Elgin claims another Dual State title

EN(D—Kason Meyer and Gabe Dittmeyer came up with huge wins to put the final touches on back-to-back Dual State wrestling titles for Elgin Saturday night at the Stride Bank Center in Enid.

The Owls jumped out to a 26-0 lead in the early going but No. 1 Coweta came back to make it interesting at 32-22 with four matches remaining. But Kason Meyer pulled out a tense 8-5 decision at 157 to push the Elgin lead to 35-22 with three matches remaining.

Dittmeyer and Baylor Bart battled in a dandy match at 165 as Dittmeyer had to hang on for a 4-4 tie after giving up a late takedown right before the end of regulation.

In the one-minute overtime Dittmeyer was able to get an escape for a 5-4 lead and when Bart was unable to score in the second overtime the Owls started to celebrate, knowing that this match was official.

The Owls gave up a forfeit at 175 but it didn’t matter as the final score read 38-28 and Elgin started another celebration.

Elgin’s great start came thanks to the upper weights as Colyn Donnelly pinned Jaden Finley at the 5:33 mark at 190 where the match started due to the OSSAA draw procedure.

Ritson Meyer needed just 55 seconds to score a fall at 215 and then Jace Williams earned a 1-0 decision at 275 for a 15-0 lead.

Talon Tahdooanippah got a fall at 3:07 at 106 and Hunter Jackson earned a technical fall, 18-1, at 113 as the lead peaked at 26-0.

Coweta mounted a short comeback with two falls but Gage Elam stopped that run with a 5-2 victory at 144 setting up the late surge that sealed things for Coach Cody Rowell’s club.

The Owls beat Guthrie, 40-30, in the first round Saturday morning, then dispatched Chickasha, 38-31, in another good match that could have gone either way. Coweta beat Carl Albert, 48-27, in the first round and decked Claremore, 44-21, in the semifinals.

There is another state title trophy coming back to Southwest Oklahoma as Marlow claimed the Class 3A crown with a 42-=28 victory over Blackwell. The Outlaws beat Perry, 73-0, in the first round and whipped Pawnee, 53-21, in the semifinals.

The big win over Perry marked a changing of the guard as the Maroons have won 20 Dual State titles and 50 traditional titles but on this day the Outlaws were just overwhelming, racing out to command with three straight falls and a forfeit that got the huge Marlow crowd going strong.

When the final rolled around it became a salute to Southwest Oklahoma as fans for both schools were able to watch the action on side-by-side mats and with each victory the noise got louder.

Several other area teams competed but didn’t advance. Cache lost to Sallisaw, 41-30, in the quarterfinals of Class 4A. MacArthur was ousted in the first round in 5A, losing to Chickasha, 49-27. In Class 3A, Comanche was ousted in the quarterfinals by Blackwell, 64-6.