Dutton, Chappell win State Championships

 

There are many similarities when you start comparing Guthrie’s Bryan Dutton and Landry Chappell. After Saturday night their ultimate comparison in the athletic arena is now State Wrestling Champions.

 

Dutton and Chappell claimed their first state championships, inside the State Fair Arena, with narrow wins in the finals. The wins are the first for Guthrie head coach Jack O’Connor and for the Jays program since 1992. The Guthrie program has now produced 11 state champions.

 

Austin O’Connor and John Davison were also state tournament finisher’s. O’Connor rallied for three straight wins after dropping his opening match to capture third place. Davison finished fourth in the consolation round and won two of his four matches. This was the first state tournament for both O’Connor and Davison.

 

Overall, the BlueJays finished in a tie for fourth place with Lawton MacArthur with 65 team points. Collinsville took the team title with 86.5 points followed by Deer Creek (82) and Altus (78). Collinsville also won the dual state title.

 

Dutton took the mat as the top seed from the West and took on the top seed from the East in Grove’s Spencer Rutherford in the battle of the “G” logo. Both wrestler’s entered with just one loss on the season.

 

After a scoreless first period, Dutton scored a 2-point reversal with :38 seconds left in the period to take a 2-0 lead into the final two minutes of action.

 

With Rutherford in the down position, he escaped from Dutton in the first 10 seconds to earn a point and bring the match to a 2-1 score. However, Dutton was able to keep his distance the rest of the way to claim the state title. Dutton is now 67-6 in his first two seasons, including 7-1 in the state tournament after last year’s third place finish.

 

Dutton’s football, wrestling, and baseball teammate, Chappell needed seven periods to win 3-2 when he escaped Chickasha’s Jacoby Brown in the ultimate tie breaker. Last week in the regional championship, Chappell ironically took down Brown by the same score of 3-2.

 

The 215 pounders were tied at 1 at the end of regulation. Both scored a point in the tie-breaker periods before Chappell escaped less than five seconds into the ultimate tie-breaker period to send the faithful in blue into an uproar.

Watch the complete video interviews with Bryan Dutton, Landry Chappell, and Jack O’Connor.

   

	Guthrie Wrestling State Champions
Landry Chappell 215 5A 2011 Bryan Dutton 140 5A 2011 Timothy Kyle 178 4A 1992 Parrish Peirce 190 4A 1992 Bryan Edwards 130 3A 1985 Bill Wells 123 3A 1982 Doug Stalnaker 190 3A 1982 Doug Stalnaker 178 3A 1981 Kevin Fields 190 3A 1981 Curtis Jurina 101 3A 1980 Ed Gibbs 155   1938

Copyright 2011 Guthrie Sports Page. Some rights reserved.



Class 5A’s state wrestling results

Class 5A

Team Scoring 1. Collinsville …86.5 2. Deer Creek …82   3. Altus …78   4. Lawton MacArthur …65      Guthrie …65   6. Duncan …57   7. Carl Albert …42.5 8. Harrah …40   9. Chickasha …32  10. Tulsa Edison …31   11. Ardmore 28; 12. (tie) Tahlequah, Southeast 24; 14. Grove 23.5; 15. Western Heights 23; 16. Tulsa Kelly 19; 17. Coweta 17; 18. Tulsa East Central 16; 19. Miami 14; 20. Ada 13; 21. (tie) Skiatook, Shawnee 11;23. (tie) Pryor, Durant, McAlester 10; 26. McGuinness 1; 27. (tie) Tulsa Memorial, Carl Albert 0

