No. 1 Elgin wrestlers seek title at dual state

ELGIN — Top-ranked Elgin will travel to Enid on Friday to start its quest for a state dual wrestling championship.

Elgin is Class 5A’s No. 1 team in dual action, with nemesis El Reno right behind at No. 2. The Owls have lost only one dual this season, which came against Class 3A’s Marlow last month. Elgin claimed its district dual title with wins over El Reno, Woodward and Southeast.

However, the district title didn’t come without controversy. When the Owls wrestled El Reno on Jan. 12, it appeared the Indians had won the dual 43-33. But later, the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association determined El Reno had used an ineligible wrestler and that particular match was forfeited by El Reno, which gave Elgin the win, 39-37.

The district dual meet was scheduled for Jan. 19 in Elgin, but El Reno refused to travel to Elgin, so the Jan. 12 dual and its outcome were used for the district dual meet. Elgin went on to defeat Southeast 84-0 and Woodward did not the make the trip because of illness and injuries, which resulted in a forfeit to Elgin.

Quarterfinal action at dual state will begin for Class 5A at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at the Stride Bank Center in Enid. The semifinal round will be wrestled at 2 p.m. Saturday, and the finals will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. for Class 3A-6A.

The Elgin girls will compete in their regional tournament Feb. 13-14 at Mustang, while the boys will begin regional tourney action Feb. 17 at Carl Albert High School.