Evan Mudgett
This weekend I got to go over to Yukon high school for the 47th annual Jay Hancock Memorial Tournament. I was looking forward to this tournament not only because it is down the street from where I live, but also because there is always some tough matchups and a good preview for what 5A and 6A post season could look like. Crazy to think that we are already almost through January and many teams have maybe one more tournament and a couple of duals left before we ramp up for post season action in February.Â
Wrestler Interviews:
Yukon always runs a great tournament, in my opinion, and the fans got their money’s worth with some great action in the placing rounds. Yukon still has a couple of guys out due to injuries, but with a limited lineup still were able to secure a top 5 finish. If I had to give a theme for the tournament, it would have to be close matches that came down to who wanted it more. Late in the tournament there was plenty of high-level wrestling and a lot of the matches came down to a 1 point win with a rideout or a takedown in overtime to seal the deal. This was particularly present in the lower weights. Many of the upper-weights were not that close and ended in a quick fall, but the lower weights had some grinders for sure.
Really to no surprise Edmond North ran away with the tournament and finished well above the rest of the field with over 100 point lead over 2nd place Allen, a 6A powerhouse in Texas. The huskies went a ridiculous 11 for 11 in the finals and ended the tournament in a dominant fashion. North was without a 106, had a backup in at 190 and C. Belford got injured in the semi-finals at 126, but North won the remaining 11 weight classes. I am interested to see how the lineup will shakeup for the rest of the season as freshman Tommy Baker put on a tough ride over returning state finalist Jake Goodin to win the 113 championship with a score 1-0. The thing that really stood out to me about the Edmond North group was the relentless pace they put on and they never panicked even when they were down early. Both Hudson Hackbarth (132) and Layton Schneider (144) gave up an early takedown and started from behind, but they both continued to stay calm and wrestle at a high pace to finish on top….
