Guthrie Wrestling sending seven back for day two of state

 

The Guthrie Wrestling program is having a season to remember.

 

Although, the program will not claim a second team state championship for the trophy case, the BlueJays are having a special season by sending seven grappler’s to the 90th edition of the Oklahoma High School Wrestling Championships.

 

All seven, which is the most sent to state under 19-year head coach Jack O’Connor, will return to the State Fair Arena for day two with a couple of Jays having opportunities to claim state championships. Both Landry Chappell and Bryan Dutton will face off with grueling competition, but again, that is no surprise when you reach the championship match.

 

As a team, Guthrie stands in fourth place with Collinsville in first, Altus second, and Deer Creek third.

 

Session One Photo Gallery | Session Two Photo Gallery

 

Read more about Bryan Dutton and Landry Chappell and their road to the state finals.

 

Guthrie came out strong in the first round by winning six of their seven matches, including Dutton, Devin Bilyeu, Dennis Murphy, Michael Conner, Chappell, and John Davison. In all six wins, Guthrie controlled each match from the beginning.

 

The semifinal round was not as kind as the Jays dropped four of their seven matches. However, Austin O’Connor rebounded after his first round loss with a pin over McAlester’s Hayden Contreras 3:58 into the match. The sophomore has now won 22 matches this season and is one win away from placing in the 119 weight pound division.

 

In the 145 division, Bilyeu faced a familiar opponent in Deer Creek’s Tanner Lackey. The three seed, Bilyeu, defeated the two seed, Lackey, earlier this season on his mat and returned the favor on the state mat with a 3-0 win. Bilyeu earned a 2-0 first period lead and scored an escape in the second to top off the scoring. In the semi’s, top seed and 145 pound favorite, Kellan Torres, scored a fall 47 seconds into the match.

 

Murphy wrestling in the 152 division outscored Skiatook’s Corey Delk 6-1 in the second period to open the match up before pulling out the 10-4 decision. Murphy advanced to take on the top seed Kenneth Hartfield, of Western Heights, in the semi’s in an exciting match to the end.

 

Murphy (30-9) trailed 1-0 before getting a third period escape to send the match into sudden victory overtime, Hartfield scored two with just four seconds left in the overtime to claim the win and move on to the state finals.

 

Conner, who was just named as one of 11 GHS Valedictorian’s, saw a familiar opponent in Carl Albert’s Kentrell Pierson, whom he pinned earlier this season. In the rematch, Conner jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Pierson reversed Conner to tie the match at 2-all after the opening period.

 

In the second period, Conner took the lead back 4-2 as Pierson could only manage an escape in the third and Conner advanced with a 4-3 win.

 

Conner met up with Lawton MacArthur Max Adair, the West top seed, and gave him everything he had in the 189 battle, but fell short late in the third period and dropped the match 4-2. Adair’s winning points came with just 25 seconds left in the match.

 

In the final match of the day, Davison and Ardmore’s Evan McGee had the entire arena to themselves as the seven other mats had finished the semifinal round. The dual was a rematch of last week’s regional meeting between the two, where Davison scored the upset win. However, McGee (38-2) returned the favor with a pin 5:19 into the match. Davison had led at the time (1-0).

 

Davison (26-6) reached the semi’s with a pin of his own over Tulsa Edison’s Zack Hargrove in the opening round. The pin came 50 seconds into the third period.

 

The action will pick up again Saturday morning and evening with the following schedule: