Oklahoma state wrestling update: No surprises after opening day of tournament
By Mike Moguin
Photo of Owasso girls wrestlers, from left, Lizzy Peterson, Sydney Milligan, and Mak Gregg, who qualified for the girls' state wrestling tournament
The Oklahoma state wrestling tournaments got under way Friday in Oklahoma City and there are no surprises.
Stillwater is leading Class 6A with 144, Edmond North is in second with 131, and Bixby is in third with 114.5 points.
Midwest City Carl Albert is on top in Class 5A (75.5), Tuttle is dominating Class 4A (164.5), and Blackwell leads Class 3A (100.5).
One wrestler to take notice is Cameron Leake (31-4) of Tulsa Bishop Kelley, who is in the 5A 175-pound final Saturday night. He’ll be going against Jayden Moore (33-4) of Tahlequah.
Leake, who has been wrestling since age five, is hoping for a rebound after losing to Newcastle’s Blake Johnson last week in the regional final last week in Pryor.
Leake had been a roll beforehand, but ran into an opponent he was unfamiliar with since Newcastle just moved up to 5A from 4A this year.
“I wrestled great at the start,” Leake said. “I got to my offense, got to a leg, couldn’t finish, and I got kind of timid toward the end of the first period and it carried over. I was reacting, instead of attacking.”
Tulsa Bishop Kelley's Cameron Leake is hoping to close out his high school wrestling career with a state championship Saturday night.
Eventually, Johnson forced Leake to fall at 4:15 into the match. While Leake is gunning for a state title, he won’t get the rematch with Johnson he was hoping for in the state final. Instead, he will take on Moore, who pinned Johnson in the semifinals at 5:47.
Leake won his semifinal match by injury default against Spencer Davidson of El Reno.
Finals matches set
Matchups are set at all weights in all classes for Saturday. Some will feature rematches from last week’s regional tournament.
Battles involving wrestlers from the east side of the state consist of Aydan Thomas (38-2) of Stillwater and Edmond North's Jake Goodin (33-7), who will tussle at 106. Christophe Kiser (35-1) of Ponca City and Beric Jordan (41-1) of Stillwater meet at 113, as Kiser won a 4-3 decision last week.
Bixby's Gage Walker and J.J. McComas of Stillwater will face off again in the 126-pound match. Walker won 2-1 in a fourth extra period last week in the east regional in Jenks.
Stillwater's Cael Hughes (39-0), who is going for a perfect finish, takes on Hunter Hughes (36-6) of Edmond North at 132; Bixby's Jace Roller (33-2) meets Cash Holman (29-7) of Choctaw at 138; Bixby's Caden Kelley (32-9) faces Layton Schneider (35-3) of Edmond North at 144.
Bixby's Clay Giddens-Buttram (34-5) and Stillwater's Kael Voinovich (39-4) will meet for a third straight week at 150. Both squared off and split matches at dual state in Enid and regionals in Jenks, respectively, the past two weeks.
At 157, Bixby’s Ishmael Guerrero (33-10) takes on Stillwater’s LaDarion Lockett (41-1); unbeaten Landyn Sommer of Stillwater faces (34-0) meets Edmond North’s Jude Randall (34-7) at 165; A.J. Heeg (31-3) of Stillwater squares off against undefeated Payton Thomas (36-0) of Moore at 190; Bixby's Jersey Robb (39-2), a defending three-time state champion and Oklahoma State signee, will meet Oscar Williams (41-2) of Edmond North; and University of Tulsa football signee Tyler Rich of Owasso (34-1) will battle Edmond North’s Ricky Thomas (43-2).
Bixby girls barely in first; 2022 champs in second
Many of the wrestlers who won regionals last week in Sallisaw have made their way to the state finals at the girls championships in Oklahoma City.
Bixby maintains a 1.5-point advantage over Tulsa Union in the team standings. The Lady Spartans have 41 points while the Lady Redhawks have 39.5. Union is looking to repeat as state champion while Bixby seeks to win it in its first official year as a program.
Owasso, along with Jay and Norman North, are in a three-way tie for fifth with 32 points.
For the Lady Spartans, Jadyn Roller (38-3) is in the 100-pound final against Addie Morse (26-1) of Harrah.
Both wrestlers also met early last week in the regional final with Roller winning a 2-0 decision.
There will also be rematch at 155 between Bixby's Millie Azlin (34-2) and Owasso’s Sydney Milligan (24-3). Azlin won by fall against Milligan at 3:16 last week at the regional tourney.
Mak Gregg (27-8) will also represent Owasso in the 135-pound final. She will be matched up against Shelby Kemp (35-4) of Moore.
Like Bixby, Owasso is also in its debut year with its girls wrestling program.
“It was a success.” Owasso coach Justin Morsey said. “We had some girls wrestle last year, but we didn’t have a separate girls team.
"Now we got a whole separate team. We got more girls on the team and more girls qualifying for state. I feel like its a step in the right direction.”
Owasso had 14 girls on its team this season with three qualifying for state.
“Mak at 135 had the most technical ability; she’s able to wrestle a number of different positions. She’s good on her feet. She’s good on top and able to get away on bottom,” Morsey said. “Sydney is the most accomplished wrestler we have had.
"She is the most physical; she goes out there and is probably the most aggressive to start a match. She also does a good job of finishing matches.”
Union has its regional champs from last week now in the state final. Chanelle Alburg (44-4) will be competing for the 110 final against Coty Session (25-2) of Norman North, and Kali Hayden (39-1) meets Stacy Nash (32-2) of McLoud at 190, whom she beat last week at regionals via fall at 3:18.
Elizabeth Cope (29-2) of Sapulpa will take on Kaylee Davis (21-0) of El Reno at 145.
Aiyana Perkins (15-1) of Coweta is in at 115.
