Wins over rivals Ardmore and Ada highlighted a busy week of dual action for the Durant High School wrestling team.
The Lions were 66-12 victors on the road at Ardmore and then edged Ada by a 42-39 count in a thriller to start the Annual District Duals for a trip to Dual State. Durant ran into stiff opposition after that however, falling to Grove (70-12), McAlester (7012) and Shawnee (46-31).
Coach Jim Taylor’s squad will be competing in the Midwestern Conference Tournament this weekend at East Central University in Ada.
Facing Ardmore, the Lions put on a dominant performance with only two losses on the night.
Mason Cooper and Canan Walls received forfeit triumphs at 106 and 113 pounds respectively and Jacoby Briggle picked up another forfeit at 126 before the Ardmore wins at 132 and 138 pounds narrowed the gap.
It was all Durant after that, however, as Mac Barbush drew a forfeit at 144 and Braeden Emert then notched the first mat victory at 150 with a first period fall over Ardmore’s Nathaniel Guzman in 1:29. The Lions’ Britton Trotter followed with a hard-fought 3:48 fall win against Bayden Lewis in the 157-pound matchup.
Durant received a string of forfeits after that with Adam Haney, Guy Richards, Evan Smith and Axel Thurman ahead of a 1:58 pin fall win by Gaige Rocha facing Keiran Ballard at heavyweight.
In the Ada dual, the Lions built a solid lead in the middle weight classes before having to hold on against the Cougars for the team decision.
Things didn’t start off well for Durant as Ada picked up points in four of the five lowest weight categories with the lone DHS triumph a six-pointer by Walls at 113 pounds as he needed only 19 seconds to dispatch Jake Foster for a fall.
The Lions began the comeback at 138 pounds with Barbush needing almost all of the three periods to put away Tanner Maloy, scoring a fall just one second before the buzzer. Aiden Polk added to the Lion scoring total with a forfeit win at 144 pounds.
A string of pin fall victories then put