Wrestling teams around the state and locally are gearing up for OSSAA Regionals, set to take place next week.
Girls’ Regionals will take place from Feb. 16 to 17, with boys’ Regionals set for Feb. 20 to 21.
The McLoud girls’ team is coming into regionals strong.
“On the girls’ side, we look really good,” said Head Coach Chad Whitney. “Everybody’s looking good and getting healthy at the right time.”
At the Midwestern Conference Jan. 30-31, the McLoud girls came home with 12 medals. Remy Whitney (100LB), Carli Sisco (105LB), Yazmin Nevarez (110LB) and Riley Samarripa (190LB) brought home first place, while Gabby Lozano (115LB) snagged second. Jenica Mehtala (120LB) and Alexus Jones (135LB) won third; Kendra Perrien (145LB) and Melania Nenaikita (235LB) brought home fourth; Addison Flowers (105LB) and Cambria Abbott (125LB) won fifth; and Shantee Suke (170LB) placed sixth.
The team is the returning 5A champs at both Regionals and State.
“The girls are firing on all cylinders right now,” Whitney said. “We wrestled our tournament on Wednesday (Feb. 4) that has been pushed back so many times now, and we took fourth. All the teams that finished above us were 6A teams, and it’s the top three 6A teams in the state right now.”
He added that he’s hoping seniors Launa Troutt and Addie Addison are healthy and ready to go for regionals. Both have been battling injuries or illnesses lately.
Whitney is also the assistant coach on the boys’ side and said they’ve been wrestling really well, especially moving into the end of the season.
At Midwestern, Jacob Hadden brought home first in 157 pounds, while Tripp Bishop got second in 126 pounds and Brody Smith won second for 175 pounds.
In Chandler, both the girls and boys teams are going into Regionals in fairly strong positions as well. The girls took six to Midwestern, with four placing -- Brylee Waldman in second (155LB), Shailey Penn in third (130LB), Lizzy Pryor in fifth (115LB) and Lexi Ledford in sixth (100LB).
“They’re getting excited,” said Coach Kallie Jo Petrie. “My freshmen have been getting real aggressive towards the end of the season, so I’m excited for them to make a bit of a splash at regionals, too.”
The same six girls are going to Regionals, and Petrie said they all have a good chance of advancing. On the boys’ side, six placed at the Midwestern Conference, including two first, two fourth, and two fifth places. Landon Earp (120LB) and Jack Maguire (106LB) finished first, with Derek Perkins (113LB) and Bryar Dryden (165LB) in fourth and Landon Massie (190LB) and Brody Waldman (175LB) in fifth. According to Owrestle. com, the team is currently ranked No. 8 in 3A.
If he qualifies, this will be Earp’s fourth year at State.
Prague High School will also be competing in Regionals next week. The team had one wrestler place at Midwestern Rylan Harvey won first in 175-pounds and outstanding wrestler.