Ryle wrestling coach Tim Ruschell wasn’t sure how many Region 5 team titles the Raiders have won.
“Hell, I don’t know, I couldn’t tell you,” Ruschell said. “I don’t keep record … I don’t know, at least 15 or so, I don’t know.”
However many it is, Ryle added another one Saturday, a 246-197.5 Region 5 win over Walton-Verona at Boone County High School.
Saturday’s win was Ryle’s fourth consecutive in Regions 5 and 6 and fifth since 2019. Five Raiders won their weight classes – Luke Cornwell at 106 pounds, Landon Evans at 120, Rider Trumble at 150, Caleb Duke at 175 and Travis Steiber at 190.
Cornwell defeated Simon Kenton’s Nathan Reusch, 13-4, in the final. Evans beat Simon Kenton’s Braydan Blevins, 5-0, Trumble shut out Campbell County’s Bryce Dennemann, 10-0, and Steiber pinned Highlands’ Zach Russ in 41 seconds.
Duke won his second regional crown.
“I had a rough start this season,” Duke said. “I was sick – really sick. It’s nice to come back and prove I’ve still got it.”
Walton-Verona had two region winners – TJ Meyer at 138 and Luke Hyden at 215.
“Actually, I think my kids wrestled above our expectations,” Bearcats coach John Roth said. “We’ve got kind of a rebuilding year, some new kids in the lineup.”
Meyer won his fourth regional title, defeating Campbell County’s Christopher Ferraro, 12-4. He was state runner-up at 120 last year (a 3-2 loss to Union County’s Jayden Raney) – a result he’s been pondering for a year.
“I want to replay that match so bad,” Meyer said. “Little things I could’ve done that made a big difference.”
Saturday, Meyer excelled with a maneuver called “dumps,” where he pulled Ferraro’s dominant arm down and slid under him for a takedown.
Hyden pinned Campbell County’s Brayden Allender in 1:50.
Conner placed third with 193 points. Three Cougars won regional gold – Clayton Badida at 113, Cordion Abernathy at 132 and Bryce Sizemore at 285.
“I focus primarily on the betterment of the kids,” Conner coach Zack Fisher said.
Badida edged Walton-Verona’s Brennen East, 4-2, for his first regional championship, but Badida was not exactly pleased.
“I just kept pushing the pace,” Badida said. “I felt like I gave (East) my all and just kept going.”
After a scoreless first period, a “blast double leg” takedown – think putting your nose and eyebrows in the opponent’s sternum and pushing – gave Badida a 2-0 lead.
“Just drive him until you get the takedown,” Badida said.
Simon Kenton was fourth with 193, and Covington Catholic placed fifth with 114.
Other individual region winners included: Simon Kenton’s Jonah McCloskey at 126, Campbell County’s Deacon Heisler at 144 and Ben Turner of Cooper at 165.
Badida, Badida, Badida, Badida and Badida
If a first family of Northern Kentucky wrestling is what you want, Conner’s Badida contingent is your group.
Five Badidas were at Boone County: Clayton, his older brother Tristin, older sister Aylor, their father Johnny – and the patriarch, Wayne, who’s finishing his 56th season as head coach and assistant.
“Does that mean the old man?” Wayne said.
What you immediately notice about 78-year-old Wayne: his pride in his children and grandchildren.
“I used to take and put Johnny on the bus in the morning on Saturday when we went to Louisville,” Wayne said.
Wayne Badida doesn’t think wrestling has changed a lot.
“I think kids are bigger, stronger,” he said. “And they are smarter. They know more technique, they learn more technique today.”
Tristin’s 218 wins over six seasons is a Conner record.
“I started from when I was able to walk,” Tristin said. “My grandpa, he coached for 47 years at Conner … He was definitely harder on me, I think, than everybody else. Understandable, though.”
Johnny Badida started wrestling at age 3 or 4. He can relate to Tristin’s assessment of Wayne.
“He was a lot stricter, old-school,” Johnny said. “You ran, you worked hard, and you always made weight. You never gave up … We did a lot of wrestling in the living room.”
And the Badidas wrestled through injuries and illness – Johnny said Clayton wrestled with a broken wrist last year, and Tristin survived broken fingers and a tear in his knee.
Aylor Badida seemed proudest of beating Clayton in the family matches – which Clayton playfully disputed.
“If not, she scratches me or punches me, one or the other,” Clayton said.
Clayton Badida doesn’t mind upholding the family name. “I just feel like I want to do better than the other ones,” he said.
Still undefeated
Highlands senior Rilen Pinkston was Northern Kentucky’s only undefeated wrestler. He improved to 41-0 by pinning Ryle’s Callen Schmidt in 1 minute, 20 seconds.
Pinkston was undefeated (37-0) in the region last year and reached the state semifinals. Saturday, he needed just 4:04 to pin Campbell County’s Kingston Dailey (1:00), Conner’s Nathan Seth (1:44) and Schmidt (1:20).
The end of Pinkston’s wrestling career is not far away – he plans to attend Feam Aero, a school at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and pursue a career in aviation maintenance.
“I’ve been doing (wrestling) for 10 years,” Pinkston said. “It’s kind of crazy that it’s coming to an end.”
For complete results, visit: trackwrestling.com.
