Weatherford wrestling sent their seniors out with two dual home wins Monday, as they defeated Woodward 41-18 and defeated Elk City 69-8.
“I thought we wrestled well for having over a week off from competition,” coach Corey Duncan said. “There were some areas we needed to shore up, but overall it was a good night. We lost only four matches through two duals so that helps when evaluating a performance.”
Weatherford 69, Elk City 8
Dylan Renna got a takedown in the first weight class. Creek Williams also got six points, giving Weatherford an 18-0 advantage. Cage Hill got a point and his match went all three periods, but got the close 6-5 win for Weatherford in this match.
“What helped Cage was he kept wrestling the whole time,” Duncan said. “This is something we preach to these guys every day and when you see a freshmen do that, it is a good sign.”
Weatherford won the dual 69-8 and Duncan said Marcus Rowley had an impressive performance.
“We had a lot of dominating wins in the dual and got several pins, it was nice to have a performance like that as we head into the regional tournament,” Duncan said. “Marcus has come a long way as a first year wrestler and he is starting to figure some things out. He is aggressive and wrestles hard for six minutes which is what we ask him to do.
Weatherford 66, Woodward 11
Weatherford opened the dual, jumping out to a 30-11 lead. Alvis Bryson got the Eagles six more points, making it 36-11. Ethan Bracken went down to the wire in his match and got three points, but the match went all three rounds.
Kale Visnieski got four points for Weatherford. After some more forfeits, Weatherford won 66-11.
“The big difference in the Woodward dual was us wrestling hard for six minutes,” Duncan said. “That allowed us to win close matches and dominate our opponents in the match.”
The seniors on the wrestling team are Bracken, Izeaha Freeborn, Sam Hoffman and Isaiah Royal.
Duncan said the seniors have been a fun group to watch grow and develop the last six years.
“I have been coaching them since they were seventh graders in the sport of wrestling,” Duncan said. “This is a group that has grown significantly since then, on and off the wrestling mat. They have done a lot to help this program grow and develop, they have been on a district championship team and they have been on district runner-up team three times during their careers. I am looking forward to watching them push towards regionals and state. I know they have some things on their lists that they would like to accomplish and look forward to seeing it. I have enjoyed the last six years with them and am going to miss them as they move on from this program.”
Weatherford concludes the dual season, with a record of 4-5 and will wrestle in regionals February 18 and 19 at Clinton. Duncan said they are going to keep doing the things they have been preaching all year, which is to wrestle hard for six minutes and compete to the best of their ability.
“We have a week or so where we do not have a competition till regionals,” Duncan said. “So, this will allow us to have four or five days of hard training in the wrestling room, where we are getting after it and building up some extra conditioning with it. We are doing morning runs, which are designed to get us used to getting up early in the morning and working out as well help with our conditioning. The goal of this is to build a mental edge as we head into the regional tournament.”