STATE WRESTLING: NC's Ackley advances to quarters

LEXINGTON — Friday’s day one of the Kentucky State Wrestling Championships saw eighth-grader Andrew Ackley pick up a pair of wins in the 113-pound bracket and sit poised to possibly become Nelson County’s third wrestler to ever place at state.

Wendy Ackley/Special To The Standard

Eighth-grader Andrew Ackley gets the upper hand on Spencer County’s Jake Bargo in a second-round match Friday at the state wrestling meet in Lexington. Ackley went 2-0 on the day and advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Wendy Ackley/Special To The Standard

Nelson sophomore Zac Lawson gets a hold on Wayne County’s Zack Troxell in a second-round match. Lawson went 2-1 on Friday.

Wendy Ackley/Special To The Standard

Nelson County senior Dennis Swift looks for the upper hand on Oldham County's Tyler Kaelin Friday.

“He’s doing great so far,” Cardinal coach Sean McCarthy said Saturday morning before heading over to the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena to watch Ackley’s quarterfinal match. “He’s doing excellent — I couldn’t ask anything better of him.”

Ackley, making his second trip to state, scored a 9-4 decision over Southern’s Christian Bautista in Friday’s first round, then reserved a spot in Saturday’s quarterfinals with a second-round win over Spencer County’s Jake Bargo, pinning him at the 3:38 mark.

Ackley faced Christian County’s J.J. Killebrew in Saturday morning’s quarterfinals after press time. Look for complete results online at www.kystandard.com or check out Wednesday’s edition of The Kentucky Standard for a wrapup.

Also alive as of Saturday morning was Nelson sophomore Zac Lawson.

Lawson, wrestling out of the 285-pound bracket, pinned Trinity’s Jordan Lane in the first round, but dropped a 9-2 decision in the second round to Wayne County’s Zack Troxell.

In the loser’s bracket, Lawson bounced back with a pin at the 1:56 mark against Doss’ Robert Green to advance to an elimination match Saturday morning against Fern Creek’s Gabriel Lord.

“He came back with a nice win,” McCarthy said.

Lawson needed to win that one and one more match to stay alive for a chance to place in the top eight.

A surprise entrant was senior Dennis Swift in the 132-pound division. Swift placed fifth at last week’s regionals, but drew in as an alternate when John Hardin’s Trea Wills was unable to compete.

Swift’s stay was short, however, as he was pinned at the 1:04 mark by Tyler Kaelin of Oldham County in the first round, then was pinned at the 0:43 mark by Perry County Central’s Brad Williams.

“It was a good experience for him” getting to finish his career with a trip to the state meet, McCarthy said.