Christian County had six wrestlers finish first or second to help the Colonels finish third at the Toyota of Hopkinsville Christian County Invitational Saturday at Lyle Dunbar Gymnasium.
Gage Fowler defeated McCracken County’s Jaden Frazier to win the 113-pound division. Fowler is ranked third in the state in the 113-pound class, while Frazier entered the day ranked 10th.
In a preview of what could be the 132-pound championship match at both region and state, Jakerion Merritt beat Union County’s Gabe Adams in points to take the title. They ranked 1-2 in the state by Kentuckywrestling.com. Adams finished second at state in the 120-pound class last year. Merritt finished fourth at 132 last year.
Antonio Abren claimed the 182-pound title with a win over Cooper Palmieri of Clarksville Northwest. Abren, who missed last year with a knee injury, is ranked eighth in the state.
Niko Bussell finished second to Union County’s Matthias Ervin for the 220-pound title. Ervin is the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 220, while Bussell is ranked third.
Neal Aldridge took second place in the 145-pound class with Union County’s Payne Carr winning the title match. Carr is ranked second in the state, while Aldridge is ranked ninth. Carr makes the jump to 145 after finishing fifth at state at 132 last year.
Ethan Wells finished second to Union County’s Union County’s Sam Bacon in the championship match at 126 pounds. Bacon is ranked second statewide in the class and finished second in the state at 126 last year, while Wells is ranked 14th.
Cameron Coleman took third place in the 160-pound class, beating John Overton’s Trenton McCrary in the third place match. Coleman is ranked sixth in the state in the weight class.
Markus Green took fourth place in the 285-pound class after going 3-2 on the afternoon. Green entered the day ranked 14th in the class.
Kenyon Drayton finished fifth in the 170-pound class after going 3-2 on the day. Drayton, who is ranked 19th in the state, defeated Hezekiah Hunter of Benjamin Russell, Ala. in the fifth place match.
Christian County totaled 204.5 points to finish third behind Union County (283.5) and McCracken County (219.5) in the 22-team field.