Chappell defeats Christensen for state tournament finals berth

It was the same ol Landry Chappell. Literally. The same.

Landry Chappell and Alex Christen met for the seventh time in the last two years. Christensen has won four, but Chappell won the last and biggest match between them.

It was a showdown many had come to expect in the 215 pound semifinals of the 90th edition of the Oklahoma High School Wrestling Championships. Chappell vs Alex Christensen. Chappell entered the state match with a 22-3 overall record with all three losses coming to the Deer Creek Antler, Christensen, in tournament formats (Cushing, Carl Albert, and Chickasha) this season, but Chappell resorted back to his style back on January 13th. Not on the mat, but on the wardrobe.

Chappell defeated Christensen, 11-1, in a home dual back on that January night and Chappell recalled everything he wore that night from his shirt, shorts, his hair style, and even the way he tied his shoes. He repeated the same Friday evening and the result proved to be the same. Only this time the win advances Chappell to his first state tournament finals, where he will face Jacoby Brown. Chappell defeated Brown in last week’s regional.

After a scoreless first period, Christensen scored an escape point in the second to take a 1-0 lead into the final period, but Chappell quickly tied the match with an escape of his own. The two could not find any more points and the match headed to a sudden death overtime. In the overtime, Chappell said he recalled the referee counting down the seconds and went in for the score and prevailed with the takedown with just two seconds left in the extra period.

Chappell (23-3), the top seeded wrestler from the west, made the semi’s with a 6-3 decision win over Collinsville’s Newt Salisbury in the first round. Again, after a scoreless first quarter, Chappell scored an escape and followed that with two more points to go up 3-0 before Salisbury scored an escape to make it a 3-1 lead through two periods.

In the third period, Salisbury, again, scored with an escape to narrow the score to 3-2, but only to see Chappell finish the match with three different scores to pull away for the win.

Chappell along with teammate and friend Bryan Dutton will try to become Guthrie’s first state champion wrestler since 1992 when Timothy Kyle and Parrish Pierce claim titles.