Jonathan Dickson
The Stillwater High School wrestling team is ranked No. 1 in Class 6A according to owrestle.com and for good reason.
The Pioneers are the defending 6A state champions and have a loaded team that has them in consideration for being one of the best high school teams in the country. The team had a chance to prove that even further in the Kansas City Stampede Tournament Saturday that featured some of the best high school teams in the Midwest.
Teams in the tournament included one from Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee, Iowa, Nebraska and others. Stillwater was missing some of their top wrestlers in No. 3-ranked Gabe Fontanez (113 pounds), No. 1-ranked Cael Hughes (126), No. 2-ranked Anthony Ferrari (170) and No. 7-ranked JaKobe Sanders (285).
Despite being short handed, Stillwater finished second in the tournament with 199 points. The No. 2 ranked team in the state, Edmond North, was first with 200.5 points.
“We are top five in the country and we still have two of our best starters out,” Stillwater 160-pounder Angelo Ferrari said. “Once we get them back, we could be pushing for that No. 1 spot.”
Stillwater 126-pounder JJ Mccomas-Rogers agreed.
“We won state last year and we had four (NCAA Division I wrestlers),” he said. “This team, I think we were better than we were last year, I think we can really do some stuff.”
Angelo Ferrari (126) and Mccomas-Rogers (126) led the way with first-place finishes.