (19-0) scored on a takedown in the first period and was awarded one point when Newberry was called for stalling in the second. He scored his final point on an escape in the third.

“I’ve just never been controlled like that,” Newberry (43-3) said. “I don’t know what got in to me. I just picked a bad time to have an off match.”

After the match, Newberry walked down a long corridor at the arena to try and collect his thoughts.

Moments later, he still couldn’t fathom getting shut out in the state finals.

“I tried to find and realize all the good things I’ve done. It’s just a shame it had to end like this,” Newberry said. “He’s just a tremendous wrestler. He can wrestle well on his feet, he can wrestle from the bottom, he can wrestle from the top. He can do it all.”

Newberry was going for his second state title. He won the 215-pound title as a sophomore and was expected to contend for the title as a junior, but missed the season with a knee injury suffered during football season.

Even with all that happened in his career, Newberry said he wouldn’t change a thing.

“I’ve had a heckuva run,” Newberry said. “I’m definitely going to miss being a Hawk, but it’s been a heckuva run.”

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