Elgin, Marlow going after wrestling sweeps

Hours of practice, weight work, and competition have helped Elgin’s wrestling program climb to the peak in Class 5A but in the end it was the luck of the draw that put the spotlight on one senior to carry the weight of an entire town.

Weeks ago the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association had a simple obscure event at its office in Edmond to set the starting weight for each of the levels of competition at the Dual State wrestling competition. It was something that coaches knew about but to the average fan it was meaningless.

Throw in other factors such as injuries and and it would be impossible to tell which matchups were going to develop once the Dual State meet began last weekend in Enid.

As the situation evolved over a long day of wrestling, Elgin and Coweta wound up reaching the state finals and at that point the individual matchups started to evolve.

Regardless of how it all panned out, for Elgin coach Cody Rowell, if he had to make an instant choice of who to send out for the biggest match of the season it would have been simple; he would have sent Gabe Dittmeyer to the mat.

“I thought about that on the ride back home, but if I had needed to make that decision at that point Gabe is the guy I would want out there,” Rowell said. “I’ve known him since the fourth grade; he was in that first group of youth wrestlers we started with. I’ve seen him have setbacks and then bounce back from those to become an even better athlete. I know his character and he’s the guy I wanted out there at that point.”

Dittmeyer found a way to dig deep, holding on to take the 165-pound match to overtime at 4-4. He was able to get an escape to take a 5-4 lead and then he found a way to control Coweta’s Baylor Bart for the final 30 seconds to earn the victory and put the final points on the scoreboard in a 38-28 victory.

But Elgin had many heroes Saturday including several freshmen including Kason Meyer. Meyer had wrestled at 157, just in front of Dittmeyer and his 8-5 decision over Ben Mendenhall was just what the Owls needed to help seal their second straight Dual State title.

“We knew these kids would go out there and collectively do the job,” Rowell said. “The whole team bought in and showed that they had the heart to come back.

“We got behind several times during the three matches but the guys found a way to fight back and win. We knew after the semifinals (win over Chickasha) that we had a good shot; that the matchups were looking pretty good. But we still had to go out and wrestle well and that’s what we did.”

Now comes the challenge of the traditional State Tournament and the Owls want to change things around this season. The bottom line, the Owls must advance a large number of wrestlers to have the best chance possible at winning that title.

“We qualified 10 last year and eight of those are back this year,” Rowell said. “I think qualifying 10 would be good and anything over that would be over the moon.”

The Owls have plenty of company from Southwest Oklahoma fighting toward the same goal, advance as many wrestlers as possible. The regionals are scattered across the western half of the state but Marlow has the advantage of hosting a regional Friday and Saturday. And with the Outlaws celebrating a Dual State title as well, you can bet the Outlaws’ Gym will be rocking.

The 6A regional will be at Westmoore but Lawton High and Eisenhower will be facing tough sledding to advance wrestlers out of that brutal regional. Elgin, MacArthur and Duncan will be competing in a 5A regional at Duncan High’s Gym. In Class 4A Cache will be heading to Clinton for its regional.

Here is a brief look at the area teams and some of their top wrestlers:

Elgin loaded for State bid

Coach Rowell says the growth of his program shows up in part by the youth movement.

“We have a couple of freshmen, Braxton Atuna and Kason Meyer, who I feel have a good chance of getting to state,” he said. “I think the key thing is the semifinals. Last year we had four in the semifinals and only won two of those. We’ve got to put more guys in the semifinals.

“We have four good seniors in Dylen Lazzar, Dylan Brown, Jack Anglley and Gabe Dittmeyer. We have guys throughout the lineup that have a good shot to qualify.”

Colynn Donnelly, Ritson Meyer, Hunter Jackson, and Jace Williams, all had some big wins at Dual State.

Rowell said the program has been successful thanks to assistant coaches, parents and fans.

“We had fans take their kids to a youth tournament in Norman and then rushed up to Enid to watch us in the finals,” Rowell said. “The assistants we have are so important. Jack Baker, Nathan Jackson and Austin Tucker are all valuable parts of this program. Coach Jackson has two sons in our program and he is also great with stats and setting up matchups.

“Austin is in the military and wrestled in college and he does a great job. It helps having good assistants because now and then you need a different coach to talk to kids. Sometimes I get to the point where I just step back and let somebody else talk with wrestlers.”

Marlow returns top threats

The Outlaws proved their mettle against Blackwell in the Dual State finals and with several returning state placers, this could be a good chance for Marlow to sweep the two wrestling titles.

Tommy Miller and Cade Gilbert are returning state champs and will be heavy favorites again this season.

Coach Andy Howington also returns state placers Keller Kizzar (2nd), Brantz Bateman (3rd), Lawson Knox (2nd), and Zach Dawson (3rd).

Like most good programs, the Outlaws wrestled a tough schedule including facing Elgin in a dandy dual meet that wound up with a 34-30 loss for the Outlaws but those tough tests only serve to season its wrestlers.

The Outlaws had to rally twice during its 42-28 title victory over Blackwell and both times Marlow did it with four straight wins. That last surge started with an 11-3 major decision by Clinton Ladon, then Dawson got a fall, Cade Gilbert earned a 4-2 win and then a forfeit closed out the comeback.

Marlow was dominating in the quarterfinals and semifinals, beating Perry, 73-0, in the quarterfinals and then beating Pawnee, 53-21.

Cache building for future

While the Bulldogs have seniors like Logan Crawford, when Coach Jimbo Smith talks about the Bulldogs he’s quick to point out the younger wrestlers who have gained valuable experience.

Cache qualified for the Dual State meet but they bowed out in the first match when Sallisaw earned a 40-31 victory over the Bulldogs.

“I think our bunch is more geared for the traditional state tournament,” Smith said. “Logan is a four-time state qualifier and last year he was undefeated going into state and lost that first match and never was able to shake that but he’s wrestled well this year and he has a good shot to place.”

One of the new young wrestlers is Tai Walsh who is a military dependent and he could surprise some wrestlers at 120.

“Freshman Max Daly at 144 is a threat and proved his mettle by reaching the finals in the Catoosa Tournament,” Smith said. “I think he has a good chance to qualify.

“Charlie Schaffer is a returning state place and I think he has a good shot to be in the finals at 157. Case Hardzog is another guy who could push through and make it to state at 175.”

Smith has a pair of good wrestlers at 126 with Ardie Armour and Jensen Jones fighting for honors. At 106 Bailey Pugh is a little undersized but he’s beaten some state qualifiers according to Smith.

Another young prospect is Mario Famero who comes from a wrestling family as his sister is a threat to win a girls title.

Smith said the program is in good shape with 120 wrestlers in the room fighting to improve.

Smith gets help with the boys program from Rick Moore, Roger McCardell and Les and Landon Abbott.

Mac fighting numbers game

Mike Miller’s Highlanders have some quality wrestlers that helped them reach the Dual State meet, but he says the lineup is probably not deep enough to make a big run at state.

He does have defending state champion Braden Brown who is a good bet to go back-to-back, but the coach hopes he can take six or seven others to the state meet.

“We’d love to get six or seven guys in this year,” Miller said. “Kaden Wallace placed last year and I think Christian Moralez has a good chance to make it to state. We don’t have a lot of guys in the lower weights but when we get to 138 we get rolling. These kids work hard and we encourage them to compete in the summer to get better.

“(Skylar) Red Elk is a good wrestler and we think he and a couple of others have a chance to qualify. It’s a matter of just going to the regional and having the confidence to get the job done.”