4 Lady Diamonds, Lady Wolverine duo make wrestling state

OKMULGEE — Six Sequoyah County high school female wrestlers will get to perform on the biggest stage there is — “The Big House.”

Four Sallisaw Lady Black Diamonds and two Vian Lady Wolverines qualified for state at Tuesday’s Class 5A Regional Tournament.

One of the Lady Diamonds to make state did so as a regional champion, senior Hannah Lightfoot at 190 pounds.

The Lady Diamonds, who finished fourth as a team, had two third-place finishers, Mikaylynn Gaghins at 145 pounds and Jamie Martin at heavyweight, while Emilie Robbins was fifth at 155 pounds.

“Everybody is super excited,” Sallisaw assistant girls wrestling coach LuWella Harris said. “There was some major tough competition. The girls came in with their heads on straight and wanted to do something, and lot of them improved. Hannah will have some company with her this time.”

Sallisaw had three other regional placers, but just missed the cut of making state, as Halle Wassenberg (100 pounds), Paige Frederick (105) and Bailie Hanshew (125) were sixth, meaning they are alternates at their respective weight classes. Should one of the five state qualifiers in their weight class not be able to wrestle at state, they will be the next ones in line to fill the voids.

“If something happens, those sixthplace finishers will get to move up,” Harris said.

“We have one senior (state qualifier), and the rest are freshmen,” Sallisaw girls wrestling coach Darrel Hume said. “We have seven placers with four qualifiers, and all but one is a ‘baby.’ That means our future will be very bright.”

One of Vian’s two state qualifiers made it a four-peat as a state qualifier as senior Avery Richey finished third at 135 pounds. Teammate Carissa Prock beat Hanshew in the fifth-place match at 125 pounds to grab the final state berth from that weight class.

“I’m especially happy for Avery on the four times (making state),” Vian coach Garett Willis said. “For Carissa, it’s her first time going. That’s always exciting. It’s kind of like reaching new grounds. Once you qualify, you know how to get there the next year. That’s a big stepping stone, nonetheless. Hopefully, we can go up next weekend and keep adding those (stepping) stones.”

Vian’s other regional participant was Carmen Rautenburg at 130 pounds, but she lost both of her matches to miss out placing at the regional tournament.

The Class 5A State Tournament will be next Thursday through Saturday at Oklahoma City’s Jim Norick State Fair Arena.