Championship Finals 

103: Markwae Sanders, Duncan, dec. Hestin Lamons, Tahlequah, 3-2 

112: Gary Wayne Harding, Collinsville, maj. dec. Eli Hale, Miami, 8-0 

119: Will Steltzlen, Collinsville, dec. Mark Carter, TEC, 7-3 

125: Dylan Helm, Collinsville, maj. dec. Jazer Duran, SE, 14-0 

130: Justin Hughes, Duncan, dec. Zac Dunlop, Deer Creek, 6-0 

135: Eric Waggoner, CA, dec. Austin Goyette, Harrah, 3-1 

140: Bryan Dutton, Guthrie, dec. Spencer Rutherford, Grove, 2-1 

145: Keilan Torres, Altus, dec. Ricky McCarty, LM, 1-0 

152: Kenneth Hartfield, WH, dec. Colton Craig, TK, 3-2 

160: Zack Dobbins, Coweta, dec. Richard Griffin, Harrah, 3-2 

171: Nolan Boyd, Deer Creek, maj. dec. Drake Martel, Altus, 8-0

189: Max Adair, LM, pinned Tyler George, Altus, 2.48 

215: Landry Chappell, Guthrie, dec. Jacoby Brown, Chickasha, 3-2 UTB 

Hwt: Evan McGee, Ardmore, dec. Kyle Farley, Chickasha, 2-1 TB

Consolation Finals 

103: Donald Cannon, McAlester, dec. Andrew Revilla, Altus, 6-5 

112: Cole Powers, LM, maj. dec. Mitch Sellers, Tahlequah, 8-0 

119: Austin O’Connor, Guthrie, pinned Jacob Lusch, CA, 3.25 

125: Jake Todd, Ada, dec. Patrick O’Brien, Edison, 6-3 

130: Jemuel Duran, SE, dec. Brandon Hughes, CA, 11-6 

135: Trey Bowman, Durant, dec. Zack Abkemeier, Collinsville, 8-6 SV 

140: Cole Pacheco, Deer Creek, pinned Daylan Stuteville, Shawnee, 1.39 

145: Josh Pennington, Collinsville, dec. Bryce Armstrong, Grove, 2-0 

152: Chad Draper, Deer Creek, dec. Payton Atchley, Duncan, 1-0 

160: Jeremy Delzer, Altus, maj. dec. Austin Cook, Skiatook, 11-2 

171: Desmond Block, L, pinned Jake Welt, Harrah, 2.48 

189: Austen Brooner, Pryor, dec. John Jones, Duncan, 10-4 

215: Alex Christensen, Deer Creek, pinned Rich Gerow, Edison, 3.48

Hwt: Zack Hargrove, TE, pinned John Davison, Guthrie, 2.31

Consolation Semifinals 

103: Andrew Revilla (Fr), Altus, dec. Oscar Balderrama (Sr), Ardmore, 8-3; Donald Cannon (Fr), McAlester, dec. Dylan Bellmard (Sr), McGuinness, 6-4 

112: Cole Powers (Fr), LM, pinned Jamie Copeland (Jr), Ada, 3.21; Mitch Sellers (Fr), Tahlequah, pinned Jimmy Langford (Sr), Ardmore, 2.13 

119: Austin O’Connor (So), Guthrie, dec. Yahola Jones (Sr), Shawnee, 7-1; Jacob Lusch (Sr), CA, dec. Jordan Litton (Sr), Altus, 6-2 

125: Jake Todd (Jr), Ada, def. Aaron Guery (Fr), WH, forfeit; Patrick O’Brien (Jr), TE, dec. Matt Jager (So), CA, 7-3 

130: Jemuel Duran (Jr), SE, dec. Michael Varner (Jr), WH, 5-4; Brandon Hughes (Jr), CA, pinned Jimmy Roach (Sr), Grove, 5.25 

135: Zack Abkemeier (So), Collinsville, dec. Raymond Prescott (Sr), Deer Creek, 7-4; Trey Bowman (Sr), Durant, dec. Kanyon Weldon (Jr), Altus, 3-0 

140: Cole Pacheco (Fr), Deer Creek, pinned Tyler Shearer (Sr), TK, 0.48; Daylan Stuteville (So), Shawnee, dec. Sam Schrader (Sr), Ardmore, 7-5 

145: Josh Pennington (Sr), Collinsville, dec. Tanner Lackey (Sr), Deer Creek, 6-4; Bryce Armstrong (Sr), Grove, dec. Devin Bilyeu (Jr), Guthrie, 1-0 

