BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
LEXINGTON — Martin County arrived at the 2026 KHSAA State Wrestling Tournament with purpose and left with pride. The Cardinals claimed 1A State Runner-Up honors, placed three wrestlers on the podium, finished among the top 10 teams overall and saw coach Josh Muncy named the Coach of the Year at Alltech Arena on Friday.
Under the bright lights and before a packed arena, coach Muncy’s recognition felt like confirmation of what the program has been building.
Sophomore Jeremy Mollett led the charge with a third-place finish at 113 pounds in a bracket that demanded control and composure under pressure. He opened with a 4-1 decision over Greenwood senior Thomas Sang, securing the decisive takedown late. After surrendering an early takedown to Nelson County’s Ayden Votaw in the next round, Mollett worked back with an escape, a takedown and capitalized on stalling calls to win 6-3.
His semifinal ended abruptly with a fall to Apollo’s Kevin Lopez, but the loss only sharpened him. He responded with a 32-second pin over Walton-Verona’s Braylon Ryan, then survived a tense 6-5 battle with Wayne County’s Wyatt Smith, finishing with a fall at 3:09. In the third-place match, he left no doubt, controlling St. Xavier’s James Diaz before securing the fall at 0:59. Five wins, three pins and a bronze medal.
At 120 pounds, Freshman Blake Lemaster wrestled like someone uninterested in waiting his turn. He opened with a 7-3 decision over Lafayette’s Kadham Alghanemi, striking just 12 seconds into the match. A quarterfinal loss to South Oldham’s Mason Gipson dropped him into the wrestle-back gauntlet, and a technical fall setback against Harrison County’s Jackson Wells left no margin for error.
Lemaster responded the way contenders do. He pinned Covington Catholic’s Emilio Rodriguez in 1:16, dominated Fairdale’s Dillon Lewis 16-1 and then secured another fall at 5:25 over Hopkinsville’s Christon Johnson to clinch fifth place. Four wins, two pins from a freshman who wrestled as if the stage belonged to him.
Sophomore Parker Maynard added a sixth-place finish at 157 pounds, grinding through one of the tournament’s deepest brackets. He opened with a fall over Jeffersonville’s Andrew Cundiff, then posted back-to-back major decisions over Union County’s Wendel Shackelford and Male’s Leland Garcia.
A technical fall loss to Madison Central’s Emory Dix shifted him to the consolation side, where he answered with an 8-3 decision over Ryle’s Callen Schmidt. Boyle County’s Kaygen Roberts halted him in the next round, and Johnson Central’s Zac Scott claimed the fifth-place match, but Maynard’s four-win run showed the depth of the Cardinals lineup.
The rest of the roster supplied the muscle behind the headlines.
Eighth grader Brody Jewell, wrestling 106 pounds against upperclassmen, pinned Male’s Mikah Mattingly and Meade County’s Bryton Kerns, offering a glimpse of what could be coming.
Sophomore Cole Jewell, at 165, rebounded from a narrow opening loss to pin LaRue County’s Domanic Patterson and Central’s Destin Basemore.
Freshman Easton Slone battled at 190 pounds, earning a 14-5 major decision over Ashland Blazer’s Branden McGee and a fall over Somerset’s Austyn Lawless.
Sophomore James Begley secured a consolation pin at 175 pounds, and Sophomore Jeremy Begley answered at 150 with a fall over North Hardin’s Cisco Torres.