Several grapplers win titles, place at 2025 Maverick Conference Tournament
Several local wrestlers placed, with seven of those crowned as champions, at the 2025 Maverick Conference Tournament, which took place Friday and Saturday at Stilwell Activity Center.
On the high school boys side, which saw wrestling action on Saturday, Sallisaw’s Cason Craft (113 pounds) and Cole Mayfield (157) not only won conference titles but were named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestlers.
Sallisaw Lady Diamonds wrestler Emilie Robbins, like her two Sallisaw Black Diamond counterparts, not only won the championship at 155 pounds but also was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.
As for other Black Diamonds who placed, Morgan Duke (120 pounds) and Bodie Adams (175) were runners-up, while as a team the Black Diamonds were fifth.
For the Lady Diamonds, Hadlee McFarland was second at 100 pounds, Mattie Schuh (110 pounds) and Lana Petree (190) were third and Kimora Miller (130) and Abbygail Gardenhire (145) were fourth. As a team, the Lady Diamonds were third, and missed second place by a point.
Vian had two high school wrestlers place as Lady Wolverine wrestler Carmen Rautenberg came in third at 130 pounds, while Wolverine heavyweight matman Garritt Hunt was fourth.
The Gore Pirates did not have any of their three HS wrestlers place, but all three picked up at least one win as Bladin McCartney went 3-2 at 165 pounds, Devon Mannon was 2-2 at 157 pounds and Antonio Parker was 1-2 at 215 pounds.
Sequoyah County did crown a team conference champion as the Sallisaw Lady Diamonds JH team won the conference tournament and saw 10 wrestlers place.
Elecktra Locust was second, while Destiny Clarke, Kayla Perez, Kinlee Stone, Kylee Wheat, Melania Duke, Piper Hert and Taylor Archuleta all placed third. Gabriella McFarland and Ximena Rodriguez were fourth.
For the Black Diamonds in the junior high division, which saw wrestling action on Friday, Tite Cox (119 pounds) and Anthony Adame (170) were conference champions, Briar James was second at 155 pounds, Mylz Oft (98) and Talon Flynn (155) were third and Mason Leach (80), Keaton Brant (195) and Tukker Chase (heavyweight) were fourth.
Vian JH wrestler Joely Hunt won the girls’ conference title at 96 pounds, while two junior high Wolverines also placed — Axl Branham was third at 140 pounds and Jace Huff was fourth at 170.
For Gore, Jaydan Gates ran his record to 21-0 as he went 4-0 to win the 155-pound JH title as well as earn the Outstanding Wrestler Award.
Gates’ teammates, Cole Brooksher (144 pounds) and Wyatt Chitty (92), each came in second. Brooksher won three of his four matches, while Chitty went 2-1.
Treydan Daugherty (3-2 record on the day) Jace Gates (2-2), Stryker Sandy (2-2) and Beau Moore (1-2) also competed but did not place.
After wrestling Lincoln Christian at home Tuesday night, the Black Diamonds will next see action at the Class 4A Dual State Tournament on Feb. 14-15 at Tulsa Union High School.
The Lady Diamonds will be idle until the Class 4A Regional Tournament on Feb. 17-18 at Jay.
The Wolverines were slated to wrestle Monday night at Stilwell, while the Pirates and Roland Rangers, who did not have any wrestlers place in the two-day event, will be idle until their Class 3A Regional Tournament on Feb. 21-22 at Blackwell.
The Sallisaw, Roland, Vian and Gore JH wrestlers will compete in the 2025 Junior High All-State Tournament on Thursday through Saturday in Oklahoma City.