HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING: Southern's Whitehead takes second at state
Feb. 25—Nathan Hutchinson
Only two wrestlers from Madison County — Thomas Deck (2018, 2019 and 2020) and Zach Cowan (2021) — have ever won Kentucky High School Athletic Association state championships.
Madison Southern's Stephen Whitehead put himself in position to capture his first-ever title on Saturday in Winchester.
His shot at history, though, came up just short.
Whitehead suffered a 2-1 loss to St. Xavier's Carter Guillaume in the finals of the 285-pound. The match was tied heading into the final moments, when the championship-deciding point was awarded on a stalling call.
Whitehead (50-1) had not lost a match this season.
Two other Madison County wrestlers reached the podium on Saturday at George Rogers Clark High School.
Southern senior Chris Begley was fourth in the 144-pound weight class and Madison Central's Robert Nardelli finished sixth at 132 pounds.
Madison Southern — which had just three participants in the state meet — finished 15th in the team standings with 34 points.
Madison Central had 12 points and finished 31st.
Whitehead won the Region 7 championship, then also took the title last week at the semi-state event.
On Friday, the junior beat Frankie Nutt of McCracken County by fall, then earned a 5-3 decision over Willie Rodriquez of Campbell County to move into the semifinals. Whitehead beat Colton Lewis of Pleasure Ridge Park, 9-3, to become the first Southern wrestler to reach a state final.
Justus Williams finished third in both 2016 and 2017.
Begley also won two matches on Friday in get into the semifinals, beating Reese McGill of Oldham County by fall and James Haas of Ryle, 6-1.
On Saturday, the senior suffered an 11-3 loss to Caleb Mayes of Paducah Tilghman. He beat Glenn Mayes of Union County, 4-2, before falling in the third-place match to Mason Schweitzer, 11-9 in overtime.
Nardelli got a forfeit victory in the first round, then fell into the consolation bracket, where he earned wins over Timothy Sulfsted of Walton Verona and Korrey Mattingly of Male.
The senior was handed a 4-0 loss by Hunter Luttrel of Fairdale in the fifth-place match.
Central's Lucas Hutchison (157) and Carson Herbst (138) won matches at state before being eliminated.
Southern's Braeden Kelley (150) lost both his matches on Friday.
