LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Heading into the final match of the 2016 Jefferson County Tournament of Champions wrestling meet, only 2.5 points separated the St. Xavier Tigers and the Trinity Shamrocks.
And just like Friday night’s win on the hardwood, the Tigers got the last laugh.
Tigers junior Dallas Miles clinched the county invitational title histed by Fern Creek High School with a 11-3 major decision over Fern Creek’s Jared Branch in the 145 lb. weight class, the last scheduled match of the evening. The victory gave the Tigers 252 points, three and a half points more than Trinity, who finished with 249.5 points.
Rounding out the top five were Male High School with 165 points, Central High School with 143 points, and Fern Creek with 119 points.
“It was great,” St. Xavier head coach Jim Kraeszig said. “The best thing is I definitely don’t think we’ve peaked. And we don’t want to peak now, we want to peak in February (at the state tournament).”
The tournament included some of the top wrestlers in the state, according to ranking site KentuckyWrestling.com. At least one grappler from the region was ranked in the top five in every weight class per the latest rankings.
Highly ranked finals winners included top-ranked St. Xavier freshman Nate Wheeler (106 lb.), No. 1 ranked Trinity senior Keegan Duncan (132 lb.), and No. 1 ranked Iroquois junior Brandon Reed (220 lb.).
Reed engaged in one of the fiercest duels of the tournament, battling Male senior Garrett Chandler to a 2-1 decision that went down to the wire.
Although they finished in second place, Trinity closed out the tournament with six finalists and five winners, and were in position to win heading into the final duel.
“I think we did a great job,” Trinity head coach Eddie Rudolph said. “Give the credit to St. Xavier, it came down to the last match that we saw today. I’m just super proud of my kids.”
The Tigers themselves won four individual titles from five finalists in the tournament, but both the team and its coach believed it was points gained from consolation-round matches that helped propel St. Xavier to the title.
“It’s the wrestle-backs where you win (these tournaments),” second-ranked Tigers senior Elijah Allgeier said following his 195 lb. weight class title. “It’s kids who lost and they’re coming back. They’re the kids who really won it for us.”
“We’ve been practicing the past two months for this tournament. We wrestled Trinity, one of the top contenders with us for the state tournament, and we beat them so we know we’re up there and we’re capable of winning another state championship.”
St. Xavier wasn’t the only team that was all smiles following the tournament’s finish. Male’s third-place finish was the best spot the team has ended in since re-starting the program five years ago, according to head coach Chris McCoy.
The Bulldogs were 0-3 in finals but did secure a pair of third place finishes as well, cementing their status in the region as a dark horse contender for individual titles come the state tournament.
“I’m very proud of our guys who came in, wrestled well, and performed well,” McCoy said. “Of course we would have liked to have a couple of champions but they wrestled their tails off so we’re pleased with leaving here with third place.”