Marlow-Perry matchup stirs wrestling history

There are few things that keep wrestlers from competing when it comes to the playoffs and there is one matchup that brings out the passion when you throw Marlow and Perry on the mat at the same time, something has to give.

Perry has claimed 55 state tournament titles over the years in wrestling and since Dual State was added to the Oklahoma programs, Perry has added 20 more titles to the trophy case.

This season, though, the Outlaws are ranked No. 1 and seeded No. 1 in the Dual State bracket and with Perry coming in as the No. 8 seed, that arranged the first-round matchup for Saturday at 10 a.m. in Class 3A.

All Dual State meets are being conducted at the Sprint Center in Enid.

Comanche is also competing in Class 3A and the Indians will go against another state mat power in Blackwell at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The Class 5A event will begin Saturday at Noon with defending Dual State champion Elgin facing Guthrie. The No. 1 seed is Coweta and it will face Carl Albert in the first round. MacArthur is also in the field and will have to battle dangerous Chickasha. The other first-round matchup in 5A has Grove facing Claremore.

“I think we are more competitive in the traditional state tournament,” Mac coach Mike Miller said. “We have a young team and while this will be great experience for them, I’m not sure how we will wrestle. We did have a good group wrestling during the summer and that’s always a positive sign.”

Elgin coach Cody Rowell was unbeat Wednesday while watching six Owls sign football letters of intent because while a couple of those are wrestlers, he said that standout Jack Anglley will be ready for Dual State after suffering a broken wrist bone during the Cache dual last week.

“They have it taped and he will wear a brace but he’s ready to go,” Rowell said.

“He’s not going to miss this one,” assistant wrestling/football coach Jack Baker said. “He will be ready; that’s just Jack.”

The Owls suffered a 54-24 loss to Cache last week but Elgin was without 10 wrestlers from an earlier incident in another dual match. On the night of the Cache match, Rowell said he believes his best shot may be in the tradition state tournament this year.

“We probably are going to be a little stronger in the traditional format,” Rowell said. “We have a core group of returning state placers and that is what you need. We still have pretty good balance when it comes to Dual State but you never know until you get out there and wrestle.”

The 4A Dual State includes just one area team, that being Cache which will battle Sallisaw at 10 a.m. on Friday.