Christian County finished fifth at the Cape Girardeau Tiger Classic Saturday in Missouri, with Jakerion Merritt winning the 132-pound class. Merritt became the first Colonel wrestler since Shawn Smith in 1994 to win their class at the event. He also had the fastest pin of any Colonel wrestler – 16 seconds.
Ethan Wells finished second in the 120-pound class, with Diion Leavell also finishing in second place in the 182-pound class.
Gage Fowler (106) and Niko Bussell (195) both placed third, while Ishmael Griffie (138), Cameron Coleman (160), and Markus Green (220) each finishing in fourth place.
Meanwhile, the Colonels also finished 11th Saturday at the Armstrong Duals in Princeton. The Colonels did go 4-1, defeating Hopkinsville 36-32, Paducah Tilghman 51-6, Whitesville Trinity 42-12, while falling to John Hardin 46-18.
“Overall, it was a great two days of wrestling. Our younger wrestlers got to experience some success and discover what wresting at the varsity level entails at the Armstrong Duals, and our veteran wrestlers stepped up and performed very well at the Tiger Classic,” said Coach Robert Burnham. “I can’t say enough about Jakerion’s performance. He has been working extremely hard. His finals match was a rematch of last year’s Tiger Classic Final at 120. For him to avenge that loss and to do it with a pin, speaks volumes about the kind of work that he and the rest of his teammates are putting in.”
Christian County will host the Toyota of Hopkinsville Christian County Invitational Friday and Saturday at Lyle Dunbar Gymnasium.
