Broken Arrow holds 6A wrestling regional lead
BY MIKE MOGUIN World Correspondent
Saturday, February 16, 2013
2/16/13 at 4:54 AM
BIXBY - Broken Arrow picked up wins in five of six semifinal matches, including a pin from top-ranked 285-pounder Carlos Taylor, putting itself at the top in the Class 6A regional wrestling tournament Friday at Whitey Ford Fieldhouse.
The Tigers stand in first place with 145.5 points after Taylor, Markus Simmons (120), brothers Tanner (145) and Paden Bailey (152), and Steve Allen (182) advanced to Saturday's finals.
"We've done a great job," said Broken Arrow coach Shawn Jones, whose team seeks its fourth consecutive 6A title. "I like the efforts that every one of them has put out. This is the regional championships. This a tough tournament. I like what we're doing. We just got to go finish tomorrow."
Tournament host Bixby and Sapulpa are tied for second place with 120.5 points each.
The Spartans also will have five finalists, including Justin Fletcher at 132, who beat the Tigers' Zack Edwards 3-1 in overtime. Anthony Mica (138), Mason Thompson (160), Reid Rodich (170) and Nic Roller (220) also are battling for titles on Saturday for Bixby.
The Chieftains sent three - Shea Conley (138), Bob Daniels (145) and Kristian Mendez (182) - to the finals.
Broken Arrow lost to Muskogee in the dual state semifinals last weekend, but is not bothered by it.
"We do a good job of putting things behind us," Jones said. "There is nothing you can do about yesterday. We refocused and got ready to wrestle this regional championship."
Taylor got a pin on Owasso's Dakota Miller at the 1:21 mark into one of the 285-pound matches.
Simmons was a convincing 14-2 decision against Stillwater's King Williams.
Tanner Bailey pinned Bixby's Kaiden Hudson 55 seconds into the second period.
Paden Bailey scored a 3-1 decision in overtime against Jenks' Austin Eades at 152. He broke the tie with a takedown.
At 182, Allen had to hang on to Bixby's Hunter Dalton for a 3-2 win.
Original Print Headline: Broken Arrow takes lead into finals
