Mark Kirk
If the Class 5A State Tournament is anything like the regional tournaments, then everyone is in for an amazing State Tournament! Elgin and Coweta were crowned regional champions but it was a battle to the end in both regionals.
Elgin squeaked out a two-point win over Chickasha to win the West Regional Tournament. Elgin captured four individual titles including the last three weights to finally overcome fast starting Chickasha (four champions and two 3rd place finishes in the first six weights) to win the West Regional title.
Only six points separated the top three teams at the East Regional with Coweta coming out on top. Coweta pushed six into the finals and crowned one champion to hold off late charges by Claremore, which crowned four champions and Del City, which crowned three champions
Elgin, Coweta, Chickasha, Claremore, Del City, Guthrie, Lawton Mac, Duncan… so many teams hoping to claim the Class 5A state championship. Elgin and Coweta are the regional champions but everyone else is looking to copy what Carl Albert did last year in capturing the state title. Carl Albert placed 5th at the regional tournament but put it all together to win the 2023 Class 5A state championship. The team champion will likely be decided by who gets on a roll, avoids upsets and earns the all-important bonus points. It will be fun!
Chickasha comes in with the most state qualifiers as they qualified 11 wrestlers, including four regional champions. Winning titles were undefeated Canaan Burmmett, Clint Longanacre, Colby Longanacre and undefeated Dylan Bratt. Cole Beier and Tyren Alexander added 2nd place finishes, with state champion Jarrett Patty and Joshua Moore coming in 3rd.
Elgin qualified 10 wrestlers including seven regional finalists, with four regional champions. Freshman Braxten Antuna, Colyn Donnelly, state champion Ritson Meyer and Jace Williams all winning regional titles. Talon Tahdooahnippah, Hunter Jackson and Brice Martin all earned runner-up finishes.
Coweta qualified nine wrestlers for the State Tournament, with state champion Toby Shipman winning a regional title. Coweta had five regional runners-up with Tohmi Carney, Legend Ellis, Colby Eighinger, Brock Roberts and Baylor Bart all earning 2nd place finishes.
Claremore has eight wrestlers competing at the State Tournament with four coming in as regional champions. Winning regional titles were Mason Gillispie, undefeated Cooper Zickefoose, Cameron Braswell and Joshua Feliciano. Raul Perez placed 2nd, with Gunner Murray and Michael Robertson adding 3rd place finishes.
Del City qualified eight wrestlers including three regional champions. Evan Colbert, Deontre Buttram and Liam Daniels all won regional titles with Ricklan Holmes II adding a 2nd place finish. Dimitri Kizer and Roger Mendoza placed 3rd for the Eagles.
Guthrie had eight state qualifiers, including two regional champions. State champion Kaedin Herendeen and Bryson Hall won regional titles with Wesley Silvas and Nik Herendeen adding 2nd place finishes and Robert Brown finishing 3rd.
Duncan also had eight state qualifiers with two regional champions. Kooper Kelly and state champion Eli Ramirez won regional titles with Bryson Burton earning a runner-up finish.
Lawton Mac is the 5th team to qualify eight wrestlers with state champion Braden Brown winning a regional title. Lawton Mac got runner-up finishes from Christian Morales and Trae Kibble with Kaden Wallace and Skylar Red Elk finishing 3rd.
There are 10 returning or past state champions in the field, led by Collinsville’s Canon Acklin who is looking to add his name to the exclusive 4X state champion list. Acklin enters the tournament with a 37-4 season record and 127-9 career record.
A bracket to watch is the 113 lb. bracket, which features two state champions and two 2X state placers. Returning state champion Kaedin Herendeen (Guthrie) won the west regional and comes in with a 32-4 season record and 79-22 career record. Chickasha’s Jarrett Patty went undefeated in winning State last year. Patty placed 3rd at the west regional and enters state with a 30-3 record and 63-3 career record. Â
Elgin’s 2X state placer and 2023 runner-up Hunter Jackson, placed 2nd at the west regional with a semifinal win over Patty. Jackson is 34-6 this season with a 99-13 record over the past three seasons. Sapulpa’s 2x state placer….