152: Chad Draper (So), Deer Creek, dec. Corey Delk (Sr), Skiatook, 6-4; Payton Atchley (Sr), Duncan, dec. Dennis Murphy (Sr), Guthrie, 4-3 

160: Jeremy Delzer (Sr), Altus, def. Dylan Ussrey (Sr), TEC, by forfeit; Austin Cook (Jr), Skiatook, maj. dec. Brennan Trimble (Sr), LM, 10-2 

171: Desmond Block (Sr), LM, pinned Isaac Dyer (Jr), Collinsville, 2.39; Jake Welt (So), Harrah, dec. Vincent Opuiyo (Jr), WH, 6-1 

189: John Jones (So), Duncan, pinned Kentrell Pierson (Sr), CA, 5.23; Austen Brooner (Jr), Pryor, dec. Michael Conner (Sr), Guthrie, 7-6 

215: Rich Gerow (Sr), TE, pinned Newt Salisbury (SO), Collinsville, 5.54; Alex Christensen (Sr), Deer Creek, pinned Garet Hanning (Jr), Pryor, 2.56 

Hwt: John Davison (Jr), Guthrie, dec. Kyle Croak (Sr), CA, 6-4; Zack Hargrove (Sr), TE, pinned Curtis Hurst (So), Harrah, 0.56

Irish defends top seed in home regional

 

By: Chuck Chaney

Special to Guthrie Sports Page

 

The Lady Jays basketball squad could not overcome slow starts in the first and third quarter, as they fell in the Regional Championship game to the McGuinness Fighting Irish 46-26. Guthrie struggled against the full court pressure and allowed McGuinness to force 11 jump balls. Melinda led the Lady Jays in scoring with 7 points.

Defense was key early in the first quarter for the Lady Jays as they had their hands full with Irish’s Elyse Hight and Alexa Liendhard, who combined for eight of the Irish’s first 11 points. The Lady Jays were able to force McGuiness into six first quarter fouls. Lady Jays were unable to score until late in the quarter, when Gracynn Smith hit a nice back door lay up to put Guthrie on the board, Mikaela Murillo would hit one of two free throws with 6.1 seconds in the quarter to cut the lead to 11-3, Irish.

Mikaela Murrillo started out the second quarter nicely with a jump shot that gave Guthrie only their second field goal of the game, cutting the lead to 11-5. However, back would come Hight to scored on the ensuing possession. Midway through the quarter, Melinda Murrillo got into the action as she put in a break away lay up making the lead 17-7 with 4:43 remaining in the half. McGuinness would go on a 7-0 run until Ashley Shields was able to get to shots from the charity stripe to cut the lead to 26-9 with 3:00 left. Melinda Murrillo was able to hit one of her two free throws near the end of the first half to cut the  Irish lead to with 28 seconds left to 26-10.

McGuinness turned up the pressure and would start the second half on 16-0. Guthrie struggled to score from the field. Starting out the third quarter  before Smith was able to hit a basket with 1:22 remaining in the quarter. Shields got in the scoring as well, as she hit a couple of free throws. Melinda Murrillo would provide a buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter to cut the lead to 40-16.

The fourth quarter saw the Lady Jays get going offensively. Shields scored on a nice lay up. Smith followed an Irish basket with one of her own. It capped off a 10-2 run by the Lady jays which spanned 2 minutes and 50 seconds. Melinda Murrillo would hit a three-point shot late in the fourth quarter. Guthrie cut the lead as low as 44-25, but could not get any closer.

The Lady Jays falls to 13-10 and advance to Area Loser’s bracket next week.

Copyright 2011 Guthrie Sports Page. Some rights reserved.

Boys basketball season ends in regionals

 

By: Chuck Chaney

Special to Guthrie Sports Page

 

The Guthrie Blue Jay basketball team fought tooth and nail to over come a tough third quarter, but just fell short. Carl Albert used a 16-0 run over the second and third quarter to pull away in the rivalry playoff game, 66-55.

