By BEN JOHNSON
Press Sports Editor
SKIATOOK — Tahlequah’s first-ever trip to dual state was short-lived. But that’s to be expected when you start off in a 24-point hole.
“Anytime you give up 24 points to the No. 1 team in the state, it’s hard to rally from that,” said Tahlequah coach Brandon Benson, whose Tigers fell to Class 5A No. 1 Altus 57-15 in the quarterfinals of the 5A tournament. “But I’m not at all concerned about how my kids fought tonight.”
The Tigers, who forfeited at four weights to give Altus 24 points, did, however, come up with four victories at the Skiatook Multipurpose Activity Center. B.J. Herrlein (215 pounds), Austin McTrusty (heavyweight) and Mitch Sellers each won by decision while freshman Hestin Lamons came up with a fall at 103.
“Hestin has come a long way,” Benson said of Lamons, who was tied at zero with Andrew Revilla when he came up with a pin midway through the match. “He still has a little bit to go before regionals. We’re going to have a good showing at regionals, and I think Hestin has a chance to win it.”
For Lamons, his win was a byproduct of not wanting to let him teammates down.
“After I saw B.J. and Austin win,” Lamons said, “I didn’t want to lose after they started a winning streak.”
Starting at 152 pounds, Tahlequah forfeited two matches right off the bat, putting the Tigers in a 12-0 hole from the get-go. Altus added increased its lead to 24-0 when Drake Martel (171) pinned Kyle Easter at 1:28, and Tyler George (189) pinned A.J. Campbell in the third period at 4:33.
Herrlein followed by giving Tahlequah’s its first points, scoring a 6-4 decision over Cedric Jamesin.
“I was up 6-2, but then I got a little sloppy on top,” said Herrlein, one of four seniors for THS. “It was my bad for getting sloppy, but I’m happy to get the win though.”
And being a senior, Herrlein said the win at dual state holds some special value.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Especially going into regionals. It gives me some confidence going into regionals.”
McTrusty’s victory was a little harder to come by, squeaking out a 3-2 win over Sean Carson.
“Austin has come a long ways this season as well,” Benson said of McTrusty, who prevented Carson from taking him down for two points in the final minute. “He’s finally kind of started to get an identity with his offense.”
At 112, Sellers edged Fernando Tapia, 4-2, to give THS its final points of the night.
Altus answered with three wins by fall, two by forfeit (140 and 145) and 6-5 decision by Kanyon Weldon (135) over Max Easter.
“I knew whoever they put on the mat was going to be tough,” said Altus coach Nick Wiliams, whose team had, easily, the longest venture to Skiatook, traveling four-plus hours from southwest Oklahoma. “And I’m not sure how many matches we wrestled, but they won half of them I think.”
While the final score might not reflect it, Benson was happy to see his wrestlers perform well on the big stage.
“It was good to see my kids compete and not get starry-eyed,” Benson said. “I was worried about that with my young ones becuase it’s like going to the state tournament — it’s a big deal. “To me, the way they wrestled, I’m extremely proud.”
Even in his first year with the varsity squad, Lamons knows what making it to dual state this year will mean in the future.
“It’s a big step,” said Lamons, whose team will host the Class 5A East Regional on Friday and Saturday at the TMAC. “We were awful the last few years. But we made a name for ourselves this year, and we’ve got some good kids coming up too.”
Altus 56, Tahlequah 15
(The dual started at 152)
103: Hestin Lamons (THS) pinned Andrew Revilla at 3:30.
112: Mitch Sellers (THS) won 4-2 decision over Fernando Tapia.
119: Jordan Litton (AHS) pinnd Shawn Eller at 1:54.
125: Christian Roney (AHS) pinned Trent Patrick at 4:31.
130: Matt Wilhite (AHS) pinned Justice Bailey at 1:05.
135: Kanyon Weldon (AHS) won 6-5 decision over Max Easter.
140: Ty Stevens (AHS) won by forfeit.
145: Keilan Torres (AHS) won by forfeit.
152: Kanyon Cunningham (AHS) won by forfeit.
160: Jeremy Delzer (AHS) won by forfeit.
171: Drake Martel (AHS) pinned Kyle Easter at 1:28.
189: Tyler George (AHS) pinned A.J. Campbell at 4:33.
215: B.J. Herrlein (THS) won 6-4 decision over Cedric Jamesin.
285: Austin McTrusty (THS) won 3-2 decision over Sean Carson.
