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High School Wrestling

Wrestling: WillCo grapplers collect 10 Region 7-AAA titles, qualify 39 for state

Brentwood captures region 3-peat in team standings

Region 7-AAA Wrestling – Championships .

Page senior Mitchell Lambert reacts after winning the 182-pound Region 7-AAA championship  on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020 at Antioch High School. 

See CHAMPIONSHIPS for full photo gallery from the title matches. 

See 3RD PLACE for full photo gallery from third place and wrestle-back matches. 

See SEMIS-CONSOLATION for full photo gallery from matches early Saturday. 

Trailing 3-0 in the waning seconds of the 182-pound Region 7-AAA championship match Saturday at Antioch High School, Mitchell Lambert of Page needed to make a move and make it fast.

The junior was waiting for an opening for most of the third period and finally, with less than 20 seconds remaining, Lambert tied up Hillwood’s Sikura Ekunsumi, picked him up and slammed the senior to the mat. Lambert kept Ekunsumi on his back and claimed a 5-3 decision with the near-fall and takedown as time expired.

From down-and-out to region champion, Lambert joined nine other Williamson County wrestlers as titlists from the large-school regional tournament. In all, 39 of the 56 Class AAA State Tournament qualifiers from the regional came from WillCo schools.

For Lambert, the region title win was a career achievement, but he hopes he could make more noise on the state stage. 

“I mean it is the most awesome feeling,” said the Patriot junior, who narrowly missed qualifying for state last year as a sophomore, taking fifth in the regional. “It just feels so good to have all that hard work pay off.

“Like everyone else, I’m just hoping to go out there (next week) and do my best and show that I can compete with the best.”

The individual state wrestling tournament returns to the Williamson County Ag Expo Center in Franklin on Feb. 20. Wrestling begins Thursday and stretches through Saturday.

Lambert – Page’s lone region champ – is one of nine Patriot wrestlers to qualify for state. Senior Jacob Gifford added a runner-up finish at 126.

Brentwood claimed the team title with 217.5 total points to win the region team championship for the third consecutive season.

“I’m just thrilled for these guys and all the hard work they’ve put in,” Brentwood coach Damon Smith said. “Now we can prepare for state and you never know – everybody has a shot on that stage.”

The Bruins qualified seven for state with both Skylar Coffey (285) and Johnny Mac Feldhacker (195) winning region titles.

Feldhacker, who has been battling an ankle injury, earned a 4-1 decision over Centennial senior Samari Suddeath for his second region championship. He won at 160 last season.

“The goal is to be a state champ,” Feldhacker said. “I’m super excited and have been looking forward to this time of year all season.”

Brentwood also produced two of the three wrestlers who battled back and earned state berths with the adaptation of the true fourth-place match in this year’s region tournament format. Both Kizer Hensley (132) and Patton Bailey (113) were able to clinch state berths by winning back-to-back matches in consolation after falling in the consolation semifinals.

“So if you placed fifth and had not wrestled the fourth-place guy, you could challenge him to take his state qualifying spot,” Smith said. “We wanted the best guys from our region to be able to represent us so we added that true fourth-place match to hopefully create the best four from each weight class coming out of our region and man, those are loaded with excitement.”

Franklin senior Chase Reimer was the other state qualifier who battled back to take fourth. The 220-pounder was pinned by eventual third-place finished Max VanLandingham of Page in the consolation semifinals, but bounced back to defeat Brentwood’s Noah Dixon and Hillsboro’s Josiah Peek to capture a state berth.

The Rebels qualified four for state: Owen Gobel (2nd at 106), Gabriel Green (3rd at 132), Cooper Grills (3rd at 160) and Reimer.

Centennial was second in the team standings with 202 points and the Cougars dominated the lower weights with champions at 120, 126, 132 and 145.

“We only brought 11 kids and we sent seven to the finals which is fantastic in this region,” Centennial coach Philip Pelkey said. “It’s a great feeling to see that success with these guys.”

Eight Cougars qualified for state, including first time region champs Presley Dittmer (126), Leo Gearheart (132) and Jacob Knight (170).

Junior Alex Ables repeated as region champ by topping Brentwood’s Cooper Finch at 145 for the Cougars, while older brother Dylan snagged his first championship with a thrilling triple overtime win against Timothy Ford of Independence at 120.

“I think this is my first tournament win in like eight years so it’s been a long time to be honest,” the senior Ables said. “But from placing third last year to winning my first region championship, I’m really, really hungry to place at state. That’s my focus.”

Ford tipped Ables in overtime in their last meeting this season. He is one of five Eagles to qualify for state despite the setback. Sophomore Russell Ford (106) and junior Tanner Willett (138) both captured region titles for Indy.

Summit had five reach the state tournament as well led by Jackson Masters’ second-place finish at 113.

Ravenwood’s Bryan Rice also closed runner-up at 220 to lead the Raptors.

2020 Region 7-AAA Wrestling Championships Feb. 14-15 at Antioch High School

Team Results

1, Brentwood 217.5; 2, Centennial 202; 3, Page 188; 4, Summit 166; 5, Independence 155.5; 6, Overton 131; 7, McGavock 113; 8, Franklin 105; 9, Ravenwood 72.5; 10, Hillwood 70.5; 11, Antioch 58.5; 12, Hillsboro 56.5.

106

1st Place Match – Russell Ford, IHS, dec. Owen Gobel, FHS, 5-2; 3rd Place Match – Steve Ramos, AHS, pinned O’Neal Sebastian, PHS, 4:40; 4th Place Match – O’Neal Sebastian, PHS, no contest over Zach Ordonez, BHS; 5th Place Match – Zach Ordonez, BHS, pinned Lucas Martin, HWD, 0:48.