First quarter the Blue jays came out flustered. Carl Albert hit them early. Carl Albert had an early 8-2 lead. Jays guard Codee Gross lead the way in the first quarter having four of the first 7 points in the quarter. Guthrie hit a basket in the final minute of the quarter, ending it with a Titan 20-7 advantage.

The second quarter Guthrie started to find their rhythm. Hitting their first basket, cutting the decifit to 11 points. Carl Albert respond by scoring five straight points. That’s when Guthrie’s defense took over. The Bluejays forced six turnovers. It helped spark a 9-0 run. Guthrie cut the lead to 25-18 with 2:35 remaining in the half. However, the Titans responded with a 6-0 run of their own, pushing the lead to 31-18 at the half.

Carl Albert put the game away in the second half. Guthrie would not score a point in 6 minutes and 55 seconds. Spanning the end of the second qarter to middle of the third quarter. During that stretch, Carl Albert assertrf the lead with an 16-0 run. Pushing the lead to 41-18 3:45 remaining in the third quarter. Guthrie tried to fight back late in the quarter lead by Tim Zupo. He would score six of their 9-points in the frame.

Guthrie did not give up by cutting the deficit to 18, when Kentrell Brothers was fouled on a break away lay up. Leaving the score for Guthrie at 49-31. However, any time Guthrie would make a run, Carl Albert had an answer. The lead was pushed back to 53-34 with six minutes remaining. Brothers and Zupo clawed and fought their way back. Cutting the lead to 63-53 with 25.8 seconds left. However, Guthrie would get no closer.

For the seniors it ends a very successful career at Guthrie. Which saw back-to-back state championships. An appearance in the Area final last season.

Copyright 2011 Guthrie Sports Page. Some rights reserved.

Guthrie Wrestling sending seven back for day two of state

 

The Guthrie Wrestling program is having a season to remember.

 

The 90th Oklahoma High School Wrestling Championships from the State Fair Arena.

Although, the program will not claim a second team state championship for the trophy case, the BlueJays are having a special season by sending seven grappler’s to the 90th edition of the Oklahoma High School Wrestling Championships.

 

All seven, which is the most sent to state under 19-year head coach Jack O’Connor, will return to the State Fair Arena for day two with a couple of Jays having opportunities to claim state championships. Both Landry Chappell and Bryan Dutton will face off with grueling competition, but again, that is no surprise when you reach the championship match.

 

As a team, Guthrie stands in fourth place with Collinsville in first, Altus second, and Deer Creek third.

 

Session One Photo Gallery | Session Two Photo Gallery

 

Read more about Bryan Dutton and Landry Chappell and their road to the state finals.

 

Guthrie came out strong in the first round by winning six of their seven matches, including Dutton, Devin Bilyeu, Dennis Murphy, Michael Conner, Chappell, and John Davison. In all six wins, Guthrie controlled each match from the beginning.

 

The semifinal round was not as kind as the Jays dropped four of their seven matches. However, Austin O’Connor rebounded after his first round loss with a pin over McAlester’s Hayden Contreras 3:58 into the match. The sophomore has now won 22 matches this season and is one win away from placing in the 119 weight pound division.

 

In the 145 division, Bilyeu faced a familiar opponent in Deer Creek’s Tanner Lackey. The three seed, Bilyeu, defeated the two seed, Lackey, earlier this season on his mat and returned the favor on the state mat with a 3-0 win. Bilyeu earned a 2-0 first period lead and scored an escape in the second to top off the scoring. In the semi’s, top seed and 145 pound favorite, Kellan Torres, scored a fall 47 seconds into the match.

 

Senior Dennis Murphy is now 30-9 heading into the final day of State.

Murphy wrestling in the 152 division outscored Skiatook’s Corey Delk 6-1 in the second period to open the match up before pulling out the 10-4 decision. Murphy advanced to take on the top seed Kenneth Hartfield, of Western Heights, in the semi’s in an exciting match to the end.

 

Murphy (30-9) trailed 1-0 before getting a third period escape to send the match into sudden victory overtime, Hartfield scored two with just four seconds left in the overtime to claim the win and move on to the state finals.

