Dual State Preview: 4A and 3A

It’s time to crown our first state champions for 2023.  Dual State will take place this weekend for all classes at the Stride Bank Center in Enid.  All four champions return to defend their titles (Stillwater, Collinsville, Tuttle and Marlow), but 28 other teams also have their sights on capturing this year’s title.  

The quarterfinals take place on Friday, with the semifinals Saturday afternoon and all four championship finals running together starting at 6:30.  The schedule is listed below.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10

Class 6A Quarterfinals at 12:00 p.m.

Edmond North vs. Mustang

Yukon vs. Broken Arrow 

Bixby vs. Sand Springs 

Stillwater vs. Choctaw 

Class 3A Quarterfinals at 2:00 p.m.

Blackwell vs. Hinton 

Perry vs. Sperry

Jay vs. Sulphur 

Berryhill vs. Marlow 

Class 5A Quarterfinals at 4:00 p.m.

Elgin vs. Pryor

Collinsville vs. Duncan 

Lawton Mac vs. Glenpool 

Piedmont vs. Coweta 

Class 4A Quarterfinals at 6:00 p.m.  

Tuttle vs. Bristow 

Wagoner vs. Chickasha 

Cushing vs. Ft. Gibson 

Clinton vs. Catoosa 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11

3A and 6A Semifinals at 12:00 p.m.

4A and 5A Semifinals at 2:00 p.m.

3A, 4A, 5A and 6A Finals at 6:30 p.m.

CLASS 4A

Class 4A appears to once again be a battle for 2^nd as Tuttle has won Dual State every year since 2010 and will look to extend their ongoing state record streak to 14 years in a row.  Last year Tuttle beat Wagoner 66-12 in the finals.  Tuttle is the number one seed and in addition to the wins over Dual State qualifiers Mustang and Blackwell, own a 51-15 win over El Reno.  Catoosa dropped their opening dual of the season to Claremore (33-32), but has reeled off nine straight wins, including a 42-19 win over Cushing and is the number two seed.

Cushing finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, including wins over Dual State teams Pryor, Sperry and Perry. Chickasha is the number four seed, and used victories over Harrah and Blanchard to earn the district title and their first trip to Dual State since 2016.  Following a state championship in football, Wagoner has had an abbreviated dual schedule, but won the district title and are making their 9^th straight appearance at Dual State.  

Ft. Gibson has a win over Class 5A Dual State qualifier Pryor and won the district title with a 45-36 win over Poteau.  Bristow ended the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record and won the district title with a 39-37 win over Skiatook, ending Skiatook’s streak of six straight district titles.  Clinton is making their 12^th appearance at Dual State (1^st since 2019) and won the district title with wins over Cache (37-36), Weatherford (33-32) and Elk City (48-24).  

CLASS 3A

Blackwell and 2X defending Dual State champion Marlow appear to be on a collision course for the finals, but Jay, Sulphur and the other teams disagree with that prediction. In 2021, most predicted a Marlow-Jay battle in the finals, but Blackwell advanced to the finals with a semifinal win over Jay.  In 2022, most expected Marlow and Blackwell in the finals, but Jay returned the favor, beating Blackwell 51-30 in the semifinals.  

Blackwell finished the season 14-3, winning the district title with a 45-24 win over Cascia Hall and also had wins over Guthrie, Perry, Ponca City, and Texas power Arlington Martin. Their only losses were to nationally ranked teams at the Hall of Fame Duals, including a close 38-30 loss to Tuttle.  Marlow has been in the last five Dual State finals, including winning the last two titles.  Marlow comes in with an 11-0 record including wins over Class 5A and 4A Dual State qualifiers Elgin (49-19) and Chickasha (46-18).  

Jay finished the season with a perfect 12-0 record including a 51-27 win over defending 5A champion Collinsville.  Sulphur also finished the season undefeated, going 14-0, including a 49-24 win over Dual State qualifier Clinton.  Sulphur is making their first appearance in Dual State since 2007 as they ended Comanche’s streak of seven straight district titles with a 41-31 win.  Sperry went 10-1, and won the district title with wins over Salina (37-33) and Inola (37-30). 

Perry had a streak of 28 straight Dual State appearances broken last year by Pawnee, but won this year’s district title with a 57-19 win over Pawnee.  Berryhill won their district title with a 36-33 win over Vinita while Hinton beat Bridge Creek (54-23) and Heritage Hall (55-23) to earn their first Dual State appearance since 2012.

IF Blackwell and Marlow meet, there are potential fireworks in the first seven weights with top ranked wrestlers from both teams possibly facing each other. 

DUAL STATE HISTORY AND RECORDS

Listed below is an abbreviated list of just a few of the Dual State records from a “book” this writer has compiled listing the Dual State records and results since Dual State started in 1989.  Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested in a pdf copy of this “book.” 

MOST TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

1. Perry – 20
2. Tuttle – 19
3. El Reno – 11

MOST FINALS APPEARANCES

1. Perry – 24

1. Tuttle – 24
2. Broken Arrow – 15

MOST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES

1. Perry – 33
2. Broken Arrow – 31
3. Tuttle – 31

MOST CONSECUTIVE TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES

1. Perry – 28 (1994-2021)
2. Tuttle – 17 (2007-2023)
3. El Reno – 16 (1994-2009)
4. Broken Arrow – 16 (2008-2023)

MOST TOURNAMENT POINTS SCORED

1. Perry – 223 (2018)
2. Tuttle – 209 (2019)
3. Tuttle – 206 (2018 and 2020)

FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED – TOURNAMENT

1. Tuttle – 0 (2019) (Tuttle didn’t lose one match in three duals, winning by scores of 75-0, 71-0 and 63-0)
2. Perry  – 12 (2018)
3. Perry – 15 (2009)

3. Tuttle – 15 (2020)

Listed below are summaries of this year’s Dual State qualifiers from the “book.” The “Class” lists the class a school has qualified for Dual State in the 35-year history of the tournament.