Chloe Brooks and Kearsten Ball

Writers

For the third year in a row, the Marlow Outlaw Wrestling Team pinned down another trip to the OSSAA Dual State competition.

Advancing to Dual State after placing first at District Duals, the Outlaws traveled to the Stride Event Center in Enid, Oklahoma, on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14-15.

To kick off the weekend, the #2 seed Outlaws took down the #7 seed Blackwell Maroons 42-29 and clinched a spot in the 3-A semifinals.

The quarterfinal win gave the Outlaws insight into their strengths and how to approach their future opponents.

“Blackwell was a good warm-up,” Hunt said. “As a team, we had a lot of people step up and we had a couple of big pins

Winning their first dual of the tournament, the Outlaws’ energy poured over into their semifinal match-up against the Perry Maroons, winning 42-27 and snapping Perry’s hopes of winning their eleventh straight Dual State title.

After slipping to Perry in the Dual State championship the past two years, sophomore Case Rich, along with his teammates, had anticipated this year to be in their favor.

“Beating Perry has been a goal of ours for a few years now since they kept beating us in the Dual State finals,” said Rich. “We just had to go in there confident and ready to end their Dual State win streak.”

The triumphant win over Perry punched Marlow’s ticket into the Dual State championship in a match-up against arch-rival and the #1 seed Comanche Indians.

To begin the finals match-up, 120-pound Rich won by major decision and gave the Outlaws the early lead 4-0.

The match-up went back-and-forth and ended with the Indians brushing past the Outlaws 37-32.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, head coach Andy Howington still has high hopes and great pride in his team.

“Comanche is a good team, but our team is still one of the best in the state,” said Howington. “Our wrestlers are still in favor of winning individual state.” 

Building off of the strong momentum they had at Dual State, the Outlaws will be competing in the regional tournament this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22 in Geary, Oklahoma.