Three moving on to state; seven more have a chance

 

The Guthrie Wrestling program sent 10 men to the Class 5A West Regional, at Harrah High School, and all 10 are returning back for Day Two. Three BlueJays have already punched their ticket to next week’s state tournament.

 

The 10 Guthrie grappler’s combined to go 22-8 in their matches, including five first round and one second round bye’s. The Jays were 9-1 in their first set of matches, 8-2 in second set, and 5-5 in their final set.

 

Overall No. 1 seeds Bryan Dutton and Landry Chappell each received first round bye’s and each pin their two opponents to clinch their second consecutive trip to State. Joining them for next week’s state tournament will be John Davison, who surprised the gymnasium with his 5-2 overtime win over the top seeded 285 pounder from Ardmore. Davison will make his first ever trip to the big dance.

 

 

O’Connor (6 seed) needed just 25 seconds in his first round match to pin his opponent from Southeast and the Jays were off to a good start. O’Connor suffered his only setback in round two when he was pin by his opponent from Ardmore in the second period. O’Connor came back in the evening session with impressive 4-2 win over his Northwest Classen counterpart, who is the defending state placer from a season ago.

Click here to view the photo gallery of Day One.

 

 

O’Connor (4 seed) received a first round bye to set up his second round match with an opponent from Altus. O’Connor got the second round win before falling to Altus in the evening session 4-0.

 

 

Ball got off to a slow start when he dropped a 7-0 decision, but had some extra rest when he received a second round bye. In the evening session, Ball kept his season alive with a 6-3 decision to advance to Saturday afternoon.

 

 

Kitch (5 seed) was working hard in the final moments of the first period in his first match of the day and just did beat the clock with a pin with three seconds to spare to defeat his Chickasha opponent. In the second round, Kitch drew the Lawton Mac representative.  Kitch held a 2-1 lead after the second period, but fell behind 2-4 and managed to end with a 3-4 setback. In his final match, he pulled off a 6-1 win to stay alive.

 

 

The top seeded BlueJay received a first round bye and then pinned his Duncan opponent in just 1:39 into the match. Dutton needed a little more time (2:51) in his second match to advance to state with a pin over his Shawnee opponent. Dutton returns tomorrow evening for the regional championship and a No. 1 seed berth next week.

 

 

Bilyeu (4 seed) was one of five Jays to receive a first round bye and in his first match of the day he was tied with his opponent from Duncan after two periods. In the third period, Bilyeu pulled off a two-point reverse and finished out the final 70 seconds with a 4-2 win. In the evening session, his tough opponent, from Altus, controlled the match and won by tech fall (15-0).

 

 

Murphy (3 seed) opened his afternoon with a 7-2 decision over his Lawton Mac competition. In his second match against regional host Harrah, Murphy held a 3-2 lead in the third period when the two collided and knocked foreheads, but it was Murphy’s opponent who the got the worse end of the two. After receiving medical attention, the Panther wrestler was unable to go to give Murphy the injury default win with 1:26 left in the match. Murphy came back in the evening session against Duncan, but fell in sudden death overtime.

 

 

Conner (3 seed) never once trailed in his 4-2 opening win over Shawnee, but it was his second match that went the complete distance (7 periods). It was a battle throughout the match between Conner and his Duncan opponent. Conner trailed 1-0, but got a third period escape to send it into a first overtime, where neither grappler could find a point. Each found a point in the fifth and sixth round, but it was Conner not allowing his opponent to pick up the winning point and won by the ultimate tie breaker. However, Conner was unable to keep the momentum going when he dropped a 10-3 decision to an Altus opponent in the evening session.

 

 

Chappell had a pretty simple day at the office, although it took awhile to get on the mat after receiving a first round bye. Once he got on the mat, it did not take long in either match. The first match lasted just 1:23 long before pinning a McGuinness opponent and in his second match needed 1:48 in the second period to pin his Harrah opponent to seal his state tournament invitation. Chappell will go in the evening session for the regional championship match.

 

 

Big John (4 seed) sent the gymnasium in a buzz in his third and final match, but before that happen he needed all six minutes to take down his Western Heights opponent with a final score of 3-0, although he was never in trouble in the match. Davison earned a first round bye. In the third match, Big John took down the top seeded grappler from Ardmore, in overtime, with a 5-2 win.

 

The Saturday afternoon session will begin at noon with the semi-final and championship rounds beginning at 6:00. Guthrie Sports Page will be there and you can follow as it happens on the GSP Twitter Page.