[Stardust]

http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/201...duals-spot


Campbell County boasted seven unbeaten wrestlers at Saturday's Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference meet at Conner and a Camel scored the upset of the day as coach Mike Bankemper's squad repeated as champion with a 62-2 final-round victory over Scott.


The Camels and runner-up Ryle clinched spots in January's state duals.

Campbell County defeated Pool B champion Ryle 63-18 in round-robin action after winning Pool A.

Scott won Pool C in the three-pool event involving a total of 11 teams.

The Camels went 5-0 in duals on Saturday without last year's state runner-up at 103 pounds, Garth Yenter, who won't be cleared for practice until Monday after a bout with rheumatoid arthritis.

"We thought we could win it when two of the best teams (Ryle and Simon Kenton) aren't full go," coach Bankemper said. "We should have had the upper hand."

Camels winning all five matches were Sean Fausz (119 pounds), Zach Fryer (125), Paul Hamilton (130), Corbin Woods (135), Kent Bachman (140), Eric Spahr (145) and heavyweight Mason Franck, who remained unbeaten against Kentucky wrestlers and moved to 26-1 on the season.

"A lot of our wrestling we do is done in Ohio, so when we go to (state) duals, we get to see the competition around the state and we figure out how to beat them," Franck said of the Camels' incentive to win or place second at the NKAC meet.

Hamilton, a sophomore, shocked the crowd by defeating Scott's Ritchie Supe 4-2 in sudden death overtime.

"A big win like that makes you feel great," Franck said of the residual team-wide effect of Hamilton's upset victory.

Hamilton lost to Supe 12-5 on Wednesday at Scott. Supe was a regional runner-up and a seventh-place finisher at state last season at 119 pounds.

"Single leg. Sweep single," said Hamilton of the move that fell Supe in sudden death. "My match the other night, I picked up on what he was doing. I just watched the moves he did and learned how to get out of position, and got a lot of re-shots on him."

The Raiders and Pioneers participated with primarily junior varsity wrestlers while their varsity squads competed at Saturday's Southwest Ohio Wrestling Coaches' Association-Glenn Sample Classic.

Bankemper said it is so important for he and his wrestlers to get in-person scouting reports at the state duals in preparation for the ensuing state tournament that he makes sure he brings his A team to the NKAC meet.

"We choose not to go to SWOWCA because this qualifies us for state duals where we can get a look at the rest of Kentucky before the state meet," Bankemper said. "The state duals is kind of like a scouting mission because we want to know what we're going to face later at state."

Ryle finished 4-1 in duals Saturday at Conner while being directed by assistant coach Rick Barker. Scott (2-2) finished in third place after losing to Ryle, 48-35, in round-robin action. Simon Kenton (3-1) won the round-robin event that determined fourth place with a 57-24 win over fifth-place Conner (3-2).

"We brought JV and middle school kids and they help fill out our team on a day like today when Ryle is in different places," Barker said. "Everybody contributed and we got second."

Junior Cody Haynes and Jake Erdman enjoyed unbeaten performances for the Raiders.

"They both went 5-0," Barker said. "Erdman is an eighth-grader... A lot of our middle-schoolers came up and won."