Despite most high school activities being halted by winter weather last week, the Midwestern Conference wrestling tournament made a successful debut at the Choctaw Event Center last weekend.
Caddo junior Gage Vaughn claimed the girls championship at 140 pounds while Durant junior Aiden Polk captured runner-up honors in the boys’ 157-pound title match to lead the local finishers.
Vaughn cruised her way through the girls’ bracket to up her sparkling season record to 25-1. She downed Aliah Johnson of Tecumseh by fall in just 21 seconds and then needed only 50 seconds to pin Addison Adams from McLoud. It was all Vaughn in the finale as she romped to a 15-0 technical fall triumph against Bridge Creek’s Hannah Miller.
Polk reeled off three victories on the way to the finals, including a 19-4 technical fall over Gavin Cloud of Ada, 2:33 fall decision against Bridge Creek’s Gavin Schalk and injury forfeit versus Rebel Doiron from Little Axe. The DHS grappler then dropped a narrow 4-1 decision to top seeded Jacob Haden of McLoud.
Caddo’s Noah Dry posted a fourth place showing at 175 pounds with four victories in six matches.
The Bruins senior scored a 16-5 major decision against Brody Waldman from Chandler and followed with consecutive pin fall wins, stopping Noble’s Cavin Foster in 3:55 and Plainview’s Carter Rush in 2:48. Dry bounced back from a semifinal loss to post a 19-3 technical fall verdict over Joseph Hirt from Community Christian to reach the third place match where he dropped a third period fall loss.
The Lady Lions had five individual placers in the event topped by Lillian Stilwell with fourth at 125 pounds and Camila Amaya fourth at 190.
Stiwell had a pair of wins with second period fall verdicts against Kydnz Faulkner from Dickson and Cambria Abbott of McLoud. Ama- ya dropped Lily Chavez of Lexington in a 2:44 fall in her four-match round robin event.
Olivia Crossland, Maddie Rivera and Malorie Day all contributed fifth place efforts.
Crossland was 3-2 at 110 pounds with a pair of fall triumphs and injury verdict and Rivera added two wins in four matches in the 120-pound division with both coming on first period pin falls. Day rebounded from an opening loss 170 pounds with three wins in consolation bracket action, including an 8-4 decision in her final match.
Durant’s boys had two other grapplers finish just shy of the medal round in the 165- and 175-pound divisions.
Britton Trotter scored a pair of fall victories in four matches at 165 pounds as he stopped Ethan Epler of Lexington in 4:29 as well as Brandon Jones from Davis in 4:14. Carson Allen also picked up two wins in four matches at 175 with a 54-second fall triumph over Ada’s Zaciyah Hatton and 11-1 major decision versus Carter Rush from Plainview.
Three Lions each recorded one victory with Mac Barbush and Carter Kemp each scoring a pin fall triumph at 150 pounds. Barbush stopped Chandler’s Weston Cowan in 1:10 and Kemp picked up a 1:45 win against Jaryd Direen of Ada.
Guy Richards added a 3:38 fall facing Ardmore’s David Moody in the 190-pound category.