 

Conner, who was just named as one of 11 GHS Valedictorian’s, saw a familiar opponent in Carl Albert’s Kentrell Pierson, whom he pinned earlier this season. In the rematch, Conner jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Pierson reversed Conner to tie the match at 2-all after the opening period.

 

In the second period, Conner took the lead back 4-2 as Pierson could only manage an escape in the third and Conner advanced with a 4-3 win.

 

Conner met up with Lawton MacArthur Max Adair, the West top seed, and gave him everything he had in the 189 battle, but fell short late in the third period and dropped the match 4-2. Adair’s winning points came with just 25 seconds left in the match.

 

In the final match of the day, Davison and Ardmore’s Evan McGee had the entire arena to themselves as the seven other mats had finished the semifinal round. The dual was a rematch of last week’s regional meeting between the two, where Davison scored the upset win. However, McGee (38-2) returned the favor with a pin 5:19 into the match. Davison had led at the time (1-0).

 

Davison (26-6) reached the semi’s with a pin of his own over Tulsa Edison’s Zack Hargrove in the opening round. The pin came 50 seconds into the third period.

 

The action will pick up again Saturday morning and evening with the following schedule:

 

Saturday Session III Schedule

8:00 a.m. - All Classes will weigh-in

9:30 a.m. – Doors Open

10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Consolation Semi-Finals

12:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. – Consolation Finals

 

Saturday Session IV Schedule

4:00 Doors Open

4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Band entertains

5:00 p.m. – 5:35 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies and Introductions

5:35 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. – Band entertains, final warm-ups

5:45 p.m. – 10:15 p.m. – Finals and Awards

Copyright 2011 Guthrie Sports Page. Some rights reserved.

Dutton, Rutherford for state championship

 

Sophomore Bryan Dutton continues to get it done against Oklahoma competition, but his strongest test this year will come on the mat Saturday evening on the biggest stage in the 90th edition of the Oklahoma High School Wrestling Championships.

Bryan Dutton is now 5-1 in the past two State Tournament's and will try to become a State Champion on Saturday.

Dutton, the top seeded wrestler from the West, will challenge Grove’s Spencer Rutherford, the top seed from the East in the 140 pound Class 5A state championship inside the State Fair Arena. The senior Rutherford is 39-1 this season while Dutton is a healthy 33-1 with his only defeat coming to a Texas opponent.

Dutton cruised in the regionals with three pins in three matches and cruised in his semifinal match with Shawnee’s Daylan Stuteville, whom he pinned last week in the regionals, by winning 10-2 to earn his first ever trip to the state tournament finals. The three-sport star held a 2-0 lead after one period and a 4-1 advantage after two periods.

 

Dutton drew Deer Creek’s freshmen Cole Pacheco in the opening round and once more Pacheco gave Dutton a run for his money, although Dutton seemed to control majority of the match with a 3-2 win. The two met earlier this year inside the GHS gym, where Dutton again controlled the match and won 2-0.

 

In the state match, Dutton scored an escape point with 40 seconds left in the match to prevail. The two could not manage a first period score and was tied at two after the second period.

 

Dutton along with teammate and friend Landry Chappell will try to become Guthrie’s first state champion wrestler since 1992 when Timothy Kyle and Parrish Pierce claim titles.

Copyright 2011 Guthrie Sports Page. Some rights reserved. 

 

Chappell defeats Christensen for state tournament finals berth

It was the same ol Landry Chappell. Literally. The same.

Landry Chappell and Alex Christen met for the seventh time in the last two years. Christensen has won four, but Chappell won the last and biggest match between them.

It was a showdown many had come to expect in the 215 pound semifinals of the 90th edition of the Oklahoma High School Wrestling Championships. Chappell vs Alex Christensen. Chappell entered the state match with a 22-3 overall record with all three losses coming to the Deer Creek Antler, Christensen, in tournament formats (Cushing, Carl Albert, and Chickasha) this season, but Chappell resorted back to his style back on January 13th. Not on the mat, but on the wardrobe.

