Marin advances to sectional wrestling tourney
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Six members of the Franklin County High School boys wrestling team competed in the Region 4AA individual tournament Saturday at Riverdale High School.
The top four finishers in each weight class earned berths to the Section 2AA tournament with sophomore SI Marin meeting this qualifying mark by finishing fourth in the 182-pound bracket.
Marin opened the tournament with a pinfall loss to Rockvale’s Mitchai Kanjanabout in 1:27 to send him down to the consolation bracket.
He returned to the mat with a match against Siegel’s Erik Moreno in the consolation semifinals, and Moreno jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first round.
Marin was able to score some points with a reversal and an escape in the second round, but Moreno matched his score with an escape and a takedown to put Marin in a 7-4 hole going into the final round.
With a spot in the sectional tournament on the line, Marin ensured the match wouldn’t come down to points as he scored a takedown and turned Moreno into a pin for the victory in 3:53.
He then went up against Blackman’s Kadyen Abel in the third-place match with Abel getting the pinfall win in 3:35 as Marin settled for a fourth-place finish on the day.
Eli McLean and Zaelyn Smith both ended the event with records of 1-2 with McLean coming one match short of a sectional berth in the 132-pound division.
McLean fell to Coffee Count’s Jeremiah Wardell in 41 seconds via pinfall to start the day, but he rebounded by pinning Smyrna’s Daniel Snodgrass in 4:14 in the first round of the consolation bracket.
However, McLean’s run would end in the next round as he lost to Rockvale’s Jerell Johnson in a 16-1 technical fall for the consolation semifinals.
Smith went the distance with Rockvale’s Jack Jarboe in opening round of the 220-pound bracket before losing in a 17-6 major decision.
Smith was able to stay alive in the bracket after pinning Stewarts Creek’s Caleb Taylor in 1:53, but he was later pinned by Siegel’s Joshua Miller in the consolation quarterfinals in 2:26.
Kaiden Odell, Alexander Murphy and Tagg Jones represented Franklin County at the tournament as well with each getting swept out of their respective brackets by consecutive pinfall losses.
Odell lost to Blackman’s Mason Sells in 14 seconds and Shelbyville Central’s Nalen Bowden in 25 seconds for the 145-pound bracket, Murphy fell to Rockvale’s Jacob Teems in 33 seconds and Coffee County’s Tommy Miller in 2:03 in the 152-pound division, and Jones took pins from Coffee County’s Blayne Myers and Rockvale’s Steven Nelson in 10 seconds and 24 seconds, respectively, in the 285-pound bracket.
Marin will next compete in the Section 2AA individual tournament Saturday at The Howard School. A start time for the event had not been confirmed at the time of writing.
The FCHS girls wrestling team will host the Region 2 girls individual tournament on Friday. The tournament is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

