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The Division I boys and girls state wrestling championships continued Friday at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park with each bracket being whittled down to just six wrestlers.

The action Friday included the championship semifinals and four rounds of consolation matches with St. Andrew’s-Sewanee senior Verena Pate advancing to the finals of the girls 126-pound bracket. Pate, the reigning state champion in the 126-pound weight class, will look to win her second straight state title when she competes in the bracket’s finals on Saturday.

Pate’s lone match on Friday came in the semifinals against Siegel’s Chase Vashel as she dominated a majority of the contest and held a 13-2 lead on points before winning with a pin in 5:05.

Two other local wrestlers will also be competing in placement matches on Saturday with Sewanee junior Melanie Val set to compete for third place in the girls 114-pound bracket.

Val, a 2022 state champion in the 114-pound division, started the day in the semifinals with a chance to defend her title as well, but Bradley Central’s Nataleigh Shane pinned Val in 5:32 to send her to the consolation bracket.

Val was able to rebound in the consolation semifinals as she pinned Pope John Paul II’s Kylie Reeves in 2:37 to put herself into the third-place match.

Alyssa Archer, a Huntland junior who wrestles for the Franklin County High School girls wrestling team, began her run in the girls 100-pound consolation bracket Friday with a victory over Bradley Central’s Mylee Goodwin in a 7-2 decision.

Archer also went the distance in her next match against Rossview’s Ava Teasley as she won in a 6-0 decision to advance to the consolation semifinals.

However, Archer would drop her next match to Riverdale’s Grace Von Loh after getting pinned in 1:48 as she will now compete for fifth place in the 100-pound bracket when action resumes on Saturday.

Sewanee’s Stella Wilson wrestled two full matches in the girls 132-pound bracket on Friday as she started the day with a 2-1 decision victory over Northwest’s Sally Johnson.

However, Rossview’s Evelin Ochoa beat Wilson in a 3-0 decision in the next round to eliminate her from the bracket.

Sewanee’s Hadlee Hale also went the distance to open the 138-pound consolation bracket Friday as she took a 7-2 decision loss to Maryville’s Hannah Howton to end her tournament run.

Franklin County’s Zulema Martinez and Shelby Sells took early exits from their respective consolation brackets with both getting pinned in their first matches of the day. Martinez lost to Summit’s Taylor Parkhurst in 1:31 in the 114-pound bracket, and Sells was beaten by Riverdale’s Sydney Grissom in 38 seconds for the 185-pound division.

The state wrestling tournament will conclude on Saturday with placement matches across all divisions. The tournament is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m.