Chappell defeated Christensen, 11-1, in a home dual back on that January night and Chappell recalled everything he wore that night from his shirt, shorts, his hair style, and even the way he tied his shoes. He repeated the same Friday evening and the result proved to be the same. Only this time the win advances Chappell to his first state tournament finals, where he will face Jacoby Brown. Chappell defeated Brown in last week’s regional.

After a scoreless first period, Christensen scored an escape point in the second to take a 1-0 lead into the final period, but Chappell quickly tied the match with an escape of his own. The two could not find any more points and the match headed to a sudden death overtime. In the overtime, Chappell said he recalled the referee counting down the seconds and went in for the score and prevailed with the takedown with just two seconds left in the extra period.

Chappell (23-3), the top seeded wrestler from the west, made the semi’s with a 6-3 decision win over Collinsville’s Newt Salisbury in the first round. Again, after a scoreless first quarter, Chappell scored an escape and followed that with two more points to go up 3-0 before Salisbury scored an escape to make it a 3-1 lead through two periods.

In the third period, Salisbury, again, scored with an escape to narrow the score to 3-2, but only to see Chappell finish the match with three different scores to pull away for the win.

Chappell along with teammate and friend Bryan Dutton will try to become Guthrie’s first state champion wrestler since 1992 when Timothy Kyle and Parrish Pierce claim titles.

Copyright 2011 Guthrie Sports Page. Some rights reserved.

Regional championship game up next for Lady Jays

 

Soon after the Guthrie Lady Jays captured their first lead they never looked back in their first round, do-or-die, regional playoff game with Northwest Classen.

 

The eighth seeded Lady Jays got an early boost from Gracynn Smith and a steady performance from Ashley Shields to down the ninth seeded Lady Knights 46-31 at the McGuinness Regional.

 

Guthrie will now play for the regional championship, Saturday afternoon at 1:30, against the No. 1 seed and regional host McGuinness. The Lady Irish had an easy win over Noble in game two of the regional. Both, Guthrie and McGuinness, automatically qualify for next week’s area tournament and now must be beaten twice from this point to be eliminated.

 

Northwest Classen earned leads of 2-0 and 4-2, but Smith’s two field goals and free throw gave Guthrie the lead for good from the 6:13 mark of the first quarter. Guthrie grew their lead as big as six points in the first quarter before settling for a 13-10 advantage after the first eight minutes.

 

In the second quarter, Guthrie expanded their lead up to 10 points, 23-13, with 3:25 to play, but the Knights finished the half with a 7-3 run to trail by just 6-points at the half, 26-20.

 

Shields paced the Lady Jays with a game high 15 points and was named the Farmers and Merchants Bank Player of the Game.

 

Northwest struggled shooting the ball from the field the entire night and managed just 11 second half points against the Lady Jays, who have held their last four opponents to an average 23 points a game. Guthrie improves to 13-9 this season and is 5-2 in the month of February.

Class 5A Girls – WEST

Reg. 1 at McGuinness
Guthrie 46, Northwest 31
McGuinness 55, Noble 21

Reg. 2 at Western Heights
Deer Creek 42, Altus 36
Western Heights 63, Ardmore 39

Reg. 3 at Carl Albert
Duncan 45, Durant 42
Carl Albert 50, Chickasha 27

Reg. 4 at Shawnee
Lawton MacArthur 37, El Reno 36
Shawnee 65, Capitol Hill 14

Class 5A Girls – EAST

Reg. 1 at Tulsa East Central
Collinsville 52, Coweta 49
Tulsa East Central 71, Tulsa Central 29

Reg. 2 at Tulsa Rogers
Tulsa Kelley 67, Tahlequah 34
Tulsa Rogers 64, Southeast 36

Reg. 3 at Tulsa Memorial
Tulsa Edison 59, Grove 47
Tulsa Memorial 65, Pryor 34

Reg. 4 at Tulsa Washington
McAlester 50, Skiatook 37
Tulsa Washington 62, Tulsa Hale 32

Wrestling State Tournament Schedule

 

The Oklahoma High School Wrestling Championships begin Friday morning (Feb. 25th) and will end Saturday evening (Feb. 26th) inside the State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma City.

