BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

PIKEVILLE — For two days at Appalachian Wireless Arena, the margins were razor-thin and the pace relentless. It was the kind of tournament where a single scramble can tilt an entire team race. Martin County High School lived in that tension at the Hatfield-McCoy 32. The Cardinals stalked the lead close enough to touch the trophy and took runner-up honors in a stacked 38-team field Dec. 29–30.

Coach Josh Muncy’s bunch finished with 268.5 points. That was just 3.5 behind champion Johnson Central in one of eastern Kentucky’s most unforgiving holiday tournaments.

Four individual titles, five runner-up finishes and a fourth-place showing carried Martin County.

Jeremy Mollett set the tone at 113 pounds, wrestling like a man intent on shortening the weekend. He pinned Jude Fortier of LaRue County at 4:00 in the quarterfinals. Mollett then erased Noah Clouse of Johnson Central in 43 seconds in the semifinals. The championship bout followed the same script. Mollett planted Evan Martin of Mason County at 4:49 to secure gold and 28 team points.

At 120 pounds, Blake Lemaster was equally clinical. He opened by overwhelming Liam Ditto of LaRue County by technical fall at 5:01. Lemaster then needed just 1:19 to dispatch Levi Gibbs of Oldham County in the semifinals. In the finals, he slowed the match to his terms, controlling Jacob Smeltzer of Grundy 5-0 for another title.

Parker Maynard turned the 157-pound bracket into a pinning exhibition. He needed 70 seconds to finish Jack Madden of Russell. He followed with falls over James McDaniels of Boyd County at 2:55 and Jaxon Clary of Oldham County at 4:51. In the finals, Maynard closed the door with a 5:35 fall over Maddox Bryant of Johnson Central. He piled up 32 team points along the way.

At 215 pounds, Brayden Fannin was relentless. He pinned Jaxon Borders of Paintsville in 28 seconds, then broke Cameron Burnside of Ashland Blazer with a technical fall at 4:47 in the quarterfinals. A 1:10 semifinal fall over Brody Ford of Grundy sent him to the finals. Fannin capped his run by pinning Adam Behling of Oldham County at 1:12, good for 31.5 points.

The Cardinals depth showed just as clearly in the runner-up finishes.

Brody Jewell battled to second at 106 pounds. He pinned Jackson Edgar of Oldham County at 3:33 and Carson Gross of Letcher County Central at 2:49. He then earned a 7-3 semifinal decision over Jamarion Sanders of LaRue County. In the title match, Jewell fell 10-6 to Colton Clevenger of Grundy.

Noah Bowens reached the finals at 138 pounds with a 33-second pin of Caleb Riordan of Oldham County. He followed with a 3:16 fall over Gabriel Ditto of LaRue County. A 5-3 semifinal decision over Landon Howard of Johnson Central pushed him into the championship bout. Bowens finished second after a 12-5 loss to Kalden Nottingham of Boyd County.

Jeremy Begley delivered another silver medal at 144 pounds. He pinned Landon Manning of Boyd County in 55 seconds. He then took care of Andrew Meade of Letcher County Central in 1:03. A 7-0 semifinal decision over Jace Bowling of Boyd County put Begley into the finals. He finished runner-up against Ryan Smith of Johnson Central.

Cole Jewell was a force at 165 pounds. He opened with an 11-second fall over Javan Duty of Ridgeview. He then edged Andrew Scarberry of Grundy 2-1 in a tiebreaker. Next, Jewell pinned Isac Brown of Whitley County at 3:55. He survived a sudden-victory semifinal against Zac Scott of Johnson Central. His tournament ended with a second-place finish after a fall to Tony Leader of Boyd County at 4:27.

Easton Slone followed a similar path at 190 pounds. He rattled off four straight pins. He took out Ethan Melvin of Johnson Central in 47 seconds, Elijiah Bryant of Whitley County at 1:59, Jack Grimes of Oldham County at 2:45 and Gabriel Blackburn of Johnson Central at 2:29. Slone finished second after falling to Talan Looney of Grundy at 2:00 in the finals.

James Begley rounded out the Cardinals scoring with a fourth-place finish at 175 pounds. After an opening loss to Wyatt Probus of Whitley County, Begley tore through the consolation bracket. He pinned Chaz Williamson of Mingo Central in 28 seconds, then defeated Grayson Malicoat of Bell County 5-0. Begley added wins over Peyton Walker of West Carter and Rueben Rowe of Grundy. He then earned a technical fall over Justin Brown of Whitley County at 5:00. Begley closed the tournament with a 7-2 loss to Nathaniel Williams of Ashland Blazer in the consolation championship.