Deer Creek wrestling with consolation surge

UPDATED: Deer Creek 77 points. Altus 74 and Collinsville 72.5. Get ready!

Any wrestling coach will tell you championships are won just as much on the back side as they are in the championship round.

Now I’m not saying Deer Creek is going to win the Class 5A championship, but wow did the Antlers put themselves in a position to pull it off.

The Antlers biggest weakness is that DC only has two championship competitors. Senior Zac Dunlop is taking on Justin Hughes of Duncan at 125 pounds in a battle of No. 1 seeds. Though both were top seeds, gotta favor Hughes in that one.

Junior Nolan Boyd can help the Antlers, while hurting Altus at the same time. In fact, if the chips fall a certain direction, Boyd could be wrestling for his second state championship and the team’s chance at a potential title.

Waiting for the exact point totals heading into the championship, but I believe it will be Deer Creek first, with Collinsville second and Altus third. Deer Creek’s Alex Christensen and Cole Pacheco each earned third place by scoring falls. Sophomore Chad Draper also finished third at 152.

The other team races aren’t as compelling. Perry took control of 3A in this session and holds a good lead over Berryhill. Tuttle is so far up on anybody and has a chance to make a dominating statement tonight. Broken Arrow has jumped Union and is in position to claim the crown once again.

Either way, it should be a great showdown in the 5A neck of the woods.

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Robert Przybylo, bprzybylo@opubco.com