Monday was a great night to celebrate the past and present Bristow wrestling teams as the Class 4A number two ranked Purple Pirates easily disposed of Class 6A Jenks by a 61-14 score. It was also Alumni night and one of the best in Oklahoma’s rich wrestling history, Bristow’s 2000 state championship team was recognized before an appreciative crowd.
Following the recognition of the 2000 team, Bristow won 11 of the 14 matches to defeat Jenks, 61-14. Bristow got falls from Westin Vanzant, Kolson Seachris, Javon Freeman, Braylon Freeman, Cain Clay, Hudson Claggett, and Marley Branscum, with recent UCO signee Hayden Yocham, and Mack Powell picking up tech fall wins. Tucker Daniel won by decision and Cordeus Wahl added a win by forfeit.
Taking a look back to 1989 to 2002, shows that Bristow was a powerhouse in a loaded Class 3A (now 4A) as several teams fought for supremacy. Bristow, Marlow, Tuttle, Coweta, Perry, Blackwell and Cushing all won state titles during that time, with Bristow winning five titles and Marlow winning four (Perry and Tuttle bounced between Classes 2A and 3A and also won 2A titles during that time). Locust Grove, Anadarko, Harrah, Wagoner and Sallisaw also fielded strong teams and were often in contention.
The teams were so even that the Dual State champion seldom won the traditional state title, with Tuttle winning both in 1990 and it not happening again until Bristow did in 2000 and 2001.
From 1994-2002, Bristow, under head coaches Todd Steidley and Eddie Sullivan truly shined as they finishing 1st or 2nd eight years in a row, winning state championships in 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2001. During that time they also won six Dual State titles, winning in 1995, and reeling off five titles in a row from 1998-2002.
Current UCO head coach Todd Steidley was Bristow’s head coach when they won titles in 1994, 1996, 1997 and the Dual State title in 1995. Hall of Fame Coach Eddie Sullivan and current head coach Howard Moore joined the staff in 1995, with Sullivan being named the head coach in 1998. Under Sullivan, Bristow won state titles in 2000 and 2001 and Dual State titles in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.
In addition to winning all the state titles, Bristow went on a 68 dual winning streak under Sullivan that lasted from 1998-2002.
While all of the state championship are very special, it was the 2000 championship that stood out and put Bristow in the record book. The 2000 team went undefeated and got the post season started winning Dual State with a 59-11 win over Harrah, a 32-27 win over Locust Grove and beating Blackwell in the finals, 40-25. Bristow won the West Regional Tournament, by crowning four regional champions and qualifying 12 wrestlers for the State Tournament. Bristow won the Regional by 91 points over 2nd place Blackwell. That was just a warm-up for their incredible State Tournament performance.
Coach Sullivan had Bristow peak at the right time, as they had nine wrestlers place in the top three, with eight in the state finals. The finalists turned in spectacular performances, winning seven state titles, becoming only the fourth team to win seven individual state titles. They joined Tulsa Central (1930), Perry (1973), and Midwest City (1981) in that rare air. (Since 2000, four more teams won seven titles, with Edmond North winning eight in 2024, and Tuttle now holding the record with nine champions in 2020).
Jake Thurman, Rusty Nail, Derrick Brown, Ty Biggs, Shaun Roebuck, Tony Russell, and Clay Spicer all won titles with Jermaine Hooks placing 2nd and Dan Sullivan placing 3rd. Jerrod Murray, Josh Cooper, and Kyle Carson were state qualifiers for the team. Bristow won the team title by a staggering 86 points over 2nd place Locust Grove.
Showing the depth of the tournament, there were very few bonus point wins by any of the team, with Bristow earning only five bonus point wins in the tournament. What set them apart though, was their ability and tenacity to win the close ones, as they pulled out 13 one-score matches.
