Conner wrestlers reconvened at the high school on Monday, two days after a pretty good Saturday at the office. With Conner on holiday break this week, the wrestlers had the school practically to themselves. There were a few fist-bumps, a high-five or two and some pats on the back. Mainly, it was back to the mats to begin the week, starting with a 10 a.m. practice.
“We know it’s early in the season and a lot can happen, so we just went back to the grind,” said Cougars senior Keaton Dicken. “We know good things happen when we work hard.”
The Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference wrestling championships proved that and more.
Coach Zack Fisher’s grapplers captured the school’s first conference wrestling title in 43 years with a decisive win Saturday at Campbell County. Conner put nine wrestlers on the podium, including two weight-class champions and six runners-up. The Cougars amassed 208.5 points, outdistancing defending champion Ryle.
“We had some tough matches right out the gate,” said Fisher, now in his ninth year as head coach. “They really came after us so we had to wake up quick, stave them off and compete hard.”
Senior Cordion Abernathy (19-2) joined Dicken (21-2) as Conner champs. Dicken won the 120-pound championship. Abernathy, who took last season off in part to concentrate on other sports, captured the 132-pound crown. Abernathy says he feels completely rejuvenated after stepping away from the mat.
“I just came back and put my head down and went to work,” said Abernathy, one of the best athletes on the team with 10 letters combined in wrestling, football and track and field. “I figured to be unseeded on Saturday, so it was kind of the same thing, head down, work hard.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
Raiders dethroned
Ryle claimed the most individual titles with four on the way to 177.5 points. It’s the first time this decade the Raiders have failed to come home with the NKAC team crown.
Simon Kenton had two winners and placed third with 140 points. Dixie Heights finished fourth with 119. Highlands was fifth with 110.5, followed by sixth-place Covington Catholic with 99. The rest of the top 10 included Campbell County, Cooper, Scott and Walton-Verona. A total of 15 teams were in the field.
Few were as motivated as Conner. The Cougars lost by a half-point at their previous meet and placed second after finishing a disappointing 10th at the Ryle Raider Rumble. The Cougars knew they had to work harder.
They did, every single one of them.
All 14 Conner wrestlers placed sixth or better Saturday. In addition to those making the podium, there were five others, including a pair of fourth-place finishers, one fifth-place finisher and two in sixth. That balance of talent and the Cougars’ secret sauce — uncommon togetherness — was too much for the rest of the pack.
“I think we have a great family atmosphere,” said Badida, runner-up Saturday at 126 pounds. His record is 18-4. The other Conner runners-up were seniors Zaq Abdi (113 pounds), Luke Peace (144) and Bryce Sizemore (heavyweight) and juniors Aydon Sawyer (150) and JoJo Hernandez (165).
Abdi lost to Ryle’s Bryant Brinkman in his championship final. Badida was beaten by Brayden Blevins from Simon Kenton in another final. Peace was defeated by Campbell County’s Deacon Heisler and Sizemore lost to Cooper’s Christian Brown. Sawyer and Hernandez were taken down by Ryle’s Crisp brothers. Sawyer was toppled by Wyatt Crisp. Hernandez was beaten by Noah Crisp.
Other weight-class winners were Highlands’ Parker Wilkens (106) and Kayson White (157), Ryle’s Luke Cornwell (138), Covington Catholic’s Keegan Bishop (175) and Antonio Rodriguez (190), and Simon Kenton’s Jaydan Rutherford (215). Repeat winners were Bryant Brinkman, Heisler, White, Cornwell and Bishop.
Conner also crowned a champion at the NKAC girls event, now in its third year. Cambri Parker won at 126 pounds. Highlands with 46 points won the team title by a point over Campbell County and Walton-Verona, who tied for second with 45 each. Those schools combined for seven of the 10 individual winners. Riley Booth at 100 pounds and Lorelai Manning at 132 won crowns for Highlands.
Senior power
Badida is the grandson of the man who built the close Conner culture, former longtime coach Wayne Badida. Now 80, the coach is still showing up at practices and meets to offer encouragement.
Fisher, a former Conner wrestler, took over in 2017 one year after Badida retired. One of Fisher’s many strengths is maintaining Conner’s unique culture.
Conner wrestlers say togetherness is something they’ve always shared. But this year, they are especially close. The overwhelming majority of the wrestlers are seniors who’ve known each other for quite a while. There are 10 in all. Plus, the old gang is back together for the first time in high school.
Badida, Dicken, Abernathy and Peace have known each other since fourth grade. Badida and Dicken have been together every year. Abernathy did not wrestle last season. Peace started at Conner, then went to Elder and CovCath, but he’s back with the Cougars.
Fisher thinks it’s an enviable collection.
“We have a great mix of kids who’ve been doing this a while, some who came in a little bit later and some who are newer,” the coach said. “They learn from each other. They encourage each other and they hold each other accountable. It’s made us close.”
A dynamic that works
The coach said the closeness keeps the team loose and ready. “You can’t go it alone in wrestling with a lone-wolf mentality. There’s just too much pressure,” Fisher said. “Our wrestlers compete with a little less pressure because of the group. There’s just not a lot of excuses and that allows the team to hold each other to a higher standard.”
Fisher speaks wisely, but he’s only 32. That’s another key element working for Conner. Fisher’s youthful and infectious enthusiasm is rightfully authentic to his wrestlers, who easily buy into a culture that rewards itself.
“We have a great coach,” said Clayton Badida, who knows one when he sees one. “I’m pretty sure we just won conference for the first time since the 1980s because we have a trophy case in our main hallway at school that has two other conference trophies with the years on them (1980, 1982).”
Badida, like Dicken, Abernathy and Peace, wants to keep wrestling in college. They were pounding the floor for each other Saturday.
“It was big to see them do well,” Badida said. “Cordion went up against the No. 6 guy in the state in the first match and won. Keaton, he’s my drill partner. I’m probably more nervous for him than he is nervous. He had a really big final.”
Coach Fisher said the Conner wrestling room is a highly competitive place where every drill partner shares in the success of his partner. But it didn’t happen overnight. It’s taken years to cultivate and maintain.
“When I was hired as head coach, it was me with 30 kids looking at me,” the coach said. “It was tough, but I fell in love with the whole coaching aspect of wrestling.”
That’s apparent in what could be a historic campaign at Conner. The Cougars are clawing their way to something special, and the wrestling season isn’t even halfway complete. With a bevy of talented seniors driving a tight-knit group, the trophy case in the main hallway may soon have some company.