Wrestlers head to state, WTs a game away
Bella Allen and Chace Massie earned spots in the state wrestling tournament and will have their first matches Friday evening.
Allen, a junior will wrestle freshman Ma’ryia Hankins from Douglass in the first round at the Fairgrounds. Allen is 10-4 on the season and Hankins is 13-2.
Massie will face Ty Scott from Marlow in his first match. A junior, Massie is 17-3 and finished second in his regional.
“They came into regionals both being back in the room just one week,” wrestling coach John Childress said.
“Bella went in unseeded and wrestled her way back to third place in a pretty tough bracket. The girls regionals are set up a little different with a lot more people in their bracket.
“Chace had a pectoral strain and was unable to do anything in the room until two days before regionals. He had the doctor’s clearance and went in seeded No. 2 and faced the No. 1 seed in the finals.
“Overall, I was impressed with what they did and I’m glad they get to go state.
“I think they’ll represent the school, their families, themselves and the town.”
On Saturday, the Wellston Tigers will take to the basketball court in Kellyville in hopes of continuing their giantkilling quest in the playoffs.
Unranked when the playoffs started, the WTs have beaten No. 20 Regent Prep, No. 17 Okarche and, on Monday, No. 7 Stuart.
Now they face No. 3 Vanoss.
Win and they go to the Big House for the state tournament.
“I’ve been telling our guys, there’s no pressure on us,” said coach Clancy Richards. “We’re not ranked and nobody expects this from us. The pressure is all on Vanoss.”
The Tigers started off this season with a 10-1 record, but hit a flat spot mid-season and lost six games in an 8-game stretch.
After that, Richards said, the team had a 30-minute players-only meeting and talked through some issues.
Since then, they’ve rolled, losing only to Class 4A North Rock Creek.
Monday night, they led much of the night, but Stuart held a one-point lead with 15 seconds left.
Kage Danker drove the baseline and hit a jumper, putting the Tigers up by the final score of 51-50.