Michael Smith
Oklahoma’s OK Wrestling made the trek up to Belton, Missouri, to compete in the Central Cup Gils Wrestling Tournament Sunday at Belton High School.
The tournament featured teams of talented girls wrestlers from Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. OK Wrestling dominated their competition and ended the day with a 51-19 victory over Sudden Victory of Kansas in the first-place bout.
Other Oklahoma teams to place were Husky WC Navy, which took fifth and Husky WC Silver came away with 10th place.
Wrestler Interviews:
- Kylee Smith, Moore (105)
- Addison Morse, Harrah (110)
- Launa Trout. McLoud (125)
- Mak Gregg, Bixby (140)
- Tiffany Breshears, Broken Arrow (125)
- Zion Moore, Owasso (235)
OK wrestling was loaded with talent and didn’t have any other team come close to beating it. In the pool round, OK Wrestling defeated The Mo West Wild Dragons 58-15, Sudden Victory Red 51-15, WTC 40-25 and Husky WC Silver 62-9.
Against Sudden Victory started off with a 9-1 lead following a forfeit victory for Brielynn Jackson (95 pounds) and Jaidyn Alvarado’s 14-3 tech fall win of Remy Whitney (100), who was handed her first loss of the day. Moore’s Kylee Smith (105) got OK Wrestling on the board as she cruised to a 10-0 tech fall victory vs. Illeana Toney.
“I think I wrestled pretty good,” said Smith, who ended the tournament with a 4-1 record. “I thought I could have moved my feet a little better. I think my shots were working best.”
Harrah’s Addison Morse (110) then tied the match at nine following another 10-0 tech fall win. She admitted she was tired because of a long layoff, with her last tournament being at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior & 16U Nationals in mid-July, but she found a way to get the job done.
“I am still getting a lot of work in,” said Morse, who was 4-1 on the day “I am getting ready for the Super 32 Tournament. I have been working to getting to my shots, especially to the right.”
Sudden Victory retook the lead at 12-10 following Holly Thatcher’s 5-1 victory over Hannah Lopez (115), who suffered her only loss in this match.
McLoud’s Launa Trout (120 pounds, 4-1 record) then gave her team the lead for good following a pin in 3 minutes, 41 seconds against Stella Segura. She said she was happy to get a matchup with Segura as they didn’t face off at the Southern Plains Tournament in June.
“She was the champion there so it was cool I got the pin against her,” Trout said. “I dug a wing and I kept the pressure and drove through.”
Tiffany Breshears (125 pounds) finished the day unbeaten and closed out her dominant tournament with a pin in 24 seconds against Claire Starr.
“There are a couple of matches where I thought I could have done better,” Breshears said. “This is the first time in the tournament that it felt really fun. I scored a lot of my points off trips.”
Broken Arrow’s Emily Beckley (130) followed up Breshears’ win with a pin of Callyn Divine in 1:01 and Blanchard’s Lynn Horn edged Kaylan Hitchcock 6-4.
Bixby’s Mak Gregg (140) then put her team up 33-13 following a pin in 2:20 of Makenzie Sharp.
“I felt like I could have done better, but in the end, I finished what I needed to work on,” Gregg said. “I helped my team get first place. I was up in my stance. I need to get back lower.”
Sudden Victory got it’s final win at 145 pounds as Audrey Leonard pinned Kayleigh Braden. OK Wrestling then rattled off four straight wins to end it.
McKenna Howell (155) won by forfeit; Riley Samarripa (170) ended her day with a 5-0 record after a 15-9 win over Justice Thomas; Emery Turner (190) was also unbeaten as she pinned Hayleen Martinez in 19 seconds; and Zion Moore (235) pinned Kanzie Etim in just 11 seconds.
“I felt really good,” Moore said. “I through in headlocks and took it if it was there.”
