EDMOND —
Edmond North closed out the regular season with a dominating 66-11 victory over the Choctaw Yellow Jackets this week. The win finished off a regular-season undefeated streak that has now lasted for four straight years.
Along with the win, the Huskies also clinched the No. 1 seed on the West side of the state for Dual State and their fourth straight Metro Conference championship. Being North’s final home match of the season, the team used the night to honor 12 seniors who have devoted countless hours of hard work throughout their wrestling careers. This was one of North’s largest groups of seniors in the history of the school.
Edmond North coach Andy Schneider said the highlight of the night was Garrett Jones’ victory. Garrett has been one of the team’s managers since his freshmen year. Along with being a manager, he also helps coach the guys, Schneider said.
“It’s not uncommon to hear ‘G-Money’ (his team nickname) yelling words of encouragement to the wrestlers from the bench,” the coach said. “Garrett has a health condition, so unfortunately he is not able to wrestle like the other guys on the team.”
During his time at North, the team has staged some exhibition matches at the end of practices against different teammates who served as opponents for Garrett.
“His wrestling technique has come a long way over the years, mainly due to Coach (Rick) Bollenbach. Bollenbach has developed a special relationship with ‘G’ and has helped him learn wrestling moves at the beginning of practice and has also stayed several times after practice to help Garrett refine his moves, his favorite being the dreaded ‘double flankers!’”
Although Garrett enjoys his exhibition matches, his true dream has always been to wrestle in an actual match against another team, Schneider said. At the beginning of his junior year, Bollenbach promised Garrett that he would get him a match on senior night. That promise lit up Garrett and from that day on, that’s all he could think about, coaches said.
“I remember on the first day of school this year, the very first thing Garrett told me was how excited he was to get to wrestle on senior night,” Schneider said.
Garrett’s dream came true on Thursday, Jan. 31. In front of a packed home crowd, Garrett was announced right along with the rest of the varsity lineup. He ran out in the darkened gym and met his Choctaw opponent under the glaring mat light. Garrett scored the first takedown and led 8-2 after the first period. He built up that lead during the second period and in the third period he put his opponent in the “double flankers” to secure the pin and the win.
Garrett exploded into the air in elation with both hands shooting to the sky. The smile on Garrett’s face went from ear-to-ear as the referee raised his hand in victory. He immediately ran to the cheerleaders and gave them all a high-five and then returned to his team bench where his coaches and teammates greeted him with hugs and tears of joy. The crowd gave a standing ovation as an unforgettable high school memory was made that night in the middle of a wrestling mat in the Siberian Gym.
A video of Garret’s match is on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P8oPx6xtKs&feature=youtu.be.
Other seniors who were honored included Jon Scruggs, Zach Franklin, Dakota Zickefoose, Houston Knight, Justice Minter, Josh Breece, Jordan Armstrong, Drew Alexander, Matt Durham, Bilal Siddiqui and Ethan Strange.
The North grapplers will compete in Dual State hosted by Claremore today in hopes of winning the first wrestling state championship in school history.
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PHOTO PROVIDED Edmond North wrestling team manager Garrett Jones got a win in his first official wrestling match on Senior Night last week.
Discussion
North wrestlers finish undefeated as longtime manager gets shot on Senior Night
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Central Oklahoma softballers make World Series again
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The Warriors put two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in a bid to pull out a late win and force a deciding game in the best-of-three series, but left fielder Devyn Frazier made a running catch in foul territory for the final out to set off a wild celebration on the field.
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Central Oklahoma golf coach picks up award
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Bond led the Bronchos to perhaps the best season in school history in 2012-13 with top-five finishes in 10 of their 12 tournaments. UCO won three titles, including the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association crown and its first-ever regional championship, and finished 10th in the Division II national tournament. -
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Workman blasted her 14th homer of the season to lead off the second inning, with UCO adding three runs in the third and one more in the fifth to take a commanding 5-0 lead before the Warriors created some anxious moments in their final at bat.
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Richters rip competition at KickingBird
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Jeff Jester and Kevin Wright wrapped up second-place honors with a 59.9 and Rick Morales and Ronnie Roberts placed third (60.1).
In the second flight, the top score was 60.4 by Jerry Bernhardt and Ted Carter. Picking up silver was the tandem of Jerry Fuller and Ramona Jacobi (61.2) and the third-place squad was Dyke Hoppe and Mark VanSickle at 62.0.
Morales was closest to the pin on No. 6 and Jeff Richter landed a dart on hole 14. -
Eagles' season finished; Lopez earns national honor
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Multiple baseball camps offered in Edmond
Edmond Schools baseball coaches Kyle Roberts (Edmond Memorial), Jeff Shafer (Edmond Santa Fe) and Karl King (Edmond North) will instruct the Edmond All-Star Baseball Camps starting May 28 at Edmond North High School.
A pair of all-skills camps will take place for kids ages 5 and older from May 28-31 and June 3-6. Times are the same, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
On June 7, a pitcher/catcher camp will be offered for ages 8 and older with the identical time frame. Cost is $35 for the pitcher/catcher camp and $125 for the all-skills camp.
For further inquiries, contact Karl King at 863-3570. -
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Athletes of all ages or sporting experience are invited to register for the event. Community members are also encouraged to register to volunteer with more than 300 volunteer opportunities available.
Similar to the summer Paralympic Games, athletes may register for multiple adaptive sports, which include cycling, indoor archery, outdoor archery, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, shooting, table tennis, track and field, wheelchair basketball, and, for the first time at the UCO Endeavor Games, paratriathlon. The paratriathlon will be limited to athletes over the age of 16 with previous paratriathlon experience. -
Deer Creek drops Carl Albert again for state title
They did it again.
The Deer Creek girls soccer team knocked off rival Carl Albert in the Class 5A state soccer title game for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Antlers, led by freshman Lauren Haivala’s two goals, topped the Titans 2-1 May 10 at Noble High School.
On May 7, Deer Creek blanked Tulsa Edison 2-zip in the semifinals for a chance to play for its fourth state championship in girls soccer. - More Sports Headlines
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