Guthrie sends 7 to Carl Albert, brings back 5 medals

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By Trey Blevins
Special to Guthrie Sports Page

The Guthrie wrestling team got a hot start out of the gate going 12-3 as a team on the first day of the Carl Albert Tournament.  This put them in sixth place in the tough 24 team field.  This is very impressive considering GHS only sent seven total wrestlers.  Day two of the tournament proved to be quite a bit tougher but there was still plenty to be proud of.

Conner HowardAt 120 lbs, Alex Nelson shot out of the gate with two quick falls of 2:49 and 1:16.  This put him in the semifinals in a matchup of what could be one of his toughest opponents come state tournament time.  In the match against DJ Hendrickson from Western Heights, Nelson came up a little short.  With the score 2-5 late in the third period, Nelson tried for a big move and ended up giving up a late take down and some back points to make the final score 10-2.  Nelson would come back on a mission in the consolation bracket with a pin in the semis and a 16-4 win to claim third place.

Wyatt Bartels was Guthrie’s representative at 126 lbs and wrestled hard after an opening round loss to come back and win one before a shoulder injury forced him into an injury default.

At 138, Tyler Mahan brought home the Jays lone championship in the tournament.  Mahan wrestled strong and smart the whole way through.  He also came out of the gates quick with a pair of 11-3 and 16-4 major decisions and a fall.  In the semis he came up against Tyler Hicks from Duncan and came out with a 6-3 hard fought win.  In the finals match, Mahan wrestled Tristan Rabe from Noble and this match would go into overtime where Mahan came out on top 4-2 to claim the title.

Andrew Toney wrestled hard in his tough 170lb weight class.  He started out by pinning his McLoud opponent in 1:36 before losing a tough match to Edmond Santa Fe 5-1.  Toney would come away with a 7-0 win in his next match before dropping a 7-4 decision that ended the tournament for Toney.

Conner Howard came in as a favorite at 195 and showed why by pinning his opening two opponents to get into the semifinals.  This is where Howard hit a skid.  In a tough battle, Howard dropped his semifinal match 5-4 to Dakota Baxwell from Noble.  Then in another surprise upset, Howard dropped his consolation semifinals match to Murdoch Martin from El Reno 7-2.  But Howard showed a lot of heart and came back to win fifth place with an 8-6 overtime decision.

At 220, Corey Douglas also wrestled his way into the semis with a pin and a 3-1 decision before he ran into his first loss to Blaise Gorges from Durant.  Like Howard, Douglas would also drop his consolation semifinals match to his Altus opponent 12-4 and then come back strong and pin his opponent  to also bring home a  fifth place medal.

At 285, Blake Finley also came into the tournament as one of the favorites to take the title and looked  primed to take it by pinning his first opponent in 37 seconds and then winning the next round with a comfortable 5-1 decision.  In the semifinals, Finley had a tough match with LaQuan Johnson but came out on top 3-1 to advance to the championship finals.  In the finals Finley had a tight battle with Corey Bennett from Western Heights.  The match went into double overtime before Bennett caught Finley and put him on his back for the pin so Finley would have to settle for second.

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1 Comment on "Guthrie sends 7 to Carl Albert, brings back 5 medals"

  1. Good to see someone that knows wrestling write an article covering this match.

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