The Simon Kenton wrestling team is getting out in front of things so it can be fully present when the 2026 KHSAA State Wrestling Championships begin Thursday at Alltech Arena inside the Kentucky Horse Park. The boys and coed divisions run Thursday and Friday, with the girls closing things out on Saturday.
“I’m super excited,” said 165‑pound senior Ben Woosley, one of three first-time regional champions for the Region 5 runner‑up Pioneers. “We have a lot of momentum. We’ve been thinking about state and getting ready.”
Like true Pioneers — and these are very good ones — they blaze a trail to Lexington on Wednesday, a day before the state‑bound boys get going. They’ll settle in Wednesday night and be ready to go early Thursday morning, aiming to open a path toward a top 10 finish.
Their namesake, frontiersman Simon Kenton, knew something about vision, grit and persistence. The legendary explorer and brigadier general carved out early Kentucky settlements alongside Daniel Boone. These modern Pioneers would like to carve out a little something of their own.
They were 15th last year at the state meet. They have no intention of staying there.
“I think we’re definitely top 10 in the state,” said junior Jaydan Rutherford, the Region 5 champ at 215 pounds. “When we finished 15th, I promised we would do better next year.”
Next year has arrived, and everywhere you turn this week, there are Pioneers — three regional champs, three runners‑up, three additional boys qualifiers, and a trio of girls. Twelve total athletes. Twelve chances to make noise on the biggest stage Kentucky prep wrestling offers.
On a related note, many of the Pioneers are, well, related.
“I have three sets of brothers on the boys team and two of their dads are coaches,” said head coach Jarrod Peebles, who’s able to keep all the people straight despite all the similar last names. “I also have another wrestler whose dad is a coach.”
Rutherford’s brother, twin Jordan Rutherford, is a 138-pound regional runner-up.
Freshman Cody Blevins, the regional champ at 106, is the younger brother of senior Braydan Blevins, regional runner-up at 126. Braydan (52-7) is second on the team in wins behind Jaydan Rutherford (53-14) and Simon Kenton’s all-time leader with well more than 200. Their father, Dan Blevins, is an assistant.
Hawk Dauenbaugh is a state qualifier at 113 pounds. His father, Rick, is a Pioneers coach.
Woosley’s brother, Evan, is not a state qualifier, but he’s rooting for Ben. Their father, Jon, is a Simon Kenton assistant coach.
The other state qualifiers are 150-pound senior regional runner-up Parker Smith, 132-pound junior third-place finisher Connor Warner and 157-pound freshman semifinalist Liam Wood. They are part of a regional contingent of more than 50 boys wrestlers from nearly a dozen schools.
The Pioneers’ girls state qualifiers include eighth-grade 126-pound regional semifinalist Braelyn Babb. There’s also sisters Devon Banks, a junior runner-up at 152, and Alayna Banks, a 185-pound sophomore runner-up. That pushes the Simon Kenton sibling total to eight and the number of regional girls wrestlers to 19.
“We’re definitely all a family and it brings us close,” said Cody Blevins, who’s on another winning streak. “A lot of us have known each other since we were little.”
Good thing, because all the adversity the Pioneers went through might have been crushing to a lesser squad.
“Six wrestlers decided not to return including a state placer,” Peebles said. “We’ve had injuries to some of our better wrestlers who are just now getting back to full strength. We had illnesses. For a month straight, we had single digits in practice. Before the year started, we had numbers in the mid-20s. Late in the year, we had 13.”
Simon Kenton put 11 wrestlers in the 14 weight classes at the regional meet, won by host Conner. The coach handed out praise to his nine state qualifiers, reflecting the team’s one-for-all approach.
“How they handled all the adversity, that started from the get-go,” Peebles said. “We upset Boyle County and Harrison County to win the opening tournament of the season. We did well on the road. But we wound up with a smaller team. I thought the guys did really well with it.”
Woosley has been a big help steadying things through the tough times.
“Just a terrific young man,” said Peebles. “He’s one of our captains and the most vocal leader, and his brother has done a nice job.”
The other brothers keep nailing down wins. Together, the Blevins are a combined 93-16. Cody has won 15 matches in a row. The Rutherfords are 80-28. The four represent 52% of the wins shared by the nine boys state qualifiers.
“It’s nice to have so many family members,” coach Peebles said. “They work on their own, they strategize together and make my life a lot easier.”
The Blevins can vouch for that.
“I definitely talk to my brother and my dad a lot,” Cody said. “It really helps. That and all the hard work has really paid off.”
The Pioneers are healthy, relatively speaking, and that makes them dangerous in Lexington.
“We’ve got a lot of good wrestlers, but injuries hurt us. We’re kind of limping into the state meet,” Peebles said. “But we can be a top 10 team, for sure. We could have anywhere from four to six state placers and maybe a champion.”