Stillwater finishes atop team standings in 6A East Regional boys wrestling tournament

By Mike Moguin

Photo of Stillwater wrestler Cael Hughes (top) by Michael Kinney 

JENKS - Stillwater came away a winner on the mat again Saturday, this time through the individual rounds.

The Pioneers finished on top with 305.5 points, as 10 wrestlers made it to the finals, seven finishing as first-place medalists in the Class 6A East Regional boys wrestling tournament in Jenks.

Aydan Thomas (106 pounds), Sam Smith (120), Cael Hughes (132), Cale Voinovich (150), LaDarion Lockett (157), Landon Sommer (165) and A.J. Heeg (190) were the first-place winners for the Pioneers.

Bixby was the runner-up with 285.5 points. The Spartans also sent a large number to the championship rounds, a total of nine, with four winning gold.

Broken Arrow was third with 215.5, with two in the finals, both settling for runner-up. Rounding out the top five was Owasso at fourth with 147.5 and two champions, and Sand Springs at fifth with 141.5.

SBLive Sports National High School Wrestling Rankings (2/16/2023)

“I thought we wrestled pretty well,” Stillwater coach Ethan Kyle said. “We wrestled tight in a couple of weight classes that we really didn’t need to, but at this time of year, it’s a grind and people give their best efforts.

"For the most part, we took care of business where we thought we would and hopefully, we escaped pretty healthy. Now we can move on to the next one.”

Kyle believed the 150-pound title match was the most decisive for his team, in which No. 2 seed Voinovich (31-4), a junior, upended Bixby’s Clay Giddens-Buttram (33-6), the top seed in the weight bracket, 3-1 in overtime.

Also a junior, Giddens-Buttram had won against Voinovich, 5-3, one week earlier in the semifinals at dual state in Enid. But Voinovich came in determined for a different result this time.

Giddens-Buttram was up 1-0 with an escape point going into the final period. Voinovich then got an escape to tie the match right before time expired.

Overtime was forced, and Voinovich quickly did a takedown for the two points and the win.

“That was a really important match, a really tough weight class with outstanding guys,” Kyle said. “With the loss he had last week, it was good for him to be coming back and avenging that.

"It was a really hard-fought battle, just tough wrestling; it was a good litmus test for where we are at from a mental toughness standpoint. It was good.”

In the Pioneers’ other match victories, Thomas (106 pounds) pinned Sand Springs’ Kase Skaggs at two minutes; Smith (120) won a major decision, 14-3, against Broken Arrow’s Evan Rodriguez; Hughes (132) also got a major decision in an 8-0 win against Bixby’s Jayce Caviness; Lockett (165) was a 6-2 victory over Ishmael Guerrero, also of Bixby; Sommer (165) took a 7-2 decision against Jakeb Snyder of Bixby; and Heeg (190) forced a fall against Hank Puckett of Bixby at 1:22.

The second-place Spartans captured their titles at 126, 138, 144, and 215.

Gage Walker won the 126-pound match by beating Stillwater's J.J. McComas, 2-1, in the fourth overtime. Jace Roller (138) and Caden Kelley (144) won their championships, respectively, against Severn Torres and Kadence Roop of Broken Arrow. Roller pinned Torres at 1:38 and Kelley won by a 5-3 decision.

Then Jersey Robb (215), the senior Oklahoma State signee, was dominant in what was a challenging match against Ponca City’s Gabriel Roland. Robb won, 13-7.

Robb opened the match with a quick single-leg takedown of Roland, before the latter escaped. Robb applied another takedown and it was 4-1 as the opening period ended.

Roland began the second period escaping Robb and taking him down for a quick tie, making it 4-4. Robb then escaped and it was 5-4. He would have the upper hand from there.

At 113, Ponca City’s Christophe Kiser edged Stillwater’s Beric Jordan, 4-3.

Owasso won titles from Braxton Bacon (175) and Tulsa football signee Tyler Rich (285). Bacon dominated in an 11-3 major decision against Ethan Hill of Jenks. Rich scored a 6-0 win against Cameron Johnson of Stillwater.

Next week is the state tourney for all classes in Oklahoma City. Wrestlers of the East Regional could face each other again as well as those who competed in the West Regional this weekend, won by Edmond North, in Piedmont.

Stillwater beat Edmond North in the Class 6A Dual State Finals last week in Enid. Edmond North beat the Pioneers at the inaugural National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dual Classic championship in December at Oklahoma State University, and the Huskies also beat the Pioneers last month for the Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference tournament title.

“Without a doubt, you look at those results over there, it looks like Edmond North had a pretty thorough performance. Obviously, they’re going to be there. They got 13 solid guys,” Kyle said.

“But it’s tough for next week. We like that, we like a deeper field. Westmoore is coming on strong. I know they have a couple of matchups that we’ll have to address and be prepared for.”