Jake Thurman won the second of his three state titles in a loaded weight class. The semifinals was a battle of defending state champions, with Thurman scoring at the buzzer in OT to take the thrilling 6-4 win over Wagoner’s Jacob Amann. It was more of the same in the finals, as Thurman faced 4X finalist and 2X champion Eric Dabbs from Anadarko. Dabbs defeated Thurman in the regional finals, but Thurman avenged that loss, getting the winning takedown with 12 seconds left on the clock to pull out the heart stopping 4-3 win. Thurman would win his third state title the next year, once again scoring at the end of the match to defeat Amann by a 3-2 score.
Rusty Nail was a state qualifier in 1999, but moved all the way to the top of the podium in winning the 145 lb. title in his senior year. Nail placed 2nd at the Regional Tournament and after opening the State Tournament with a 6-4 win, advanced to the finals with an 8-3 over East Regional champion J.B. Shanks from Glenpool. In the finals Nail faced Wagoner’s returning state runner-up Jory Dick and used a four-point move at the end of the 2nd period to claim the gold medal with a 7-2 victory.
Junior Derrick Brown won the second of his three state titles with a 9-4 finals win over Deer Creek’s Brad Bowman. Brown advanced to the finals with a tech fall in the first round and a 4-2 win over Blackwell’s Tyler McNamara in the semifinals. In the finals, Brown scored four takedowns to take the 9-4 win and end his season with a 31-4 record.
Senior Ty Biggs, a runner-up in 1999, battled his way to the finals with a 5-0 win in the opening round and a 3-2 semifinal win over Wagoner’s Brian Sterling. In the finals, Biggs used two 1st period takedowns to take a 5-4 win over Anadarko’s Sequint Gaines to claim the 160 lb. state title.
Maybe the most unlikely champion was current Bristow Girls coach Shaun Roebuck, who placed 4th at the regional tournament, but showed his grit and determination by winning three straight edge-of-your-seat thrillers to win the 171 lb. title. Roebuck opened the tournament by beating East Regional champion Austin David from Locust Grove, 6-4. In the semifinals, he avenged a regional tournament loss by beating Skiatook’s Heath Jolley, by the same 6-4 score. In the finals, he once again avenged a regional tournament loss, scoring the winning takedown in OT to win the title 8-6 over Chad Stangl from Clinton.
Senior Tony Russell was in control in all of his matches on his way to winning the 215 lb. state title. Russell, a 3rd place medalist in 1999, opened with a fall and advanced to the finals with a 7-1 win over Wagoner’s Jacob Hughes. Russell’s finals match was never in doubt, as he posted a 10-2 major decision over Star Spencer’s Casey Walston to win the gold medal and end the season with a 31-2 record.
Junior Clay Spicer became the fourth Bristow wrestler that didn’t win a regional title, but came through to win a state title. Every match for Spicer was a close one, but he always came out on top. He opened the tournament with a 4-3 win over Okmulgee’s Carl Lee and advanced to the finals with a 3-1 win over Wagoner regional champion Jamaal Riggs. In the finals, Spicer avenged a regional finals loss to Blackwell’s Dane Tannehill, claiming the title with a 5-2 win, giving Bristow a hard-to-believe seven state champions.
Bristow came oh so close to another state champion or two, as Jermaine Hooks and Dan Sullivan placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Hooks opened with a tech fall over Glenpool’s Ty Bowling and advanced to the finals with a 7-5 win over East Regional champion Carl Wisely from Grove. Hooks, who was pinned by Skiatook’s Shane Kidd in the regional finals, battled on even terms in the state finals, but was denied the gold medal when Kidd escaped with five seconds left in the tie-breaker. Sullivan opened with a 7-5 win, but dropped a wild 14-11 back-and-forth semifinal match to Tulsa Webster’s Tiger McIntosh. Sullivan bounced back with two wins, including a 7-4 win over Pauls Valley’s Grant Johnson to earn the 3rd place medal.
What a team and what a State Tournament!
