Louisville-area wrestlers will try to qualify for the State Championships during three area regional tournaments this weekend.
Sites for the Louisville-area regionals are Valley (Region Three), Atherton (Region Four) and Anderson County (Region Five).
Fern Creek is the defending state champion and will compete in Region Three. The Tigers currently are ranked No. 5 in the state by KentuckyWrestling.com and five wrestlers ranked among the top five in the state in their respective weight classes.
The top four finishers in each weight class will earn spots in the state meet set for Feb. 19-20 at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena in Lexington.
Here’s a look at the Louisville-area regionals (rankings from KentuckyWrestling.com):
REGION THREE
* When: 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
* Where: Valley.
* 2015 champion: Fern Creek.
* Top 25 teams: No. 5 Fern Creek, No. 19 Iroquois.
* Top individuals (ranked among top five in state): Fern Creek’s Mike Klein (No. 5 at 106 pounds), Colton Lampe (No. 3 at 113), Connor Cambron (No. 2 at 126), Jeremy Henehan (No. 5 at 132) and A.J. Bindner (No. 3 at 138); Iroquois’ Brandon Reed (No. 1 at 220); Bullitt Central’s Sean Sanders (No. 3 at 285).
REGION FOUR
* When: 6:30 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
* Where: Atherton.
* 2015 champion: St. Xavier.
* Top 25 teams: No. 2 Trinity, No. 6 St. Xavier, No. 13 Male, No. 22 Central.
* Top individuals (ranked among top five in state): St. Xavier’s Nate Wheeler (No. 1 at 106 pounds), Austin Cook (No. 5 at 120), Dallas Miles (No. 3 at 145) and Elijah Allgeier (No. 2 at 182); Trinity’s Keegan Duncan (No. 1 at 132), Ben Barton (No. 2 at 152), Hudson Heidorf (No. 1 at 160) and Tyler Frankrone (No. 1 at 195); Male’s Zane Brown (No. 2 at 132), Cameron Blankenship (No. 5 at 160) and Garrett Chandler (No. 4 at 220).
REGION FIVE
* When: 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
* Where: Anderson County.
* 2015 champion: Oldham County.
* Top 25 teams: No. 3 Woodford County, No. 4 Oldham County, No. 8 North Oldham.
* Top individuals (ranked among top five in state): Woodford County’s Chase Yost (No. 3 at 106 pounds), Tylan Tucker (No. 1 at 113), Tucker Hurst (No. 4 at 120), Joey Roberts (No. 3 at 132), Max Andreoni (No. 2 at 160) and Emir Bernabe (No. 4 at 195); Oldham County’s Nick Wise (No. 4 at 145), Brady Emerson (No. 3 at 152), Max Emerson (No. 1 at 182) and Daniel Kimble (No. 3 at 195); North Oldham’s Collin Portman (No. 2 at 220) and Landin Jones (No. 2 at 285).