[Stardust]

cincinnati.com

If there was any real drama for the Ryle wrestling team to meet the goals its coach had jotted down on a piece of paper prior to the Sixth Region tournament, it came during Saturday morning's weigh-in.


That's when undersized sophomore Curtis Lusco had to make sure he weighed at least 132 pounds to wrestle in the semifinals of the 140-pound weight class and ensure that Ryle would be represented in all 14 weight classes at the state tournament Thursday through Saturday in Frankfort.

Turned out, thanks to what Lusco called "a pretty big breakfast" of a protein shake, toast, cereal and "about three pounds of water," he came in at 133.5 pounds.

Never mind that he wasn't able to upset the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the state (according to kentucky wrestling.com) in the 140-pound weight class in Campbell County's Korey Shotwell, who went on to win the regional title.

But Lusco did his part to make sure Ryle will have the all-important maximum number of wrestlers in its quest to win the first state wrestling title in school history after finishing runner-up last season.

Ryle won the Sixth Region team title for the fifth straight year, this time by 57 points over rival Campbell County thanks to eight champions, three second-place finishers, one third-place finisher and two fourth-place finishers, including Lusco.

"It was kind of funny at the weigh-in, all of (the other wrestlers) were trying to get under (weight) and I was trying to get over," said Lusco, who wrestled mostly on junior varsity at 130 pounds throughout the season with an occasional appearance at the 140-pound spot on the varsity. "I didn't use the bathroom for over an hour even when I had to go."

Said Ruschell: "He was a little blue in the face when he came to the scales, but he made weight. The 140-pound class has been one we've been searching to find somebody all year and Curtis really stepped up for us."

Ryle lost 140-pound standout Bryan Peace to graduation after he won back-to-back state titles in 2007 and 2008. Lusco wrestled in the regional tournament after winning an intra-squad wrestle-off for the spot.

"That was big of him to step up and win the wrestle-off and then do what he did in the regional," said senior teammate Ryan Jefferds, who pulled a mild surprise at 215 pounds by upsetting Boone County's Quintin Hauser in the semifinals before falling in the finals to Campbell County's Jacob Ilg, the No. 3-ranked wrestler in the state. "We needed all 14 of us to make it to state, and he came through big time."

There were few surprises in the final individual results with the No. 1 seed winning all but two of the classes. The two mild surprises came in the 152-pound class, where Scott's Zach Sowder, ranked No. 8 in the state, beat No. 3 Justin Black of Campbell County in a technical fall, and in heavyweight, where No. 17 Brandon Adams of Ryle pinned Dixie Heights' Joe Gronefeld, who is ranked No. 13.

"Overall we wrestled well," said Ruschell, who said that before the tournament he wrote on a piece of paper that 11 of his wrestlers would reach the finals, which they did, and all 14 would make it to state. "Jefferds' semifinal win was a bit of a surprise, but I told him before the semifinal match that there was a wrestler inside of him and he finally let it out. It was a good day for us."

While Ruschell admits he's proud of what his team accomplished, the big goal lies ahead next week. The Raiders are ranked No. 2 in the state behind Louisville Trinity.

"It's a big deal to get all 14 of us down to state because it can come down to a one- or two-point difference between first and second so everybody counts," said Lusco.

Ruschell said he thinks his team is peaking at the right time thanks to a tougher than normal schedule