Elgin second at State mat meet; Marlow third

While the Lawton-area wrestling programs failed to bring home a team championship last weekend, there were numerous individuals who picked up medals during the busy three-day OSSAA State Wrestling Championship at the Jim Norick Arena at the State Fairgrounds.

The best team finish came from Marlow in Class 3A where the Outlaws scored 86.5 points to take third behind Blackwell which coasted to the title with 190.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Salina with 96.

Elgin, which swept the Dual State and traditional State last season, was second in Class 5A behind Chickasha which scored 151 points. Elgin chalked up 85 points to edge Coweta, 85 to 82.5. MacArthur wound up eighth with 46 points in 5A.

The top area program in 4A was Cache with 32.5 points as perennial title contender Tuttle racked up another crown with 178 points, easily beating runner-up Sallisaw with 79 points.

Elgin wound up with three champions, Hunter Jackson at 126, Ritson Meyer at 215 and Jace Williams at 285. Jackson won his first two matches with ease and edged Tyler Misenheimer of Blanchard, 8-6, for the gold.

Meyer also dominated his first two opponents by fall and major decision and handed Ayden Benitez, 7-3, for the gold. Williams opened his defense of the 285 title with a fall, then earned a 6-2 decision in the semifinals over Cruz Young of Carl Albert and ended his wrestling career by beatinmg Joshua Feliciano of Claremore, 6-1, in the title match.

Coach Cody Rowell also got a fourth-place finish from Braxten Antuna at 144 who lost a 5-0 decision to Aiden Polk of Durant. Rounding out the placers for Elgin were Colyn Donnelly, who picked up bonus points with two falls in the quarterfinals and semifinals before he lost on a fall against Laird Thompson of Grove at the 6:43 mark.

Mac’s Kaden Wallace picked up a gold medal at 157, edging McAlester’s Kenneth Carter, 4-2, in the title match. Skyler Red Elk added a bronze medal at 190, getting a fall against Collinsville’s Hunter Linzy at the 2:00 mark. The Highlanders added a fourth-place finish from Maliki Jefferson at 165 after losing to Claremore’s Cooper Zickenfoose on a 10-0 major decision.

Cache wound up with a second and one third in Class 4A action. The silver medal was provided by Taii Walsh at 126 as he claimed two wins before just coming up short in a 5-4 loss in the finals to Cason Rumley of Tuttle. At 165, Charlie Shafer took bronze with three wins where he added bonus points. He got a tech fall in the consolation semifinals and then dominated Bryce Steel of Wagoner, 10-1 in the third-place match.

Lawton High picked up a third at 215 as Tyzel Zachry, who was 32-9 on the season, had a strong state meet that included some tense moments. In the quarterfinals Zachry won on a 8-7 tiebreaker and in the consolation semifinals he went to sudden victory before beating Trae Kibble of MacArthur, 4-1. In the third-place match he had to work hard to for 2-1 decision over Hunter McBee of Collinsville who finished with a 34-9 record.

Marlow had another solid state meet with three champions, a third and a fourth. Tommy Miller capped a perfect 38-0 season in impressive fashion, getting two tech falls to reach the 132-pound finals and dispatching Brice Lozinsky of Berryhill, 10-4, in the finals.

Keller Kizarr added another state title to his resume at 144, finishing 32-2 on the season. He racked up two major decisions and then beat Bowdy Thomason of Blackwell, 7-3, for the gold medal. Brantz Bateman added another title to his list of accomplishments after winning the title at 165. He was dominating, getting a tech fall in the quarterfinals, a major decision in the semis and a fall over Kelby Ingram of Blackwell at the 1:41 mark of the first period.

Also providing points for the Outlaws were Gage Hixon with a bronze at 215 and a fourth from Clint Ladon at 157. Hixon had a 5-0 decision in the third-place match while Ladon lost in the quarterfinals but rallied with two decisions before losing a second time to Ty Thrasher of Lincoln Christian.

Area girls garner medals

Several girls from Lawton and the surrounding area also had good efforts at state and one of the best came from Shiann Famero of Cache who won the title at 130, capping a 38-2 record. She had a fall in the quarterfinals and also nailed down a pin in the title match, needing 2:59 to finish off Stillwell’s Josaline Blevins.

Lawton High had a state placer at 125 after Teyanna Fields had two falls in her bid to place. Fields stopped Yukon’s Daisy Yost at the 4:17 mark in the consolation semifinals but wound up fourth after losing a 7-0 decision to Ranelle Smith of Westmoore.

In the 3A competition, Marlow’s Aleah Chase grabbed a bronze medal with a fall over Riley Samarripa of Harrah at the 5:08 mark at 170 pounds.