 

Friday Session I Schedule

8:00 a.m. - All Classes will weigh-in

9:30 a.m. – Doors Open

10:30 – 3:00 – First Round

 

Friday Session II Schedule

4:00 p.m. - Doors Open

5:00 p.m. – 7:10 – First Round Consolations

7:15 p.m. – 9:45 – Semifinals

 

Saturday Session III Schedule

8:00 a.m. - All Classes will weigh-in

9:30 a.m. – Doors Open

10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Consolation Semi-Finals

12:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. – Consolation Finals

 

Saturday Session IV Schedule

4:00 Doors Open

4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Band entertains

5:00 p.m. – 5:35 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies and Introductions

5:35 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. – Band entertains, final warm-ups

5:45 p.m. – 10:15 p.m. – Finals and Awards

Youth Wrestling ends season with medals

The youth wrestling season is a long and grueling one with hundreds of hours of practice and competition needed in order to be successful.  After starting the season out in October with 50 plus youth wrestlers, Team Guthrie finished the season this past weekend with the best overall season, on record, with three Novice Division State Champions and the team’s first ever Open Division State Champion. 

Andrew Toney, Caleb Nelson, Blake Finley, and Brent Wilson (left to right) medaled in the OKWA State tournament held at the Tulsa Expo Center.

On February 4^th and 5^th Team Guthrie wrestled in the Novice State Championship Tournament in Choctaw.

“The Novice Division Tournament consists of wrestlers who are primarily first or second year wrestlers.  This is especially meaningful for Guthrie Wrestling because our kid’s success in this tournament underscores how bright the future is for the sport in our community,” coach Asa Nelson said.

Results for the Novice State Tournament:

6 and Under Division: Coal Madison 3^rd place 43 lbs, Hayden Simpson 2^nd place 60 lbs

8 and Under Division: Dean Madison 6^th place 52 lbs.

10 and Under Division: Adam Baker State Champion 61 lbs, J.B. Simpson State Champion 131 lbs

12 and Under Division: Austin Flurry State Champion 105 lbs, War Mothershed 3^rd place 120 lbs

Both Mothershed and Flurry are first year wrestlers and also wrestled for the GJHS squad.

The weekend of February 11^th and 12^th,  eighteen youth wrestlers competed in the OKWA Central Region Tournament held in Tuttle.  In order to move on to the state tournament the kids must medal at the regional tournament.  Qualifying for the state tournament were Jordan Campbell, Justin Pyle, Marcus Ballard, D.J. Branson, Zane Wanzer, Caleb Nelson, Kurgan Cornwell and Brent Wilson.  Team Guthrie also had several GJHS kids qualify for state including Cory Douglass, Blake Finley, Josiah Sisco, Alex Nelson, Andrew Toney, and Shane Cantrell.  Cantrell suffered a shoulder injury in his final match at regionals and was not able to compete in the state tournament despite qualifying.

This past weekend the thirteen wrestlers competed in the OKWA State tournament held at the Tulsa Expo Center.  This tournament is an Open Division tournament and features the elite youth talent in the state.  Out of the thirteen attending, four came away with a medal which included one State Champion in Finley. 

“Blake is an incredibly tough wrestler who competes in the Heavyweight Division.  Despite only being in his third year, Blake has really broken out this year and has only one loss on his record this year to a National Champion,” coach Curtis Jurina said.

The other three state placers are as follows:

10 and Under Division: Caleb Nelson 6^th Place 64 lbs

 15 and Under Division: Brent Wilson 4^th Place 102 lbs and Andrew Toney 3^rd Place 185 lbs.

Team Guthrie would like to thank all the parents and coaches who put in the hours necessary to make the team successful.  The coaches include, Curtis Jurina, Kelly Wanzer, Joe Musil, Brandon Watson, Johnny Simpson, Asa Nelson, Ryan Campbell and Kent Wilson.  The team will begin the 2011-2012 season in October.