Mark Kirk
The second week of open tournaments saw great action in Broken Arrow, Westmoore, Yukon and Poteau.
In Poteau, the Viking Collegiate Open drew a record 280 wrestlers from 20 colleges and universities from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and Iowa as well as one 44-year-old Oklahoma wrestling coach and at least 11 Oklahoma high school wrestlers.
And the coach and the high school wrestlers turned in outstanding performances!
Of the 280 entries, two very special entries were the father-son duo of Gerald Harris II and Gerald (Boogie) Harris III. Union Girls Coach Gerald Harris II won his only match with a 14-5 major decision win, while Boogie, a junior at Cascia Hall, won both of his matches by tech fall.
Not to be outdone, the high school wrestlers were dominant in competing against their collegiate opponents. On Saturday at the Men’s Open, due to a late start and the record numbers, after 10 hours of non-stop wrestling, it was decided to halt the tournament, resulting in no completed brackets. In the matches wrestled, the Oklahoma high school wrestlers went an amazing 26-2 with 10 falls, 9 tech falls, and three major decision wins.
Devon Miller, Gage Walker, Hunter Hollingsworth, Joseph Jeter, Ishmael Guerrero, Clay Giddens-Buttram and Oscar Williams all made the finals while Boogie Harris and Bryson Humphries were undefeated when they withdrew from the tournament.
In the Women’s Open which took place on Sunday, Bella Williams (Edmond North junior), didn’t surrender a point in winning the 130 lb. bracket…
