Area wrestlers qualify for state championships
Feb. 21—Athletes in Rogers County continue to prove they are among the toughest and strongest in the entire state.
Several local wrestlers qualified for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association State Championships, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City. In all, two girls and 25 boys — including six regional champions — from the area will be competing during the final weekend of the season.
The girls were the first to punch their tickets to the Big House, taking part in the East Regional on Monday and Tuesday at Sallisaw High School.
Mackenzie Bacon of Claremore was the top qualifier among local girls, finishing fourth in the 120-pound division. She started the event by pinning Sallisaw's Bailie Hanshew in 1 minute, 35 seconds before taking down Aralease Callahan of Union via a 2-0 decision.
Bacon then fell to Miami's Damiyah Smith via pinfall in 1:35 before dropping the third-place match to Kenadee Thomas of Jay in a 4-0 decision. She will wrestle Westmoore's Hannah Lupton in the preliminary round for a chance to battle undefeated Bella Williams of Edmond North.
Elsewhere, Catoosa's Frankie Jeremiah took fifth at 125 pounds and will wrestle Ellis Hish of Edmond North for a chance to advance to the main bracket against Bixby's Brooke Pate.
The Claremore boys are sending five wrestlers to the state tournament, led by regional champion Cooper Zickefoose.
Zickefoose won the 150-pound division Friday at the Burdick Center in Pryor, defeating defending 152-pound state champion Mason Kidd of Coweta with a 6-2 decision. He also defeated Collinsville's Talan Spradlin (pinfall, 2:34), Gavin Wyatt of Grove (pinfall, 3:09) and Sapulpa's Ethan Peterson (6-0 decision) on the way to the title, helping the Zebras finish eighth of 16 teams with 120 points.
Maddox Jackson (113) and Mason Gillispie (120) both took third in their respective weight classes, and Gunner Murray (126) and Cameron Braswell (175) earned fourth-place finishes.
Catoosa hosted the Class 4A East Regional and cruised to the team championship with 264.5 points thanks to four regional champions, two runners-up, three bronze medalists and four additional state qualifiers.
Corban Zugelder (132), Fernando Dominguez (150), Corey Chilcoat (175) and Gunner Wilson (215) won titles for the Indians, while Brogan O'Neal (113) and Michael Blendowski (138) came close with second-place finishes.
Caleb Spencer (165), Aiven Robbins (190) and Tranel Love (285) placed third, and Josh Esquivel (106), Tucker Collinsworth (126) and Cael Eremita (144) claimed spots in Oklahoma City as well.
In the Class 3A East Regional at Cleveland High School, Inola saw six of its wrestlers qualify for the state tournament.
Conner Pittser won the 132-pound division to lead the Longhorns to a sixth-place finish of 28 teams, and Gavin Miller (106) and Radley Keener (215) both placed fourth while the trio of Brennan Lawley (126), Hunter Taylor (138) and Brett Cornett (144) were fifth in their weight classes.
