Muskogee fends off Stillwater to win Jenks wrestling tournament
BY JOSH HALEY World Correspondent
Sunday, January 06, 2013
1/06/13 at 6:29 AM
Muskogee wrestling coach Bobby Jefferson's team tries to remain focused on one thing. The next match.
The Roughers were clearly focused on the final day of the Larry Wilkey Invitational in Jenks on Saturday as they picked up four wins to fend off Stillwater by 23.5 points for the tournament title.
"This is a tough tournament and I was pleased with how our kids performed," said Jefferson. "Right now we're wrestling hard and we're wrestling confident and that's always good."
Dawaylon Barnes (145 lbs.) and Jacobe Smith (160) earned first-place finishes to keep Muskogee ahead of a powerful Stillwater team.
"One of our sayings is 'good things happen to people who work hard,' and it's happening to those guys (Barnes and Smith) for sure," said Jefferson.
Nigel Harris (220) posted a runner-up finish for the Roughers while J.T. Andrews (170) and Elijah Petty (285) picked up consolation final wins.
The match of the night featured a pair of defending state champions in Cascia Hall's Kyle Driscoll and Jenks' Austin Eades in the 152-pound final.
"I just tried to stay relaxed and keep pressure on him because he's tough," Driscoll said of Eades.
After a scoreless first period, Driscoll took a 2-0 lead in the second.
Eades was able to cut the deficit to 2-1 but Driscoll held strong the remainder of the match to win the tournament for the second straight year.
"I faced other state champions in last year's tournament and it meant a lot to come back and win this year," said Driscoll, who was named outstanding wrestler last year.
Stillwater's Kaid Brock was named outstanding wrestler thanks to falls in the semifinal and championship matches.
Stillwater also got first-place finishes from Kennedy Monday (106), Benny Teegarden (126) and Joe Smith (132).
Jenks Invitational
106: Monday (Stillwater) d. Lambert (Cascia), 4-1. 113: Brock (Stillwater) f. Skidgel (Cascia), 2:36. 120: Damico (Southmoore) d. Karstetter (Sand Springs), 5-0. 126: Teegarden (Stillwater) d. Jones (Sapulpa), 4-1. 132: Smith (Stillwater) Inj. Lindsey (Moore), Injury Def. 138: Shae Conley (Sapulpa) d. Mica (Bixby), 6-3. 145: Barnes (Muskogee) fvft. 152: Driscoll (Cascia) d. Eades (Jenks), 2-1. 160: Smith (Muskogee) d. McKinney (Bartlesville), 11-1. 170: Marek (Southmoore) t.f. Mendez (Sapulpa), 22-7. 182: Siversten (Moore) d. Higgins (Heritage Hall), 3-0. 195: Ayers (Sand Springs) d. Walker (Heritage Hall), 4-2. 220: Childers (Sand Springs) d. Harris (Muskogee), 3-2. 285: Overton (Jenks) d. Bearshead (Sand Springs), 4-3.
Original Print Headline: Muskogee takes title at Jenks
Notebook
106: Stillwater freshman Kennedy Monday built an early 2-1 lead before winning the championship final 4-1 over Cascia Hall's Cody Lambert.
113: After registering a technical fall in his first match and fall in his second, Stillwater's Kaid Brock pinned Cascia Hall's Scout Skidgel in the championship final to remain undefeated on the season.
120: Cody Karstetter, who posted a runner-up finish for Sand Springs, posted pins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds before being defeated in the final by Southmoore's Zac Damico.
126: A pair of pins thrust Stillwater's Benny Teegarden into the championship final where he topped Sapulpa's Corey Jones 4-1.
132: Stillwater's Joe Smith, a defending state champion, took an early lead in the final with a near fall before being crowned champion as his opponent retired due to injury.
138: Sapulpa's Shea Conley earned his second straight title at the Jenks tournament with a hard-fought 6-3 decision over Bixby's Anthony Mica in the championship.
145: Muskogee's Dawaylon Barnes registered falls in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches before winning the championship by forfeit over Tahlequah's Hestin Lamons.
152: After a hard-fought overtime victory in the semifinals, defending state champion Austin Eades from Jenks earned a runner-up finish in a close 2-1 loss to Cascia Hall's Kyle Driscoll.
160: Muskogee's Jacobe Smith, a runner-up at the tournament last year, had two falls and a decision before a major decision victory in the final over Bartlesville's Kyle McKinney.
170: Sapulpa's Kristian Mendez picked up a runner-up finish with an impressive run to the final before falling to defending state champion Nathan Marek of Southmoore in the final.
182: After suffering a narrow semifinal loss, Bixby's Hunter Dalton wrestled back to a third-place finish with a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the consolation final.
195: Sand Springs' Payden Ayers pulled off one of the big upsets of the tournament with his dramatic 4-2 overtime victory over defending state champion Ethan Walker of Heritage Hall in the championship final.
220: Sand Springs' Kyler Childers hung on for a narrow 3-2 victory over Muskogee's Nigel Harris in the championship final.
285: Jenks' Que Overton broke a 3-3 tie late in the third period of the championship final to defeat Sand Springs' Nick Bearshead 4-3.
Associated Images:
Cascia Hall's Kyle Driscoll (left) wrestles Jenks' Austin Eades during the 152-pound fight at the Jenks Invitational wrestling finals on Saturday. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World
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