113

1st Place Match – Chris Calvin, MHS, dec. Jackson Masters, SHS, 11-4; 3rd Place Match – Thomas Brown, PHS, pinned Recco McDowell, HWD, 0:50 – 4th Place Match – Patton Bailey, BHS, pinned Recco McDowell, HWD, 2:48 – 5th Place Match – Patton Bailey, BHS, pinned Eric Ferrer, AHS, 2:54.

120

1st Place Match – Dylan Ables, CHS, overtime dec. Timothy Ford, IHS (TB-1) 4-1; 3rd Place Match– Austin Grooters, SHS, dec. Trisan Hebb, HWD, 8-7 – 4th Place Match – Trisan Hebb, HWD, dec. Jack McDaniel, BHS, 3-2; 5th Place Match – Jack McDaniel, BHS, pinned Noah Kang, RHS, 4:53.

126

1st Place Match – Presley Dittmer, CHS, maj. dec. Jacob Gifford, 11-3; 3rd Place Match – Austin Noll, SHS, injury time over Jeremiah Savage, MHS (Inj. 4:17); 4th Place Match – Jeremiah Savage, MHS, no contest over Desmon Drake, HLHS; 5th Place Match – Desmon Drake, HLHS, pinned Brock Wittman, FHS, 4:31.

132

1st Place Match – Leo Gearheart, CHS, dec. Brandon Torres, AHS, 9-5; 3rd Place Match – Gabriel Green, FHS, dec. Jacob Douthit, OHS, 9-4; 4th Place Match – Kizer Hensley, BHS, maj. dec. Jacob Douthit, OHS, 18-6; 5th Place Match – Kizer Hensley, BHS, dec. Drew Dodson, RHS, 5-1. 


138

1st Place Match – Tanner Willett, IHS, maj. dec. Michael Quillen, DCHS, 12-3; 3rd Place Match – Alton Cates, OHS, dec. Will Parcel, PHS, 9-4; 4th Place Match – Will Parcel, PHS, no contest over Samuel Sullivan, BHS; 5th Place Match – Samuel Sullivan, BHS, pinned Ceron Campbell, CHS, 0:50.

145

1st Place Match – Alex Ables, CHS, dec. Cooper Finch, BHS, 4-1; 3rd Place Match – Robert Brambiett, SHHS, dec. Dylan Miller, PHS, 9-4; 4th Place Match – Dylan Miller, PHS, pinned Jack Hill, SHS, 1:34; 5th Place Match – Jack Hill, SHS, pinned Dylan Martin, RHS, 4:11.

152

1st Place Match – Amange Abdurrahman, OHS, pinned Ethan Duck, CHS, 1:27; 3rd Place Match – Miles Grady, SHS, pinned Seth Wright, PHS, 1:43; 4th Place Match – Seth Wright, PHS, no contest over Nathaniel Martin, MHS; 5th Place Match – Nathaniel Martin, MHS, dec. Jet Steinke, RHS, 3-2.

160

1st Place Match – Evian Green, OHS, maj. dec. John Campbell, DCHS, 11-2; 3rd Place Match – Cooper Grills, FHS, pinned Garner Jones, BHS, 2:36; 4th Place Match – Garner Jones, BHS, no contest over Cannon Roberts, IHS; 5th Place Match – Cannon Roberts, IHS, pinned Luke Justice, SHS, 0:46.

170

1st Place Match – Jacob Knight, CHS, maj. dec. Jakob Oxford, IHS, 10-1; 3rd Place Match – Ezra Chrisman, PHS, dec. Keshaun Urquhart, MHS, 3-1; 4th Place Match – Keshaun Urquhart, MHS, no contest over Daniel Helton, FHS; 5th Place Match – Daniel Helton, FHS, pinned Peter Krivacka, BHS, 1:24.

182

1st Place Match – Mitchell Lambert, PHS, dec. Sikura Ekunsumi, HWD, 5-3; 3rd Place Match – Gabriel Hall, IHS pinned Alikhan Makhamadaliev, BHS, 1:16; 4th Place Match – Alikhan Makhamadaliev, BHS, no contest over Joseph Lukens, SHS; 5th Place Match – Joseph Lukens, SHS, dec. Simeon Dudley, HHS, 7-4.

195

1st Place Match – JohnnyMac Feldhacker, BHS, dec. Samari Suddeath, CHS, 4-1; 3rd Place Match – Hassan Mizoury, OHS, Donald Cory, HHS, 5-1; 4th Place Match – Donald Cory, HHS, no contest over Tyler Garber, SHS; 5th Place Match – Tyler Garber, SHS, maj. dec. Hunter Sullivan, IHS, 10-0.

220

1st Place Match – Amir Saleib, OHS, dec. Bryan Rice, RHS, 11-8; 3rd Place Match – Max VanLandingham, PHS, pinned Josiah Peek, HHS, 2:42; 4th Place Match – Chase Reimer, FHS, dec. Josiah Peek, HHS, 7-4; 5th Place Match – Chase Reimer, FHS, dec. Noah Dixon, BHS, 10-5.

285

1st Place Match – Skylar Coffey, BHS, pinned Gabrille Fletcher, MHS, 1:02; 3rd Place Match – Ryan Smith, SHS, dec. Alexander Steel, CHS, 7-1; 4th Place Match – Aexander Steele, CHS, no contest over Nash Pineda, AHS; 5th Place Match – Nash Pineda, AHS, pinned Sean Holder, PHS, 0:35.

Editor's Note: This story was adjusted to note that Mitchell Lambert is a junior in high school, not a senior as previously indicated. We apologize for the mistake. 

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