Mark Kirk
With a WORLD CHAMPION, five Fargo national champions, 20 Fargo All-Americans, numerous DI signees and 16 returning or past state champions, needless to say, Class 6A is loaded! Add in 20 returning state placers and a strong freshman class ready to make their mark and 2023-24 looks to be an exciting year with tons of top-notch wrestling.
Stillwater, Edmond North and Bixby dominated the 2023 State Tournament and that appears to be the case heading into this season. Last year’s State Tournament was an intense and highly entertaining tournament that wasn’t decided until the final match of the night, with Stillwater scoring a Class 6A scoring record 191 points (old record, Broken Arrow – 163.5 in 2020) to outlast Edmond North by one single point. Bixby crowned four state champions and scored the 10th most points in Class 6A State Tournament history to place 3rd with 147.5 points. Stillwater, Edmond North and Bixby had 21 of the 28 finalists, including 11 of the 14 individual state champions.
Stillwater, winner of the last three Class 6A state titles, will once again field a team loaded with hammers, with six wrestlers already owning eight state title entering the season. 2023 World Champion, 2022 Fargo national champion and one of the top P4P wrestler in the nation, LaDarion Lockett enters his junior year with two state titles and a 78-2 career record. Aydan Thomas placed 3rd at Fargo, went 37-2 in claiming the 106 lb. state title last year and enters his junior year with a 63-13 career record. Landyn Sommer rolled to an undefeated 33-0 season in winning the 165 lb. state title last year. The OU commit also placed 3rd at State in 2022 and carries a 69-6 career record into his senior season. OSU commit JJ (Rogers) McComas is a 2X Fargo All-American, including earning a runner-up finish this past summer and is a 3X state finalist, winning a state title in 2021. JJ enters his senior season with a 97-19 career record. Beric Jordan was also a Fargo runner-up and state runner-up, who finished last season with a 39-2 record. Committed to OU, Jordan was a 2X state champion in Ohio and enters his senior season with a 119-3 career record. Junior Stockton Allen was a 2022 state champion for Pawnee who saw limited action in Stillwater’s powerful line-up last year and looks to make some noise for the Pioneers this year.
Edmond North’s Fantastic Freshmen of 2021 are now seniors and have their sights set on bringing home the 2024 state championship trophy. In 2021, the Huskies qualified an incredible nine freshmen to the State Tournament, with an even more impressive, six of them winning state medals. Since 2021, seniors Brayden Belford, Christian Belford, Hunter Hollingsworth, Layton Schneider, Brayden Lucas, Jude Randall, Talon McCollom, Oscar Williams, and Ricky Thomas have combined to make 23 trips to the State Tournament, winning 20 state medals, including four individual state titles….
