Shellstrom pins heavyweight competition

Kingfisher had SIX placers - including one champion - at last weekend’s Western Conference Wrestling Tournament.

Braxton Shellstrom was crowned king of the heavyweights as he won the 285-pound weight class and led the Yellowjackets to a fifth-place finish.

Cache claimed the team title with 230.5 points.

Clinton was the runner- up with 174 while Pawnee took third with 146.

KHS notched 123 points, just .5 point shy of fourthplace Watonga.

Hennessey finished 14th with its 51.5 points and had a champion of its own.

Shellstrom was one of two Yellowjackets to reach the finals.

Gant Browning eventually was second at 126 pounds.

Brayden Kochenower took third at 132, Will Mercer sixth at 150, Jose Santoyo was sixth at 175 and Bert Haag sixth at heavyweight.

Shellstrom pinned all five of his foes over the two days.

That included a fall over Clinton’s Layden Fuller in Saturday night’s championship bout.

That match lasted just 2:39, the longest of the tournament for Shellstrom.

Other than a fall at 2:16 of his second-round win over Dylan Osborn, no other match reached the second period.

Shellstrom also had falls of 26 seconds, 1:57 and 1:32.

Browning earned a bye into the quarterfinal round where he pinned Elk City’s Charles Medina in 2:43.

He then earned a fall over Braxton Sloan of Morrison in 1:15 in the semifinals before Cache’s Logan Crawford was able to pin him in 2:56 of their finals bout.

Kochenower earned a couple of wins via fall to land a spot in the semifinals against Pawnee’s Kolbe Novotny.

Novotny beat Kochenower via an 11-1 major decision, but Kochenower came back with two consolation wins for his bronze medal.

He pinned Brock Keeton of Morrison and Cade Lewis of Anadarko to round out his tournament.

Mercer took a loss in the first round of his bracket, but came back to win his next three and four out of five to close out the tournament.

After losing to Anthony Radke of Cache, Mercer pinned Elijah Jones of Harrah, Gabe Mirando of Mangum and Makya Watons of Elk City to garner a spot in the consolation semifinals.

There he lost to Watonga’s Christopher Garcia, but came back to beat Dee Idelman of Davis in 4:02 to take fifth.

Santoyo went 3-3 in his bracket while Haag was 4-3 in matches he wrestled on top of receiving two byes. Haag was forced to forfeit his fifth-place match after injuring his knee.

••• Titan Hix isn’t just good at football.

The Hennessey High School freshman proved he’s also solid on the mat as he claimed the 215-pound championship on Saturday.

Hix needed just 34 seconds to beat Clinton’s Malachi Lorne in the championship match.

It was the fourth fall in as many matches for Hix, who also won in 1:51 and 1:17 leading up to the semifinals.

That offered Hix his toughest bout as he needed 5:55 to pin Pawnee’s Camden McClendon.

Westyn Hopkins gave the Eagles another placer as he was fifth at 120 pounds.

Hopkins won his first two matches, but was defeated by Harrah’s Brady Larson in the semifinals.

That was followed by a sudden-victory defeat to Conner Rodriguez of Cache in the consolation semifinals.

Hopkins rebounded to pin Lawson Jacks of Casady in 48 seconds for fifth.

••• Cashion was ninth, Hennessey 15th and Kingfisher 21st in the junior high portion of the tournament.

Cashion collected 91 points.

Cache was the junior high champ with 217 points, just beating Clinton’s 211 Hennessey had 70 points and Kingfisher 31.

Cashion had four junior high wrestlers place, led by Carlos Martinez earning a bronze medal at 155 pounds.

Hennessey had a pair of placers.

The Eagles were led by Kason Scruggs’ third-place finish at 98 pounds.

Chase Price was Kingfi sher’s lone placer as he was fifth at 132 pounds.

High School Team Standings

Cache 230.5 Clinton 174 Pawnee 146 Watonga 123.5 Kingfisher 123 Elk City 120 OCS 115 Tecumseh 97.5 Davis 97 Woodward 76 Mangum 73 Harrah 72 Morrison 58 Hennessey 51.5 Hobart 40 Cordell 26 Heritage Hall 23 Anadarko 19 Casady 19 Crossings 4 Geary 4