5A State Tournament Recap

Unlike some of the other classes that had clear favorite going into the state tournament 5A appeared to be a bit more open between the top 3/4 teams. After winning dual state a couple weeks prior, Elgin may have had the slight edge, but you never know how matchups can differ between a dual and individual tournament. Even after Day 2 the team race was still in question, but the backside is what really separated the team race. Elgin takes home the title with 95.5 points and Chickasha holds on by 1 point to go home with a team trophy over Coweta.
The Top 4 Teams finished as follows:

Elgin 95.5
Chickasha 80
Coweta 79
Del City 77

Speaking with Coach Rowell after the tournament, he mentioned really having to focus in and keep his kids motivated and hungry for this weekend after coming off back-to-back dual state titles. Elgin, like a few other teams this year, dealt with a lot of adversity including injuries and illness throughout the season. Haven fallen short last season, I believe gave Elgin something to be hungry for and this year they showed up and got the job done, winning their first title as a team. Elgin had a great semi-final round Friday evening pushing 4 wrestlers into the finals. At 113, Hunter Jackson won the head-to-head over Chickasha’s Jarett Patty in the semi-finals which was huge for the team race, but falls a bit short in the finals in a devastating loss in overtime. Brice Martin had a tough one in the semi-finals but was able to bounce back win two tight wins to finish 3rd place at 120. The upper weights is where Elgin really hit their stride with Donnelly (190), Meyer (215), and Williams (285) all punch their ticket to the finals. A nice takedown for Meyer gets the job done for his 2nd state title and Williams follows suit with the rideout in overtime to claim his first title at heavyweight. At 175, George Tahdooahnippah went down in the first round, then bounced back with two WILD overtime wins, to make the podium, which were huge for the team race.106 Talon Tahdooahnippah had a tough loss in the semi-finals and wasnt able to quite recover losing again in the blood round. Elgin finished with 6 overall placers and the crazy thing is all 6 wrestlers come back next year along with a couple other qualifiers. Coach Rowell is building something special down in Elgin and it is clear that the community is bought in on wrestling. It is fair to say that Elgin will definitely be in the running for a title next year as well. As a side note, Elgin also wins my vote for most entertaining dual of the year lol.

Chickasha actually spent most of the season as the #1 ranked team, and while they came up short of their goal of a championship title, they still had in my opinion a really great season. While Elgin is most dominant in their upper-weights, Chickasha’s best part of their lineup is in the lower half. Chickasha was lead by two undefeated state champions: Canaan Brummett (106) and Dylan Bratt (138). Chickasha is 106 central. For the past 3 years, a 106 lb wrestler has gone undefeated and won a state title (shoutout to Chickasha sports editor Austin Litterell for the cool factoid). Having finished 3rd last season, it was evident that Bratt was on a mission and no one could stand in his way of securing his second state title this year. Chickasha had a bit of a rough semi-final round as Jarrett Patty (113), Clint Longanacre (132), Colby Longanacre (138) and Cole Beier (150) are unable to punch through. However, Jarret, Colby and Cole were able to recover and come back to make the podium, which were huge points in the team race for Chickasha. At 150, Cole Beier ends his junior season with a 4-2 win over Kelly of Duncan to finish 3rd place. I cant say enough how important it is to win matches on the backside. Cline Longanacre and Jonavin Mullins (190) fall a bit short of the podium, but score enough team points to help bring home a team trophy for the fightin’ chicks! Chickasha finished with 5 wrestlers on the podium Saturday night and just like Elgin, all 5 of them (plus a few more) come back next season. I have also heard that Chickasha has some really….