Season Preview: 4A Boys

Tuttle, winner of 22 state championships, including a hard to believe 17 in a row, once again enters the season as a heavy favorite to extend their ongoing record breaking streak to 18 in a row.  Bristow, Ft. Gibson, Harrah, Sulphur, Sallisaw, and Berryhill appear to be the top teams set to challenge for a top spot.

There are six returning state champions in Class 4A.  Returning state champions are Cooper Jackson and Chance Fisher from Tuttle, Ft. Gibson’s Trenton Bell, Sallisaw’s Bodie Adams, Bristow’s Haydan Yocham, and Locust Grove’s Titan Hix.  2X state champions Cason Craft and Mason Burnham moved to Coweta this year.  

Tuttle’s Cooper Jackson was a state runner-up in 2024, before rolling to last year’s title with three bonus point wins, including a fall in the finals.  Jackson carved out a 35-8 record last year and has a 69-22 record over the past two seasons.

Jackson’s teammate Chance Fisher steadily moved up the podium, placing 3^rd as a freshman, runner-up as a sophomore, and winning it all last year. Fisher went 43-6 last year and carries a 110-31 career record into his senior season.

Ft. Gibson’s Trenton Bell was a state qualifier in his freshman and sophomore seasons, before a big junior year that ended with the 144 lb. state title.  Bell had a statement win in the regional finals, pinning Cascia Hall’s 2X state champion and 3X finalist Cory Velasquez. Bell finished 39-2 last year and goes into his senior season with a 97-24 career record. 

Sallisaw’s Bodie Adams joined the memorable Father-Son state champions group when he won last year’s 175 lb. title.  Dad, Kevin Adams was a 2X state champion for Sallisaw in 1988-89.  Bodie placed 4^th as a freshman and was a state runner-up his sophomore year.  Adams dominated at the State Tournament, getting two tech falls and a fall in the finals to finish the year with a 33-4 record. He enters his senior season with a 95-14 career record.

Bristow’s Haydan Yocham is another one that has stair-stepped his way to a state title, finishing 3^rd as a freshman, 2^nd as a sophomore and winning the 190 state title last year.  Yocham finished 30-1 last year with his career record standing at 88-8.

Locust Grove’s Titan Hix was a state runner-up as a sophomore and then avenged a regional finals loss in the state finals to claim last year’s 285 lb. title.  Hix finished 28-6 last year and enters his senior season with an 89-22 career record.

There are 10 returning state runners-up.  Tuttle’s Maxwell Bradley and Shawn Rounsaville are both 2X runners-up, with Rounsaville missing last year’s State Tournament due to injury.  Other runners-up are Gavin Miller (Inola), Taii Walsh (Cache), Brice Lozinsky (Berryhill), Kylan Ooton (Tuttle), Cale Whitnah (Harrah), Brenden Bell (Ft. Gibson), Stevie Vafeas (Ft. Gibson) and 2024 runner-up Rylend Slover, who missed last season with an injury. 

Tuttle, coached by Bobby Williams returns state champions Cooper Jackson and Chance Fisher, 2X state runners-up Maxwell Bradley and Shawn Rounsaville, runners-up Rylend Slover and Kylan Ooton, 2X state placer Bode Wilson and state placer Devin McCarty.

Bristow, coached by Howard Moore, have plenty of depth with eight wrestlers with State Tournament experience and three 2025 junior high state placers.  In addition to Yocham, Bristow has 2X state placer Javon Freeman, state placer and 2024 junior high state champion Mack Powell, 2X state qualifier and 2024 state placer Kale Fruits, 2X state qualifiers Hudson Claggett and Marley Branscum, and state qualifiers Westin Vanzant and Cain Clay.  Junior High state placers last year were Braylon Freeman (3^rd), Izaiah Shadden (4^th), Rhoan Rambo (5^th). 

Ft. Gibson, coached by Sammy Johnson, is another team to watch as they can score a lot of points at the State Tournament with returning state champion Trenton Bell, state runners-up Brenden Bell and Stevie Vafeas, and improvement from state qualifiers Callan Caldwell, Caleb Miller, and David Farmer.  Ft. Gibson had three junior high state placers last season, with Brenden Bell winning his second JH state title, Caldwell placing 3^rd and Kolt Stevens placing 5^th.

There is a lot of movement in Class 4A this year.  In addition to Burnham, Logan Hargrove and Aiven Robbins moved from Catoosa to Coweta with Craft moving from Sallisaw to Coweta. Berryhill and Mount St. Mary’s traded places with Heritage Hall and Lexington, with Berryhill and Mount St. Mary’s now in Class 4A.  Berryhill returns state placers Brice Lozinsky (2^nd), Jackson Ward (3^rd) and Braden Strain (3^rd), along with state qualifiers Malaki Venteoff and Xander Wiley.  Heritage Hall’s 2X state placer Carter Harris will now be competing in Class 3A. Douglass and Ardmore traded places with Douglass moving to 5A and Ardmore competing in 4A this year.  Douglass 3^rd place medalist Zackery Johnson will compete in Class 5A this year. 

RETURNING AND PAST STATE CHAMPIONS AND STATE PLACERS

Records from State Tournament brackets / SQ = State Qualifier / WI = Lost wrestle-in match at State