The Enid Plainsmen were back in business at the Mid America Nationals tournament today after Tuesday’s 47-27 dual win over Edmond Sante Fe which included four pins (Hector Perez, Steven Brooks, Trinit Zweifel, and Carlos Alvarado) and a tech fall (Payton Zweifel) for the Enid Grapplers.
The Mid America Nationals are hosted by Enid High at the Stride Bank Center, today and Saturday. In a grueling format, the tournament consists of a round robin (pool play) schedule, followed by a modified double elimination tournament. Wrestlers have up to four matches on Friday, and can have several more during Saturday’s bracket play. Friday’s pool matches determine who goes into the “Gold” and “Silver” brackets, with the Gold bracket being those with the better records.
This tournament has become quite popular and drew 30 teams from not only Oklahoma, but Louisiana, Kansas and Texas. Tournament Director Corey Clayton said the tournament was going “fantastic” and he has been really impressed with the skill of the wrestlers from several states. “I believe we have 14 state champions, and even more state placers and qualifiers,” Clayton said. He continued, “With Lori running the microphone (announcing) and Tom and Wade doing the brackets, this thing runs pretty smooth. We brought this tournament here to have more exposure to wrestling and I think we are doing good.”
Westside High School, from Houston, Texas traveled the farthest (555 Miles) to get here. Head Coach Mike Froehlich said it was the team’s second trip to Mid America Nationals. “We have been making trips to other tournaments in Oklahoma since 2013. We saw what this tournament had to offer, especially the pool play and the number of matches they are getting and teams from all over the Midwest, so wanted to give it a try.” Westside brought nine wrestlers, five of whom are state placers or state qualifiers from Texas’ largest division, 6A. 113 pounder, Juan Cantu, rolled through pool play with two pins (1:27 and 1:53) and a major decision (17-5) before winning his first match in the Gold Bracket with a 19-4 Tech Fall. Cantu made it to the semi finals of Preseason nationals and is undefeated so far on the season. Sophomore Kyle Lew is also undefeated at 138 pounds and has also made the second round of the Gold Bracket with a pin (2:58), a 7-2 win, a 14-2 major decision in pool play, then a pin in 4:50 in the first round. Last, but not least, Freddie Pagan, is also undefeated on the year, after two pins (2:11 and 3:38) and a 7-2 decision, followed by a 3:13 pin in the first round of the Gold. Suffice to say, these kids came a long way to wrestle their best.
From almost as far, Airline High School in Bossier City, Louisiana traveled 456 Miles to compete. Chase Cox, Head Coach for Airline said it took them about nine hours to make it to Enid. They came up on Thursday to rest and get ready for Friday’s Noon start time. “This is our second time here. We always try to preach to our kids to find really good competition. Oklahoma wrestling is superior to Louisiana wrestling in our area, so it’s really good to travel and see some nationally ranked kids like at Mid America. We really look forward to the competition and really love wrestling here,” Coach Cox said. Even though they expect some tough matches, Airline brought some studs. “We brought nine kids, would’ve been more, but three guys had to take the ACT tomorrow. Four made the Gold bracket.” Out of those four, really keep your eye on 120 pounder, Ernie Perry III. Ernie is a two time Louisiana State Champion and his only loss as a high school wrestler was at Mid America Nationals last time he was here. This year, Ernie completed Pool play with three pins (in 5:25, 0:29 and 0:32) and got a 14-5 major decision in his first Gold Bracket match. Of Enid, Coach Cox says: “We really love the town, everyone’s real friendly and makes us fell welcome. The tree looks gorgeous, but we aren’t used to this cold weather!”
As for the home team, the Enid Plainsmen entered ten young men in the tournament, to mixed success. “We wrestled fairly well, we had six guys make the gold bracket, so I was pleased with that. Guys are working, and we (Coach Corey Clayton and I) are seeing improvements here and there and kids starting to put things together,” Enid Head Coach Trent Holland said.
Hector Perez (106 pounds) made the second round of the Gold Bracket after two pins in pool play (1:23, 0:41) and a pin in the first round (4:49) of the Gold.
At 113 pounds, Sophomore Payton Zweifel had two pins (0:42, 1:36) and a 9-0 major decision in pool play before losing his first match 4-1 to a Texas Senior, Chase Davis from Southlake Carroll (who also had two pins in pool) in the Gold bracket. He has a chance to wrestle back to 5th place on Saturday.
At 132, Vinny Vandiver had a tough day going 0-3, before pinning his first opponent in the Silver (consolation bracket) in 1:37. He has a chance to win the consolation bracket if he wrestles well.
Steven Brooks (138 pounds) went 1-2 in pool play. He made up for it by pinning Kyle Manuel from the Louisiana Airline team in 1:12 in the consolation bracket. Coach Holland noted “I know Steven Brooks was kind of frustrated with some of his wrestling today, but he’s got some tough competition and he’s actually improved on the things he is doing and how he is doing them.” Brooks can still win the consolation bracket.
Senior Trinit Zweifel (145 pounds) made it to the Gold bracket behind two pins (1:20 and 1:35) and an OT loss in pool play. He ran into a buzzsaw in the first round of the bracket and lost 12-2 to Kody Routledge, an undefeated wrestler from Edmond North who previously had two pins and a tech fall. “I know he got beat, but he’s a Senior who is tough and keeps battling. He has a good attitude no matter what happens and is just out there enjoying wrestling,” Coach Holland said.
Enid entered two wrestlers at 152, which was the biggest bracket of the tournament. Leslie Fortner went 0-4, which eliminated him from the tournament and Jason Pearson went 1-2 making it to the consolation bracket on Saturday.
At 182, Jason Sayers had two pins (2:34, 1:10) and a bye to make it to the Gold bracket, where he was pinned in the first round by Garrett Wells of Glenpool. “Jason is a kid who hasn’t been on the mat in probably two years and he’s coming in and wrestling tough,” said Coach Holland.
At 195 Carlos Alvarado had himself a day with two pins in pool play (2:43, 2:49) and a bye, then just overwhelmed his first round Gold opponent and pinned him in 28 seconds!
Finally at Heavyweight, Seth Melvin made it to the Gold bracket with a pin in 1:49 and a close 3-0 loss. In the first round of bracket play he got pinned by Adley Bufford, which was a rematch of the Tuesday’s dual against Sante Fe.
As a group, Enid High finished with a solid 18-16 record with 16 of those wins coming by pinfall. When asked what Carlos and Hector need to do to follow up on their undefeated Friday Coach Holland said “They just need to focus on staying in position, winning the small battles, and stay focused on what they need to do.”
Coach Holland really likes getting this tournament in at the beginning of the year. “This format allows the kids to get a lot of mat time, which is good for them in the long term. It also gives Coach Clayton and I a lot of video to break down and see the areas we need to work on and make improvement,” said Coach Holland. When asked about a non Enid wrestler that really looked impressive, Coach Holland pointed out the Tuttle Heavyweight (Harley Andrews). “Physique wise and the way he attacks people is pretty aggressive.” Andrews was 3-0, all first period pins.
Wrestling resumes on Saturday (December 11th) at 10:30 a.m. at the Stride Bank Center. Tickets are available at the Stride Bank Center box office before and during the tournament. All Enid wrestlers will have at least two matches, and likely more, Saturday.
